Date:22/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/22/stories/2008082253040400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

All-party meet on NREGS demanded

HYDERABAD: The A.P. Agriculture Labour Union has demanded that the government convene an all-party meeting to review the implementation of National Rural Employ-ment Guarantee Scheme in the State.

The issue should be discussed threadbare in the forthcoming monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly and the government should send a message that those indulging in irregularities would be dealt with sternly.

In a letter to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Union general secretary B. Venkat alleged that the social audit conducted on the NREGS works revealed the magnitude of irregularities in its implementation.

The government should take steps to identify the officials and leaders indulging in irregularities and invoke Revenue Recovery Act against them. In addition, representation should be given to unions working for agriculture labour in the NREGS councils to check lapses, he added.