Embezzlement of National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme funds almost touched the `100-crore mark in the state, forcing the government, which got a rap from the Centre, to tighten up its act.
According to a note submitted to the Centre, a social audit of the scheme conducted in villages brought to fore issues with maintaining of fraudulent records, misuse of funds and non-disbursement of wages.
Sources told this newspaper that the amount lost in fraud is `99.87 crores, of which only `21.76 crores was recovered so far. The audit was conducted in four rounds, the first one covering 1,097 mandals and the last round, 299 mandals.
According to the report, 16,688 staff were involved in the misuse and only 3,111 were dismissed and 561 were suspended. The state initiated criminal proceedings against 229 employees.
Sources said the government was under pressure from elected representatives not to proceed against the erring NREG officials due to political compulsions and local political equations.
Chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, set up a Cabinet sub-committee to look into the irregularities and take corrective measures. After several meetings, the committee mooted a special legislation to curb fraud in the flagship programme of the UPA.
Coming under fire from the Centre for misuse of funds, the state government has assured that it will set up mobile courts for quick trial of cases. The government has also mooted two years imprisonment and decided to conduct court hearings in the presence of villagers.