Rs 250 crore NREGS corruption exposed, Only Rs 74 crore recoverable

Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has revealed that corruption amounting to Rs 250 crore took place under the National Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) during the previous government’s tenure. However, he stated that only Rs 74 crore could potentially be recovered due to a lack of evidence, with Rs 75 lakh already retrieved.

Action has been initiated against 31 officials involved in the scam. Addressing the Legislative Assembly on Monday, Pawan Kalyan stated that NREGS had been misused as a "political employment guarantee scheme" under the previous administration.

He clarified that after assuming office as the minister for Panchayati Raj, his primary focus was on exposing and rectifying irregularities in the scheme. He said corrective measures, including social audits, vigilance checks, and quality control mechanisms, have been intensified. He further disclosed that officials responsible for ensuring transparency in the scheme were themselves found guilty of corruption, leading to their removal.

State-level flying squads have been deployed to verify master lists and ensure accountability. BJP MLA Parthasarathy alleged that the previous government had turned NREGS into a revenue source for the YSRCP, accusing them of showing duplicate work records and listing non-laborers as workers to siphon off funds.

He claimed that in Adoni, musters were manipulated, and payments were made fraudulently. MLA Kolikapudi Srinisarao demanded that corruption details involving 77 field assistants be sent to his office and called for strict action against those responsible. Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan also emphasized that the Central government must decide on increasing wages under the NREGS, as requested by various members.