HYDERABAD: A social audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREG) programme in the state has established that a total of Rs 109 crore was misappropriated since it launch. This was disclosed by rural development minister D Manikya Vara Prasada Rao.
"Of the misappropriated sum, we have so far recovered Rs 18 crore," the minister told reporters after releasing the 2012 diary of his department at the Secretariat here on Friday. "We have brought out an ordinance to punish guilty persons.
"The aim of the ordinance is to strengthen the social audit system and stop corruption," the minister said and added that as many as 658 criminal cases have been booked against the culprits. AP had been ranked first in implementing the NREGS, the minister said.