The Central Government took a serious view of the irregularities in the implementation of the employment guarantee scheme in Andhra Pradesh. The Union Rural Development Ministry told AP that it would soon send its officials for an on-field inspection of the scheme’s implementation.

The Central officials of the level of joint secretary, who reviewed the implementation of the scheme in AP, were surprised to know that the AP officials, including principal secretary of the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development have not bothered to read the letters sent by the Centre. The Union ministry also found fault with the payments being made to the people recommended by the politicians. They pointed out that this was against rules.

They were also shocked to find that the AP government of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was not using the app provided by the Centre for the Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Central officials insisted that the State Government should use the new software provided by the Centre for evaluating the Employment Guarantee scheme. They expressed shock as to how the AP government could provide 20 crore man hours in just 4 months. The Centre sought to know if the statistics provided by the State government were real. “How could you provide so many man-hours in Corona period,” the Central official asked the Jagan government.

If sources are to be believed, the joint secretary of the Union ministry of rural development has told the AP officials that they would soon undertake a field inspection of the implementation of the scheme in six districts. They asked the Jagan government to comply with all the rules. This has come as a shock to the state government.