NREGS for rural roads to be hit

Identification of work under the Rs 650 crore AP Rural Connectivity programme of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has come to a halt in the state.

A local bodies association from Nalgonda approached the High Court with a plea that the identification of work under the scheme should be entrusted to local bodies and not the government department.

The High Court put a stay on further identification of work but permitted the government to carry on with the work already identified pending disposal of the case. Accordingly, the commissioner of rural development, Ms G. Jayalaxmi, has directed all district collectors and district programme coordinators of NREGS not to identify any new works.

Mr Manikya Vara Prasad, minister for rural development, told this newspaper on Thursday that the government has approached the HC to vacate the stay.

The government has launched the ambitious programme of rural connectivity to provide all-weather access to inaccessible habitations under NREGS. Under the project, 48,975 roads have been taken up in 2009-2010 and 2010-11.

The panchayat raj department confirmed that there are still habitations especially of SCs and STs that require all-weather road connectivity.