Andhra Pradesh High Court directs government to clear MGNREGS work bills

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday asked the State government to make payments to the contractors, who undertook Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS) works during 2018-19, and to place before it the details of the payments made to the contractors on April 23.

The Bench of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice C Praveen Kumar, who heard a batch of petitions challenging the non-payment of bills for the works undertaken under the MGNREGS scheme during 2018-19, passed these orders on Tuesday.

When the case came up for hearing, Government pleader C Suman informed the court that the Vigilance and Enforcement department had found large-scale irregularities in the MGNREGS works taken up during 2018-19. The Vigilance department had also proposed recovery of money for the 4,338 works taken up under the scheme during the 2018-19, Suman informed the court.

Suman further said the State was yet to receive funds from the Centre and that the payment of the bills was a continuous process. Suman said the process of making payments to those works of less than `5 lakh by deducting 20 per cent of the amount is under process. Suman said the government has not yet taken any decision on payments for works above `5  lakh and the payments will be made directly to the contractors and not the gram panchayats concerned.

Senior counsel Dammalapati Srinivas and others, arguing on behalf of the petitioners, informed the court that bills related to seven lakh works are still pending and said the payments should be made to the gram panchayats. They said the government is not making payments of the works done previously, but is making payments to the recent works taken up under the scheme. 

The bench found fault with the government for not starting the process of payment of bills for works worth less than `5 lakh as informed to the court earlier and said the court would summon officials and seek their explanation, if the same was not implemented. The bench asked the government to place before it the details of payments made to the contractors before it on April 23.