With an aim to bolster the state’s efforts under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Andhra Pradesh State Employment Council has been constituted, with Chief Minister Sri N. Chandrababu Naidu as head. Other members of the Council include an official taskforce of 17 ministers and secretaries along with a team of people representatives and leaders of trade unions.

In a meeting of the “AP State Employment Guarantee Council”  held in Vijayawada, the Chief Minister suggested making Janmabhoomi village committees, self-help groups and Smart Andhra Pradesh partners in NREGA to ensure transparency. “Accord top priority to Neeru-Chettu followed by construction of cement roads and personal toilets,” the Chief Minister said.

To keep a track on the progress of various works, the Chief Minister suggested preparing a blueprint, while updating the dashboard in a phased manner. “Make it available to people giving them an opportunity to access the progress of works in their Panchayats,” he said.

In this regard, the Chief Minister stressed on the need to overhaul the selection of candidates under NREGA by reviewing MET and Senior MET cadres every six months. He also directed the officials to review the progress of employees and update it to the dashboard periodically. “Geo tagging, finger prints and online attendance system will eliminate middlemen and bring in transparency,” he added.

Meanwhile, officials informed the Chief Minister that Andhra Pradesh is emerging as a model state by effectively integrating technology and innovation to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment scheme. They added that Andhra Pradesh is the only state to incorporate technology in all government activities such as master management, measurement checks, social audit vigilance, quality control, etc.

To make this more robust, the Chief Minister suggested setting up of IVRS services which will collect feedback from the beneficiaries. Furthermore, the Chief Minister stressed on emerging Andhra Pradesh as a successful state by utilizing the resources provided under MNREGA.