Pending MGNREGS supplies payment worth Rs 180 crore approved for Andhra MoS Pemmasani

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani on Thursday said the Union government has cleared pending MGNREGS supplies payments worth Rs 180 crore for material suppliers in Andhra Pradesh.
     The minister said the payments had been stopped by the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government in Andhra Pradesh.
     "A big day for small material suppliers in Andhra Pradesh! Pending payments worth Rs 180 crore under NREGS (2019), unjustly closed by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government, have now been reopened by the new coalition government," Pemmasani said in a post on X.
     "Today's decision brings a sigh of relief to those who suffered for over six years due to Jagan's politics of vendetta and harassment," he added.
     Asserting that it was made possible by "strong Centre- state coordination", Pemmasani thanked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
     Andhra Pradesh has requested to re-open 4,22,633 works, which were closed by the previous government and payment of material components to the vendors was pending, said officials in the Rural Development Ministry.
     Considering the state government's request, the Centre has decided to re-open 3,52,788 closed works on NREGASoft to enable payments.
     Meanwhile, 69,361 of the total works were found to have more expenditure than the sanctioned amount and would not be re-opened.
     "These works were unjustly closed without full payments by the previous state government, causing immense distress to thousands of rural material suppliers and vendors since 2019," said a statement from the minister's office.
     Over 4.22 lakh works under the MGNREGS were marked closed between financial years 2014-15 and 2018-19, while full material payments were withheld, the statement said.
     Although Rs 1,285 crore was disbursed, crucial dues -- 21 per cent under Line Departments and six per cent under Rural Development Works were left unpaid, it added.
     This created outstanding liabilities of nearly Rs 181 crore, severely affecting hundreds of material suppliers across the state.
     "After a detailed review by the ministry, in consultation with NIC-DRD and the Finance Division, and based on multiple representations by the Government of Andhra Pradesh as well as the Hon'ble High Court's directions, the ministry has now approved the reopening of 3,52,788 works on NREGASoft," the statement said.
     The reopened works will remain active for 30 days only, solely for clearing pending material payments within sanctioned limits, in strict adherence to MGNREGS guidelines, the officials said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)