ANANTAPUR: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) would overcome teething problems in due course, Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said. He complimented Andhra Pradesh for effective implementation of the scheme.

At the plenary session of the social audit of the scheme taken up on pilot basis in 600 villages of 38 mandals here on Saturday he said several countries were keenly watching the scheme's outcome.

It was unique as it guaranteed a minimum of 100 days work to each household, irrespective of caste, economic or social status and gender, he said. The scheme was being implemented in 85,000 villages of 200 districts.

Migration-check

The Minister claimed that the scheme had helped check migration of labourers even from drought-hit areas. It had already provided employment to about 1.8 lakh people in the district and to about 82 lakh people in 200 districts.

People's participation, transparency, monitoring and social audit would ensure that money reaches the rural poor, Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad said.

`Just a baby'

Downplaying the discrepancies found during the social audit he said the scheme was still "a baby" and its inherent strength would make it strong to overcome the problems. Some problems would, however, exist as one could not ensure a 100 per cent perfect social system.

He also asked other States to follow Andhra Pradesh in the matter of payment of wages through post office or bank accounts. The Minister said there would soon be a second phase of NREGS in more districts. In three phases all the 600 districts would be covered.

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