Guntur: A protocol row was witnessed at a meeting of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Vigilance and Monitoring Committee chaired by Union Minister of State for Textiles P Lakshmi here on Sunday.
Narasaraopet Telugu Desam Party MP M Venugopala Reddy protested against the absence of a seat for him on the dais as he is the co-chairperson of the Committee.
Regretting lapse, Lakshmi and Collector B S R Anjaneyulu repeately requested Reddy to come to the dais. But he declined to oblige them.
Lakshmi and the District Collector arrived at the venue of the meeting 40 minutes late and copies of the agenda were provided to the participants just before the commencement of the meeting.
Members at the meeting, who included MLAs and MLCs, expressed their indignation over the protocol lapse. They also alleged rampant corruption and malpractices in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Guntur district. “Out of Rs 16-crore spent for the scheme, as much as Rs 5-crore was embezzled,” they observed.
–Agencies