Kakinada, Dec 31 : District Collector (DC) Gopalakrishna Dwivedi on Thursday said disciplinary action was being initiated against Mandal Development Officers (MDOs) and Assistant Project Officers (APOs) besides serving showcause notices to the Assistant Project Directors (APDs) of four Mandals for their poor performance in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Talking to newspersons here, he said K Gangavaram, Peddapuram, Kirlampudi and Seethanagaram mandals were lagging behind in the implementation of the scheme due to negligence of the officials and lack of supervision.

Mr Dwivedi said ''there is no fund shortage for the NREGS and what is required is the effective implementation.'' Citing how the MDOs and APOs of ten mandals that stood first in overall performance were presented with appreciation certificates, he said he would not hesitate in punishing the erring officers and rewarding the hardworking. On social audit of works, he said, efforts were being made to recover the amount from those indulged in irregularities. Initially, recovery notices would be served on them giving them 15 days and if they failed to pay back the amount, action would be initiated under Revenue Recovery Act, he added.