The Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in Karnataka Jagadish Shetter admitted in Bangalore today that funds allotted under Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is being misused. He informed that more than 100 officials are suspended for misuse of NREGA funds and 145 criminal cases booked against them. To curb malpractices, he said, ombudsmen will be appointed shortly. <br/><br/>The Minister said Retired District and Civil Judges have been asked to apply for the job and we have received overwhelming response from them. After the election to Panchayats are over in May the appointment of ombudsmen will begin.<br/><br/>Shetter said they will be appointed for tenure of three years. Each District will have an ombudsmen controlled by an ombudsman at the State level. <br/><br/>The Minister also informed that Gram Sabhas are not meeting regularly and mechanism adopted by the Panchayat to identify beneficiaries are improper. <br/><br/><br/>Hence he said efforts are on to set right such lacunas. He added that surprise visits from the officials from his departments to Gram Sabhas will be now made mandatory.