<P> Ex-Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh released an anthologys of research studies on the MGNREGA called "MGNREGA Sameeksha" in New Delhi on 14 July 2012, about a year before the CAG report . Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey said that "the MGNREGA Sameeksha is a significant innovation to evaluate policy and delivery". The anthology draws on independent assessments of MGNREGA conducted by Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and others in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published from 2008 to 2012 . The Prime Minister said: </P> <P> The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA story in numbers is a story worth telling...the scheme scores high on inclusivness...no welfare scheme in recent memory has caught the imagination of the people as much as NREGA has...under which ₹ 1, 10,000 crore (about USD $25 billion) have been spent to pay wages to 1,200 crore (12 billion) people . </P> <P> Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh says in the' MGNREGA Sameeksha': </P> <P> It is perhaps the largest and most ambitious social security and public works programme in the world...soundness and high potential of the MGNREGA are well established...That, at any rate, is one of the main messages emerging from this extensive review of research on MGNREGA . It is also a message that comes loud and clear from the resounding popularity of MGNREGA--today, about one - fourth of all rural households participate in the programme every year . </P>

Who said mgnrega scheme is the largest public works scheme