The Andhra Pradesh government has sold 33 lakh cubic meters of sand and earned a whopping Rs. 220 crore for the state exchequer with the involvement of the Self Help Groups of women by promoting women empowerment.

Briefing newsmen on the cabinet decisions, the I & PR Minister Palle Raghunath Reddy said government has drawn up an effective campaign and machinery to fight the menace of sand mafia in all 256 sand reaches. Soon, we will have 300 sand reaches managed by the SHG, he added.

The Government has introduced  transparency in sand sale with e-bills  and GPS link to sand movement through vehicles. "We plan to set up sand depots in places like Visakhapatnam where there are no sand reaches. Our goal is to ensure availability of sand at affordable prices to common man," he said.

The SHG movement of women empowerment through thrift groups of women  launched by Chandrababu Naidu in early 2000 has grown into an institution and has become a parallel financial institution in rural areas. Unfortunately during the Congress regime, the YSR government promoted the Micro finance groups to kill the SHG movement, but in final count Micro Fianance groups became bankrupt in the fallout of loan waiver scheme of  the UPA government.