New Delhi: The UPA’s flagship rural job guarantee scheme has drawn flak from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on various counts, including diversion of funds, impermissible works undertaken to the tune of about Rs2.25bn, and projects worth Rs40.7bn left incomplete.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh blamed a “complicated” process of fund allocation for many ills plaguing the scheme.
“We have created a complicated system of funds release. I have sympathy with many states. Frankly, these are imposed on us by the finance ministry,” he told reporters here.
Ramesh said that there was a need to “rethink” on these issues. “I have taken this up on multiple occasions.”
The audit undertaken by the CAG said that employment generated by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) declined from 283bn persondays in 2009-10 to 2160 bn persondays in 2011-12. The completion of works also saw a significant decline in 2011-12.
“There were deficiencies in the approval and release of funds by the ministry. Numerous instances were noticed in which the ministry released grants in excess of demand and in breach of its own conditionalities,” says the CAG report tabled in parliament Tuesday.
“In fact, in 2010-11, the ministry relaxed all conditionalities (except furnishing utilisation certificate) associated with the release of funds. No basis for this decision was provided,” it said, and noted that Rs1,96bn were released in March 2011 alone, without exercising proper financial controls.
The CAG asked the government to take “decisive steps” to ensure proper implementation of the scheme.
Analysing the implementation of programme, the report said that in districts of 25 states and Union Territories, 1,02,100 “inadmissible works” amounting to Rs2,2520bn were undertaken.
These inadmissible works included construction of kutcha (dirt) roads, cement concrete roads, raised platforms for cattle and other animals and bathing ghats.
The minister said that the CAG audit, which had been sought by the rural development ministry itself, was only up to 2011-12 and a lot of things have improved since March 2012.
IANS
