CAG slams Bihar for poor implementation of MNREGS

The govt auditor in its special report finds several major discrepancies in rural employment scheme in state

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) today slammed the Bihar government for poor implementation of Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) in the state.

The government auditor in its special report found several major discrepancies in the rural employment scheme in Bihar.

The report states, "Under MNREGS, 1.34 crore million households were registered during 2007-12. However, jobs were provided to only 35 per cent registrants. Of the total households registered in this scheme, only one to seven per cent households were provided 100 days jobs during the mentioned period." CAG also reports that only 28 per cent jobs were provided to female workers against the stipulated 33 per cent.

The state government received more than Rs  8,100 crores under this scheme during 2007-12. However, the report indicated towards poor financial planning by the state government. It states, "The annual plans were prepared with delay and without labour projections. This deprived state of grants of Rs  9,684 crore in shape of central share."

The government auditor also reported that the number of registered households reported by the state government was inflated and several households were issued more than one job cards. "It was found in 8 districts that large numbers of households had multiple job cards. More than one job cards was issued to 2,869 households. In some cases, even 3-4 job cards were issued to a single person in violation of the act," said the CAG.

It also reported that trend of percentage of households getting job cards was decreased during 2007-12, although the absolute numbers increased.