Assam's MGNREGA scheme fails to ensure primary objective: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found several discrepancies and irregularities in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the Congress-ruled North-Eastern state of Assam.

Only 9.03 per cent of the registered households in Assam were provided with 100 days employment from 2007 to 2012 "rendering failure of ensuring primary objective of the scheme," stated the report.

The CAG, in its special report, has categorically stated that the Assam government "has failed" to ensure the primary objective of livelihood security to each rural population by providing 100 days guaranteed employment in a year due to "improper" and "ineffective" planning. It found discrepancies and irregularities such as non-utilisation of funds, non-transparent process of registration and issuance of job cards, non-payment of unemployment allowances and compensation to eligible workers, inadequate capacity building, failure in creating durable assets, etc.

During the last five years, 100 days employment could be provided to only 3.54 lakh workers against the demand from 88.15 lakh households due to improper and ineffective planning without any strategy to create long term employment generation opportunities, found the CAG.  

Major policy decisions like planning and monitoring were left unaddressed as the state apex level body viz., State Employment Guarantee Council (SEGC) failed to meet at regular intervals as envisaged in the SEGC rules framed by the government.

"The state government failed to achieve the target of secondary objective of creating durable assets to enhance livelihood of the rural poor in future for the reasons of not following the provisions of the Act and NREGA Works Field Manual. There was inadequacy on the part of the state government regarding adoption of economy measures in procurement of materials and maintenance of proper accounts. There were deficiencies in targeted inspections, lack of vigilance, inadequate checking of muster rolls and lack of transparency in maintaining records etc., leading to suspected misappropriation/doubtfulexpenditure/fraudulent payment aggregating Rs 3.40 crore detected in audit during the test-check of records," said the CAG.