CAG finds fault in CM Gram Sadak Yojana, ICDS in Bihar

Faulty implementation of the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (MMGSY) in Bihar aimed at connecting villages having a population of 500 to 999, resulted in 183 villages remaining disconnected, a CAG report has said.
The latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the year ending 31 March, 2016 also states that several villages which did not meet the MMGSY criteria, were connected.
The CAG report was tabled in the Bihar Legislative Assembly by state Finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui today.
The report has pointed out poor functioning of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the National Rural drinking water programme in Bihar.

The state Rural Works department did not provide
connectivity to the selected eligible villages till March 2016 as works remained incomplete or abandoned by contractors, it said.

"Quality controls specified in the guidelines were not ensured and 25 per cent of Action Taken Reports of Mobile Quality Monitoring Units were pending as on March 2016," it said.
"Though maintenance works were due in respect of roads constructed till 2014-15, the same was not carried out in 78 per cent of roads," the CAG report said.
Painting a sorry picture for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), the report said the Social Welfare Department neither identified malnourished/severely nourished children of the state, nor set any target to reduce prevalence of underweight children, anaemia in case of pregnant women/lactating mothers, IMR and MMR during scheme implementation.

"Quality services provided to the beneficiaries were seriously compromised as basic amenities like toilet, drinking water, kitchen, utensils etc in Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) were missing," it said.
"In addition, 72 per cent of the functional AWCs did not have their own building in Bihar," the CAG report said.
The National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) could not yield intended results and the population remained affected with arsenic, fluoride and iron contamination as they were not provided with safe drinking water, the report said.
"As a result, 4.67 lakh arsenic, 16.51 lakh fluoride and 79.06 lakh iron affected population remained deprived of safe drinking water despite an expenditure of Rs 609 crore," the CAG report observed.