Irregularities in implementation of MNREGA: CAG

Coming down heavily on the way MNREGA has been implemented, government auditor CAG today said "irregularities" were detected and works of over Rs 4000 crore were lying incomplete while projects undertaken for over Rs.2000 crore under the rural job scheme were not permissible.
The irregularities in MNREGA pertain to diversion of funds, implementation of impermissible works and deficiencies in maintenance of records, said the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which was tabled in Parliament today.
The auditor made a strong pitch for centralised monitoring of the rural job scheme, flagged by the UPA as one of its biggest achievements to benefit the poor.

"Irregularities were...Noticed in the works undertaken under MNREGA. Instances of works abandoned midway or not completed for a significant period were noticed.
"Works of Rs 2,252.43 crore, which were undertaken under the scheme were not permissible. It was seen that 7.69 lakh works amounting to Rs 4,070.76 crore were incomplete even after one to 5 years. It was also noted that expenditure on works amounting Rs 6,547.35 crore did not result in creation of durable assets. Cases of diversion of funds for other uses were also seen in large number of states", the report said.
The CAG said that states with large population of poor people like Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were not taking advantage of the scheme to ameliorate the condition of poor.

"...Three states-Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh had 46 per cent of the rural poor in India, but accounted for only about 20 per cent of the total funds released under the scheme. This would indicate that the poorest of the poor were not fully able to exercise their rights under the MNREGA," it said.
Commenting on the CAG, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said that "it is a performance audit, it is not a financial audit, it not forensic audit...In the past 30 years, I have never seen the CAG give a positive observation."
The Minister, however, admitted that there was problem in implementation of the scheme in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.