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Official scrutiny reveals that while there has been a definite improvement in record maintenance since the conduct of an initial audit last year, maintenance of basic records at the gram panchayat level, in particular employment registers, remains poor
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its final performance audit report on implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), has expressed “serious doubts” over the reliability of official data generated at the block and district levels.
“The reliability of monthly progress reports (MPRs) from the block and district levels was in serious doubt as they could not be reconciled with the relevant basic records,” observes CAG.
CAG’s findings, after ‘limited scrutiny’ of record maintenance, follows a six-month performance audit of the NREGS in 513 gram panchayats spread across 68 randomly selected districts between May and September last year.
An earlier draft performance audit report released this January pointed to several anomalies in implementation of the NREGS. In the latest report, while CAG has pointed to improvements in Uttar Pradesh, the performance of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Rajasthan is found lacking on several counts.
CAG’s findings indicate that the mess cuts across states:
• Excess reporting of 6.06 lakh man-days of cumulative employment in Purulia district, West Bengal.
• Excess reporting of fund utilisation of Rs 0.99 crore in West Midnapore and Purulia districts, West Bengal.
• Excess reporting of expenditure of Rs 174.29 lakh in Maharashtra.
• No photographs affixed on 1,093 job cards issued to registered households in two blocks in Maharashtra.
• In all four blocks surveyed in Jharkhand, no photographs had been affixed to any of the 3,189 job cards.
• In Bihar, no photographs were affixed in job card registers.
• In one block, in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district, no records were available to support the block-level reports of half the gram panchayats.
Meanwhile, the rural development ministry has clarified in an official release that it has already initiated several reform measures to address the concerns highlighted by CAG.
The ministry has shared the latest CAG report with the states and initiated corrective action including ensuring that workers’ wages are paid through workers’ accounts in banks and post offices, as suggested by CAG.
According to the ministry, around 4.22 crore accounts have been opened in banks and post offices and the ministry is closely monitoring disbursement of wages through these accounts. An independent grievance redressal mechanism, through the lok adalat, in consultation with the National Legal Services Authority, is under consideration.
A national helpline has also been made operational, said the official release.
The management information system (MIS) has been strengthened and nodal officers in all states and union territories have been deployed to ensure authenticity and reliability of data.
The ministry claims that over 82.63 lakh muster rolls have been verified by the respective states and placed on the website, www.nrega.nic.in. About 1.77 lakh social audits have been conducted with the help of NGOs, IIMs and other institutions.
States have addressed the issue of inadequate staff, as pointed out by CAG. They have also been advised to strengthen information and communication technology activities up to the block level, and utilise central funds appropriated under administrative expenses.
So far, 2.24 lakh gram rozgar sahayaks, 5,277 programme officers, 22,588 technical staff, 6,455 data entry operators, and 5,267 accountants have been engaged. Another 6.81 lakh panchayati raj institution functionaries, 5.51 lakh members of vigilance and monitoring committees, and 1.86 lakh gram rozgar sahayaks have been provided training for better implementation of legally mandated processes under the NREGA.
The Centre has released Rs 16,244.19 crore up to October 2008 to the states for implementation of the scheme; in the first phase, the districts have reported an expenditure of Rs 6,880.07 crore. Districts under Phase II of the scheme have so far spent Rs 3041.19 crore; Rs 2471.87 crore has been utilised by Phase III districts, making an aggregate expenditure of Rs 12,393.13 crore.
The ministry adds that the NREGS, which covers 600 districts in the country, currently provides employment to 2.93 crore households, generating 109.3 crore person-days of employment. It has reached out to marginalised groups such as scheduled tribes and scheduled castes, and women, constituting 54% and 49% of the NREGS workforce respectively.
About 19.14 lakh works have been undertaken in the current year. The enhanced wage earnings of NREGS workers have led to a strengthening of the livelihood resource base of India’s rural poor.
In 2007-2008, over 68% of funds utilised was in the form of wages paid to labourers. In 2008-2009, 71% of funds was utilised to pay wages.
Minimum wages have shown an upward trend after implementation of the NREGS. In Maharashtra, minimum wages have risen from Rs 47 to Rs 72, in Uttar Pradesh from Rs 58 to Rs 100, in Bihar from Rs 68 to Rs 81, in Karnataka from Rs 62 to Rs 74, in West Bengal from Rs 64 to Rs 75, in Madhya Pradesh from Rs 58 to Rs 85, in Himachal Pradesh from Rs 65 to Rs 75, in Nagaland from Rs 66 to Rs 100, in Jammu and Kashmir from Rs 45 to Rs 70, and in Chhattisgarh from Rs 58 to Rs 72.23.
According to development economist Jean Drèze, who conducted a survey of 200 districts in 2006-07, there is good news even from Jharkhand, one of the worst performing states as far as the NREGS is concerned. Wages are higher than they used to be, delays in wage payments shorter, productivity norms more reasonable, and complaints about worksite harassment rare.
But Dreze also points to the casual attitude of the central government towards its own money. Given that around 90% of NREGS funds come from the Centre, the government has both a right and a duty to enforce high standards of transparency and accountability in the programme, says Dreze.
Although the NREGA gives the Centre wide powers to do so, the rural development ministry largely expects state governments to comply with its operational guidelines. Thus, the NREGS is being implemented in a dangerous vacuum, with few mandatory norms except for general provisions under the Act. This state of affairs makes the NREGS vulnerable to corruption and other irregularities. A wake-up call is badly needed, says Dreze, though as a member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council he maintains that the rural job guarantee scheme remains a valuable and valued opportunity for the rural poor, particularly for women, to earn a living wage in a dignified manner.
Source: The Indian Express, November 15, 2008
The Financial Express, November 5, 2008
The Hindu, July 19, 2008
http://egovonline.net, November 2008
www.righttofoodindia.org, November 2008
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