Social Audit of MNREGA scheme

Social Audit of MNREGA scheme

Important for Prelims:

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Union Ministry of Rural Development, Social Audit Mechanism, MNREGA and Sustainable Development Goals, Purchasing Power.

Important for Mains:

Social audit mechanism under MNREGA and related challenges, updated statistics related to social audit, difference between social audit and financial audit.

Nov. 24, 2023

Why in news:

Only six of the 34 states and union territories have completed social audit of the work done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in more than 50% of the gram panchayats.

  • These data have been obtained from the Management Information System (MIS) on Social Audit maintained by the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) till November 10, 2023.

Performance of States under MGNREGS:

  • Kerala is the only state to cover 100% gram panchayats under social audit.
  • Apart from Kerala, the states that have crossed the 50% mark are: Bihar (64.4), Gujarat (58.8%), Jammu and Kashmir 64.1%, Odisha (60.42%) and Uttar Pradesh (54.97%).
  • Only three states have covered 40% or more villages – Telangana (40.5%), Himachal Pradesh (45.32%) and Andhra Pradesh (49.7%).
  • Apart from Telangana, the numbers are actually lower in the poll-bound states – Madhya Pradesh (1.73%), Mizoram (17.5%), Chhattisgarh (25.06), and Rajasthan (34.74%).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RACE IAS LUCKNOW

 

Updated statistics related to Social Audit:

  • The results of social audit of MNREGA in the current financial year (2023-24) have revealed misappropriation of an amount of ₹27.5 Crore under the scheme.
  • After taking corrective action, this amount reduced to ₹9.5 Crore but so far only ₹1.31 Crore (13.8% of the total amount) has been recovered.
  • Recovery rates in previous financial years had a similar trend to recovery inefficiencies:
  • The recoverable amount in FY 2022-23 was ₹86.2 Crore, but only ₹18 Crore (20.8% of the total amount) was recovered.
  • In the financial year 2021-22, a target of ₹171 Crore was set, yet only ₹26 Crore (15% of the total amount) could be recovered.

About MNREGA Scheme:

  • In the year 2005, this scheme was launched by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
  • Currently, it is one of the largest employment guarantee programs in the world.
  • The scheme provides a legal guarantee of 100 days of employment in each financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do unskilled manual work related to public work at the statutory minimum wage.
  • 14.32 Crore employees have been active under this scheme in the period 2023-24.

Objective:

  • To improve the purchasing power of rural people by providing semi or unskilled work to the people living below the poverty line in rural India.
  • To reduce the gap between rich and poor in the country.

Key Features:

  • In this scheme, as a legal guarantee, every rural adult has the right to get work for his livelihood and he should get employment within 15 days.
  • If this commitment is not fulfilled, there is a provision to pay “unemployment allowance”.
  • There is a provision to provide employment to at least one-third women on priority basis in this scheme.
  • Under Section 17 of MNREGA, it is mandatory to conduct social audit of all the works executed.
  • All the work related to this scheme is being monitored by the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and the state governments of the country.

About Social Audit Mechanism:

  • Social audit is a program conducted with the active participation of the public to compare, check and evaluate the actual status of actions with official records.
  • It is a powerful tool for social change, community participation and government accountability.

Difference between Social Audit and Financial Audit:

  • It is different from financial audit. Financial audit examines an organization's income and expenditure records, while social audit involves stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of a program in achieving its social goals.

Social Audit Mechanism under MGNREGA:

Provision:

  • According to Section 17 of MGNREGS, it is the responsibility of Gram Sabhas to monitor the execution of all basic functions of the Gram Panchayat.
  • All audit provisions related to this scheme are known as MGNREGS Audit Rules, 2011. These provisions were developed by the Ministry of Rural Development in collaboration with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Related Challenges:

  • Units lack funds: Social audit units suffer from inadequate funding, hampering their ability to function effectively.
  • The central government provides funds to social audit units to ensure their independence from the states.
  • The financial condition of the testing units in the states of Bihar and Karnataka has been worrying.
  • Lack of training: Inadequate training and lack of resources both hinder the effectiveness of execution.
  • Shortage of Personnel: Shortage of personnel creates delay and complexity in the execution of social audit units.
  • Low recovery rate: Many states including Gujarat, Goa, Meghalaya, Puducherry and Ladakh have had zero recovery in the last three consecutive years. States like Telangana, despite having active social audit units, are struggling with low recovery rates. This raises questions about the effectiveness of surveillance in these areas.

Way forward:

  • All beneficiaries including stakeholders, civil society organizations, government officials and auditors must be involve in evaluation and redesign of the social audit process.
  • Investments should be made in training and capacity-building programs for auditors responsible for social audit.
  • There is a need to put in place a strong mechanism to protect whistleblowers who report irregularities or corruption in MGNREGA projects.
  • Active participation of local communities should be encouraged in social audit. They need to be empowered to monitor and report project progress and fund utilization.
  • There is also a need to establish grievance redressal committees at the village level for quick resolution of problems related to social audit.
  • Identifying complex issues related to the system and need to work towards continuous improvement.
  • A feedback loop should be established so that audit findings can be used to improve the MGNREGA programme.

Source: The Hindu

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Mains Exam Question

Discuss the appropriate solutions to the challenges related to social audit of MNREGA.