MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRADEEP JAIN `ADITYA`)
(a) & (b): Yes, Sir. 8 cases of diversion of funds released under Mahatma Gandhi
NREGA have been reported to the Ministry. State-wise details are as under:
S.No. State No. of complaints relating to diversion of funds
1 Andhra Pradesh 1
2 Chhattisgarh 1
3 Jharkhand 1
4 Manipur 2
5 Uttar Pradesh 3
Section 17(2) of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA provides that Gram Sabha shall
conduct regular social audits of all the projects under the scheme taken up within
the Gram Panchayat. Section 24 of the Act provides for Audit of accounts which are as
under;
(1) The Central Government may, in consultation with the Comptroller and
Auditor General of India, prescribe appropriate arrangements for audit of
accounts of the schemes at all levels.
(2) The accounts of the scheme shall be maintained in such form and in such
manner as may be prescribed by the State Government.
(c): No, Sir.
(d): Does not arise.
(e): With a view to strengthen the audit of MGNREGS and stop misuse and
diversion of funds, the following steps have been taken:
(i) A Web enabled Management Information System (MIS) (www.nrega.nic.in)
has been made operational which places all critical parameters such as job
cards, muster rolls, wage payments, number of days of employment provided
and works under execution online for monitoring and easy public access for
information.
(ii) Wage disbursement to NREGA workers through Banks/Post Office accounts
has been made mandatory to ensure proper disbursement of wages to NREGA
workers. To cover the gaps in financial services and outreach and also to
ensure greater transparency in wage disbursement, Rural ATM, hand held
devices, smart cards and biometrics have been initiated.
(iii) The Ministry has accorded utmost importance to the organization of Social
Audits by the Gram Panchayats and issued instructions to the States to make
necessary arrangements for the purpose. Modifications have been made in para
13 of Schedule-I of the Act to provide for procedures on conducting social
audits. The Ministry has issued instructions to the State Governments for
enforcement of the new social audit provisions under NREGA
(iv) In cases of misappropriation and embezzlement of Government funds under
MGNREGA, all State Governments have been requested to ensure that not
only disciplinary action should be taken against the guilty officials, but
simultaneously criminal prosecution should also be initiated under Indian Penal
Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, besides recovering the amount
involved from the persons concerned in accordance with the Law.
