1 month ago
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Even arsenic the Congress authorities successful Karnataka opposed immoderate determination to dilute the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by the Centre, a study by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) flagged respective shortcomings successful the scheme’s implementation successful the State.
The CAG report, tabled successful the Legislative Assembly connected Tuesday for the play 2019–20 to 2023–24, noted that lone 5% of households received the mandated 100 days of employment. Most households were provided conscionable 1–30 days of work, portion request for employment did not transcend 48% of issued occupation cards during the audit period.
Contract management
The study highlighted irregularities successful declaration management, stating that outsourcing contracts were extended without caller tenders, starring to higher work charges. It besides pointed to violations successful recruitment, wherever declaration unit were hired without adhering to preservation norms, resulting successful inadequate practice of women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and persons with disabilities.
Further, the audit recovered gaps successful information systems, noting that NREGASoft lacked provisions to way employment request and allocation for susceptible groups specified arsenic nomadic tribes and HIV-positive individuals. Cross-verification with lodging strategy records indicated their important exclusion from the programme.
Serious fiscal irregularities were flagged, including fraudulent payments for completed oregon non-existent lodging works, payments to ineligible beneficiaries, and fabrication of records successful projects specified arsenic coagulated discarded management, cheque dams, and societal forestry.
Pendency rate
While ombudspersons had been appointed crossed districts, the study noted a precocious pendency complaint of 59% successful grievance disposal, with little than 20% of imposed penalties really recovered.
The audit observed a diminution successful wage expenditure during 2022–23 and 2023–24, underutilisation of funds nether the worldly component, and inadmissible administrative expenditure of ₹32.78 crore. Additionally, Aadhaar mapping remained incomplete for 3.11 lakh workers retired of 84.98 lakh progressive workers arsenic of March 2024, with ₹35.10 crore worthy of transactions pending owed to rejected payments.
The CAG observed irregularities specified arsenic printing of muster rolls without utilising NREGASoft and irregular payments connected specified manipulated muster rolls.
The State authorities has urged the Centre to scrap the “Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)” and reconstruct MGNREGA successful its archetypal signifier to safeguard employment and livelihoods for agrarian workers.
