(a) whether it has been revealed that funds worth nearly Rs. 1000/- crore have been identified as having been “misappropriated” according to the latest Government data on the performance of social audits under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS);
(b) if so, the details of the social audit report;
(c) whether the Government proposes to take any effective steps to plug the loopholes on the functioning of MGNREGS; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV)
(a) & (b): According to Report No. 8 of 2016 - Union Civil Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee - Social Audit, the misappropriated amount pointed out by Social Audit is Rs. 111.86 Crore in three States.
(c) & (d): Major steps have been taken by the Ministry to strengthen the functioning of MGNREGA are as under:
i. Implementation of National electronic Fund Management System (Ne-FMS) and focus on Aadhaar Based Payment system, streamlining fund flow mechanism, and monitoring of timely payment of wages to workers.
ii. Training of Barefoot Technicians, capacity building of MGNREGA functionaries such as State technical resource team / District technical resource team / Block technical resource team on Mission Water Conservation works, training on Geo-MGNREGA, training to Finance officers of States on preparation of fund proposals etc.
iii. Monitoring framework developed and advisories issued for inspection of MGNREGS works by State, District and Block level officials and National Level Monitors.
iv. The Ministry has initiated Job Cards (JCs) verification of MGNREGA workers to weed out the bogus JCs, duplicates, migration etc.
v. Auditing Standards have been issued and States have been advised to establish independent Social Audit Units, conduct Social Audit as per Audit of Scheme Rules, training of Village resource persons for conducting Social Audit etc.
vi. A path breaking initiative for improved planning, effective monitoring and greater transparency with the use space technology for geo-tagging of MGNREGA assets was launched in FY 2016-17.
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