Violating MGNREGA Operational Guidelines

07/07/2020

The independent Social Audit Unit was entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that an audit is conducted in every Gram Panchayat twice a year as per the Audit of Scheme Rules, 2011 in order to promote transparency and accountability in the implementation of the scheme and inform and educate the people about their rights and entitlement under the law. In Jammu and Kashmir this vital aspect of MGNREGA Operational Guidelines is being openly violated by assigning the task of social audit to the officers of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and neither a calendar at the beginning of the year which shall in advance lay out the sequence in which social audits will be conducted across all Gram Panchayats is drawn nor required number of audits are conducted. The administration of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory is openly violating vital aspect of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guara-ntee Act (MGNREGA) Operational Guidelines by getting the social audit conducted through the Department of Rural Development instead of an independent unit.
This is notwithstanding the fact that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India while conducting the performance audit at the country level has laid stress on strict adherence to the guidelines by each and every State and Union Territory so as to check mal-practices, deter corruption and improve implementation of MGNREGA. As per the Operational Guidelines of MGNREGA issued by the Union Government, each State and Union Territory is required to set up a Social Audit Unit which shall be independent from the department that is implementing the scheme. The guidelines state: "The Social Audit Unit must not be a Cell/ Directorate/ Unit within the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj of the State/UT. Moreover, Director of the Social Audit Unit should not be a Government officer involved in the implementation of MGNREGA in the State/UT and it should have independent staff structure comprising State Resource Persons and thematic experts".
The failure of the Government to establish independent Social Audit Unit is notwithstanding the fact that Comptroller and Auditor General of India, in its MGNREGA performance audit, has laid thrust on strict adherence to this vital aspect of the Operational Guidelines, even the Union Ministry of Rural Development has number of times dashed formal communications to the J&K administration asking for creation of Social Audit Unit as early as possible.

Photo Gallery

BSE Sensex

NSE Nifty