Lok Sabha Question No. 3908 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-09
Subject: Accountability Framework for Rural Development
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: BALKA SUMAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3908 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2018

## ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## 3908.   SHRI SUMAN BALKA:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether his Ministry has developed an accountability framework for all its programmes through the multipronged framework of Social Audit, Financial Audit, Geo-tagging and use of ITDBT and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  any  advisory  Group  on  internal  audit  has  been  set  up  to  suggest  system  for continuous improvement in implementation of schemes and their better compliance and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to launch a certificate programme on internal audit for retired and serving accounts officers and other Government servants and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  also  proposed  to  launch  a  certificate  programme  on  social audit for women Self Help Group members and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether his Ministry has introduced a system of Common Review Mission (CRM) to assess the progress of schemes in States and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV)

(a): Yes  Madam.  The  Government  has  evolved    a  robust  multipronged  accountability framework for all its programmes through legislative control on Budget, Financial Rules and Regulations,  guidelines  of  programmes,  financial  control,  financial  audit,  Public  Financial Management System, Direct Benefit Transfer, internal audit,  social  audit, evaluation, impact assessment etc.

As  per  Section  24  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Act 2005, Government in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, audits  of  the  accounts  of  the  Schemes  at  all  levels  have  been  prescribed.  Social  audit  of  all expenditure and all the works executed under the Scheme is a statutory commitment under this Act. The Ministry has also introduced Auditing Standards in order to strengthen the process of social  audits  and  ensure  the  compliance  of  Audit  of  Scheme  Rules,  2011.  The  Ministry  has mandated  the  formation  of independent  social audit units. 26 States have  established Independent Social Audit Units as on 07.08.2018.

Expenses  incurred  under  centrally  sponsored  schemes  are  audited  at  state  level  and utilization certificates are obtained from the states before further release of funds. Ministry also conducts internal audit in some cases.

Building  on  the  principle  of  eligibility  through  Socio  Economic  Census  2011,  the programmes  have  made  significant  progress  in  institutionalizing  a  transparent  framework. Besides, all transaction based MIS in the public domain that provides geo-tagged photos and real  time  information;  efforts  have  been  made  to  develop  citizen  centric  apps  like  Gram Samvad,  Meri  Sadak,  Awaas  App  etc.  to  improve  the  accountability  to  the  people. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 30.07.2018 between the Department of Rural  Development,  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  and  National  Remote  Sensing  Centre (NRSC) Hyderabad,  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space (DoS) for  Geo-tagging  the  assets  under  the  MGNREGS  in  each  Gram  Panchayat.  The  MoU addresses specific  components  of  geo-tagging  the  assets  and  creation  of data  base  for  online recording and monitoring.

Under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Ministry along with the States/UTs has been making concerted efforts for improving the timely payment of wages. DBT under MGNREGA is a major reform process where benefits are credited  directly  into  the  bank  accounts  of  MGNREGA  workers,  preferably  Aadhaar  Based Payments,  cutting  several  layers  in  the  delivery  process.  States/  UTs  have  been  advised  to generate  pay  orders  in  time.  This  has  resulted  in  considerable  improvement  in  the  status  of timely generation of pay order and leading to improvement in actual time taken to credit wages in the workers account. During the current financial year 2018-19 (as on 07.08.2018), around 92% pay orders have been generated within 15 days from the date of closure of the Muster Roll. In PMAY-G, NSAP, PMGSY and NRLM schemes also the payments are released in the account of most of the beneficiaries and vendors.

(b): Yes  Madam.  One  Expert  Advisory  Group  on  Internal  Audit  was  constituted  on 05.06.2017  to  strengthen  and  revamp  internal  audit  setup.    EAG  has  submitted  its  report  in March,  2018.  EAG  has  recommended  to  setup  a  separate  office  of  internal  audit  headed  by Chief Controller of Accounts with required financial and human resources. The EAG has also recommended to establish a Centre for Internal Audit for Rural Development (CIARD) to assist the  states  in  Internal  Audit,  to  create  capacities  and  to  develop  synergy  in  internal  control mechanisms. Further, a Standing Committee of Experts has been constituted for taking forward the work of capacity building and sensitization about internal audit in the states.

(c): Yes  Madam.  A  certificate  course  on  internal  audit  for  serving  and  retired  Accounts Officers and other Government servants has started at National Institute of Rural Development &  Panchayati  Raj  (NIRD&PR),  Hyderabad.  Objective  of  the  course  is  to  create  a  pool  of trained and certified internal auditors who would be equipped with an understanding of internal audit  process,  roles  and  responsibilities.  This  3  week  long  course  contains  theoretical  and practical modules on internal audit. As per the curriculum the trainees would be deployed on actual audits as part of practical assignment. Successful trainees would be declared as certified auditors  and  their  services  may  be  utilized  by  the  States  and  Central  Govt.  Departments  to conduct risk based Internal Audits.

- (d): Yes Madam. The Ministry rolled out Self Help Group - Village Resource Person (SHGVRP) training programme on Social Audits in 11 States in order to create a cadre of resource persons at village level to facilitate effective conduct of Social Audits. The details of the SHGVRPs trained as on 07.08.2018 is as under:
- (e): Yes Madam. In its quest towards achieving the mandate of sustainable development and inclusive  growth,  the  Department  has  started  the  Common  Review  Mission  (CRM)  as  an annual exercise to evaluate the progress of rural development programmes in diverse contexts and  use  such  evidence  to  constantly  improve  programme  design  and  implementation.  CRM comprises  multi  disciplinary  team  of  senior  retired  government  officials,  academia,  rural development experts and civil society members. So far three Common Review Missions have been  undertaken.  The  third  CRM  has  recently  visited  8  states  namely,  Andhra  Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

| S. No.   | State          |   Number of Village Resource Persons (VRPs) trained |
|----------|----------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Chhattisgarh   |                                               14214 |
| 2        | West Bengal    |                                                  73 |
| 3        | Jharkhand      |                                                4952 |
| 4        | Tamil Nadu     |                                               21187 |
| 5        | Karnataka      |                                                1130 |
| 6        | Assam          |                                                1635 |
| 7        | Telangana      |                                                1682 |
| 8        | Madhya Pradesh |                                               11315 |
| 9        | Bihar          |                                                2611 |
| 10       | Odisha         |                                                3547 |
| 11       | Andhra Pradesh |                                                5200 |
| Total    | Total          |                                               67546 |

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