Lok Sabha Question No. 1133 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-08
Subject: Embezzlement of Funds under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Y. S. AVINASH REDDY

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1133

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2018

## EMBEZZLEMENT OF FUNDS UNDER MGNREGS

## 1133.   SHRI Y.S. AVINASH REDDY:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  regulate  the  implementation  of  the  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the light of widespread corruption being reported in its implementation;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  embezzlement  of  funds  under MGNREGS has taken place in a large-scale and if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (d) whether the scheme is suffering from procedural lapses in the implementation and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  remedial  measures  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  in  addressing  these issues/lapses particularly the corruption?

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

(a) to (c): No widespread corruption has been reported to the Ministry. Nevertheless, the Ministry has taken several steps with a view to bring in more transparency in the system and to minimize leakages. The Ministry has introduced Electronic Fund Management System (eFMS) under which 96% of wage payments are electronically credited into the accounts of the workers  through  DBT  system.  The  Government  has  started  National  Electronic  Fund Management  System  (NeFMS)  in  24  States  and  1  UT  for  direct  payment  of  wages  into workers  account.  The  State  Governments/UTs  have  been  advised  to  get  the  registered households verified through Panchayat functionaries to ensure correctness in the database of the programme. After due verification, job cards have been deleted due to reasons like fakes, duplicate, wrong allocation, deceased etc. To bring in more visibility and transparency, the Ministry  has  started  geotagging  of  assets  and  has  made  available  the  geotags  in  public domain.  The  Ministry  has  also  launched  a  mobile  app  'JANMANREGA'  which  is  citizen centric where the citizen can view assets, verify the same and give feed backs.

(d) & (e): The Programme has many inbuilt system for transparency and accountability. The Auditing standard for Social Audit has been prepared in consultation with C&AG. The Ministry, under MGNREGA receives complaints of irregularities including misuse of funds etc.  from  States/UTs.  Since  the  responsibility  of  implementation  of  MGNREGA  is  vested with the State Governments/UTs, all complaints received in the Ministry are forwarded to the concerned  State  Governments/UTs for taking appropriate action  including  investigation,  as per law. Steps have been taken to strengthen the system of Ombudsmen in the States. State specific reviews of States are also undertaken from time to time. Officers of the Ministry and National Level Monitors also visit various districts to oversee the performance of MGNREGA.

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