Lok Sabha Question No. 4956 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-23
Subject: Irregularities in MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4956

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2019

## IRREGULARITIES IN MGNREGS

4956.  SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV: SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the attention of the Government has been drawn towards irregularities/corruption and  embezzlement  in  the  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee Scheme(MGNREGS)  including  large  scale  diversion  of  funds,  under/non-payment  of wages, lack of transparency etc.;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, category wise along with the nature of irregularities committed during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the action taken by the Government to prevent the recurrence of such irregularities/corruption  along  with  the  funds  released  and  utilized  under  the  scheme during the said period, State/UT-wise;
- (d) whether social auditing is being undertaken by the Gram Panchayats as perthe prescribed procedure;
- (e) if so, the details and the outcome thereof; and
- (f) the details of the major steps taken by the Government for effective implementation of MGNREGA?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) to (c): The  Ministry,  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee Scheme  (MGNREGS)  receives  complaints of irregularities/corruption and embezzlement including large scale diversion of funds, under/non-payment of wages, lack of transparency etc.. 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  transparency  and  accountability  which  include  geo-tagging,  Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), National electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS), Aadhar Based Payment System (ABPS), Software for Estimate Calculation using Rural rates for Employment (SECURE) and establishment of independent social audit units and appointment 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. State/UT-wise details of category wise complaints are at Annexure-I.

(d) & (e): Yes,  Sir.  27  States  have  established  Independent  Social  Audit  units.  As  per Management Information System (MIS), the total number of Gram Panchayats audited and total number of  issues  reported  during  the  last  three  financial  year  and  current  financial  year  is  as under:

| Year                       |   Total number of Gram Panchayats audited |   Total number of issues reported |
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2016-17                    |                                     62859 |                            217357 |
| 2017-18                    |                                     62853 |                            217357 |
| 2018-19                    |                                    106289 |                            489088 |
| 2019-20 (As on 22.07.2019) |                                      1517 |                             11683 |

The reports of the social audited are uploaded in the MIS for taking further corrective action by the respective States.

(f): The  Government  has  taken  various  steps  to  strengthen  implementation  of  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural  Employment Guarantee  Scheme (MGNREGS) from time to time. The details are as under:

- (i) Implementation of National electronic Fund Management System (Ne-FMS), focus on  Aadhaar  Based  Payment  system,  streamlining  the  fund  flow  mechanism  and monitoring of timely payment of wages to workers have been on focus. Sustained efforts and intensive engagement with all stakeholders has enabled vast improvements in timely payment of wages
- (ii) Wage and material ratio 60:40 was allowed at district level rather than GP level. This has enabled a new thrust on creation of durable assets that generate incomes.
- (iii) Followed a policy of indicative determination of Labour Budget (LB) allocation to the States based on SECC-2011 data so as to give more weightage to States having higher percentage of vulnerable households.
- (iv) The convergence of MGNREGS  with  departments like agriculture, forest, horticulture, fisheries, sericulture, animal husbandry, FFC/SFC grants to Panchayat, irrigation,  railways,  DWS,  school  education  etc.  at  National,  State,  district  and Panchayat  level  brought  out  greater  synergy  in  the  implementation  of  rural development programs.
- (v) 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 etc.
- (vi) Job  Cards  (JCs)  verification  of  MGNREGA  workers  to  weed  out  the  bogus  and duplicates JCs.
- (vii) 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.
- (viii) For  improved  planning,  effective  monitoring,  enhanced  visibility  and  greater transparency, GeoMGNREGA-  a path breaking initiative that uses space technology for geo-tagging all the assets created under MGNREGS launched.
- (ix) Software for Estimate Calculation using Rural rates for Employment (SECURE), an online an application designed and developed specially for estimate calculation of works has been implemented.

*****

Annexure-I  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (a)to(c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No. 4956dated 23.07.2019.

## FY 2016-17

Page 1 of 4

| S. No.   | State Name        |   Irregul arities (Not Specif ic) |   Corruption under NREGA |   Misappropri ation of fund under MGNREGA |   Under Payment of wages |   Non- Payment of Wages |   Lack of Awarness and not providing work |   Total |
|----------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |                                 0 |                        5 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       5 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 3        | Assam             |                                 1 |                        4 |                                         1 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       6 |
| 4        | Bihar             |                                 1 |                       10 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      12 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |                                 3 |                        2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       6 |
| 6        | Goa               |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 7        | Gujarat           |                                 0 |                        1 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       1 |
| 8        | Haryana           |                                 2 |                        4 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       6 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  |                                 0 |                        2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir    |                                 0 |                        1 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       1 |
| 11       | Jharkhand         |                                 2 |                        2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       4 |
| 12       | Karnataka         |                                 2 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 13       | Kerala            |                                 0 |                        1 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       1 |
| 14       | Lakshadweep       |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh    |                                 1 |                        8 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       9 |
| 16       | Maharashtra       |                                 0 |                        2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 17       | Manipur           |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 18       | Meghalaya         |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 19       | Mizoram           |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 20       | Nagaland          |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 21       | Odisha            |                                 0 |                        1 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 22       | Punjab            |                                 0 |                        1 |                                         1 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       3 |
| 23       | Puducherry        |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 24       | Rajasthan         |                                 5 |                       17 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      23 |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu        |                                 0 |                        6 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |       8 |
| 26       | Telangana         |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 27       | Tripura           |                                 2 |                        1 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       3 |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh     |                                25 |                       66 |                                         1 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         1 |      95 |
| 29       | Uttrakhand        |                                 3 |                        3 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       7 |
| 30       | West Bengal       |                                 2 |                        6 |                                         1 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       9 |
| 31       | Sikkim            |                                 0 |                        0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
|          | Total             |                                49 |                      143 |                                         4 |                        0 |                      10 |                                         1 |     207 |

Page 2 of 4

| S. No.   | State             |   Irregularit ies(Not Specific) |   Corrupti on under NREGA |   Misappropri ation of fund under MGNREGA |   Under Payment of wages |   Non- Payment of Wages |   Lack of Awarness and not providing work |   Total |
|----------|-------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |                               0 |                         6 |                                         1 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       7 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 3        | Assam             |                               1 |                         5 |                                         5 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      12 |
| 4        | Bihar             |                               2 |                        12 |                                         2 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      17 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |                               3 |                         5 |                                         0 |                        1 |                       3 |                                         0 |      12 |
| 6        | Goa               |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 7        | Gujarat           |                               0 |                         2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 8        | Haryana           |                               6 |                         2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       9 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  |                               1 |                         1 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir    |                               1 |                         2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |       5 |
| 11       | Jharkhand         |                               2 |                         5 |                                         2 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      10 |
| 12       | Karnataka         |                               2 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 13       | Kerala            |                               0 |                         2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                      79 |                                         0 |      81 |
| 14       | Lakshadweep       |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh    |                               1 |                        10 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      12 |
| 16       | Maharashtra       |                               0 |                         3 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       3 |                                         0 |       6 |
| 17       | Manipur           |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 18       | Meghalaya         |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 19       | Mizoram           |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 20       | Nagaland          |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 21       | Odisha            |                               0 |                         1 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |       3 |
| 22       | Punjab            |                               0 |                         1 |                                         3 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       5 |
| 23       | Puducherry        |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 24       | Rajasthan         |                               4 |                        18 |                                         3 |                        0 |                       3 |                                         0 |      28 |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu        |                               0 |                         7 |                                         1 |                        1 |                       5 |                                         0 |      14 |
| 26       | Telangana         |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 27       | Tripura           |                               2 |                         2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       5 |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh     |                              19 |                        61 |                                        11 |                        0 |                       7 |                                         0 |      98 |
| 29       | Uttrakhand        |                               3 |                         2 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |       7 |
| 30       | West Bengal       |                               1 |                         6 |                                         1 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |      10 |
| 31       | Sikkim            |                               0 |                         0 |                                         0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| Total    | Total             |                              48 |                       153 |                                        29 |                        2 |                     115 |                                         0 |     347 |

| S. No.   | State             |   Irregulari ties(Not Specific) |   Corrupti on under NREGA |   Misappro priation of fund under MGNRE GA |   Under Payment of wages |   Non- Payment of Wages |   Lack of Awarnes s and not providin g work |   Total |
|----------|-------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |                               0 |                         1 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       1 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 3        | Assam             |                               1 |                         3 |                                          3 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       7 |
| 4        | Bihar             |                               2 |                        12 |                                          6 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |      21 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |                               0 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       3 |                                           0 |       5 |
| 6        | Goa               |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 7        | Gujarat           |                               0 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       2 |
| 8        | Haryana           |                               7 |                         4 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |      11 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  |                               1 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |       2 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir    |                               0 |                         1 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       1 |
| 11       | Jharkhand         |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           1 |       1 |
| 12       | Karnataka         |                               1 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |       2 |
| 13       | Kerala            |                               1 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       1 |
| 14       | Lakshadweep       |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh    |                               1 |                        11 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |      13 |
| 16       | Maharashtra       |                               0 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       3 |                                           0 |       5 |
| 17       | Manipur           |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 18       | Meghalaya         |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 19       | Mizoram           |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 20       | Nagaland          |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 21       | Odisha            |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 22       | Punjab            |                               0 |                         0 |                                          5 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |       6 |
| 23       | Puducherry        |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 24       | Rajasthan         |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |       1 |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu        |                               0 |                         1 |                                          3 |                        0 |                       2 |                                           0 |       6 |
| 26       | Telangana         |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
| 27       | Tripura           |                               1 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       3 |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh     |                               0 |                         3 |                                          1 |                        0 |                       3 |                                           0 |       7 |
| 29       | Uttrakhand        |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |       1 |
| 30       | West Bengal       |                               0 |                         3 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                           0 |       4 |
| 31       | Sikkim            |                               0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                           0 |       0 |
|          | Total             |                              15 |                        47 |                                         18 |                        0 |                      19 |                                           1 |     100 |

Page 3 of 4

## 2019-20 till date

| S. No.   | State Name        |   Irregulari ties (Not Specific) |   Corrupti on under NREGA |   Misappropr iation of fund under MGNREG A |   Under Payment of wages |   Non- Payment of Wages |   Lack of Awarness and not providing work |   Total |
|----------|-------------------|----------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |                                0 |                         1 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       1 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 3        | Assam             |                                1 |                         5 |                                          3 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      10 |
| 4        | Bihar             |                                2 |                        12 |                                          6 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      21 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |                                0 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       4 |                                         0 |       6 |
| 6        | Goa               |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 7        | Gujarat           |                                0 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 8        | Haryana           |                                7 |                         4 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |      11 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  |                                1 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir    |                                0 |                         1 |                                          1 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 11       | Jharkhand         |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         1 |       1 |
| 12       | Karnataka         |                                1 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       2 |
| 13       | Kerala            |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 14       | Lakshadweep       |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh    |                                1 |                        11 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |      13 |
| 16       | Maharashtra       |                                0 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       3 |                                         0 |       5 |
| 17       | Manipur           |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 18       | Meghalaya         |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 19       | Mizoram           |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 20       | Nagaland          |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 21       | Odisha            |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 22       | Punjab            |                                0 |                         0 |                                          5 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |       7 |
| 23       | Puducherry        |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
| 24       | Rajasthan         |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       1 |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu        |                                0 |                         1 |                                         11 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |      14 |
| 26       | Telangana         |                                0 |                         0 |                                          1 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       1 |
| 27       | Tripura           |                                1 |                         2 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       3 |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh     |                                0 |                         5 |                                          3 |                        0 |                       3 |                                         0 |      11 |
| 29       | Uttrakhand        |                                0 |                         1 |                                          1 |                        0 |                       1 |                                         0 |       3 |
| 30       | West Bengal       |                                0 |                         3 |                                          2 |                        0 |                       2 |                                         0 |       7 |
| 31       | Sikkim            |                                0 |                         0 |                                          0 |                        0 |                       0 |                                         0 |       0 |
|          | Total             |                               14 |                        52 |                                         33 |                        0 |                      23 |                                         1 |     123 |

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