Lok Sabha Question No. 648 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-07-23
Subject: Irregularties under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA, GAURAV GOGOI, RAYAPATI SAMBASIVA RAO, T.G. VENKATESH BABU, VISHNU DAYAL RAM, NANDI YELLAIAH, KANWAR SINGH TANWAR, RODMAL NAGAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.648 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2015

## IRREGULARTIES UNDER MGNREGS

## 648. SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA:

SHRI GAURAV GOGOI:

SHRI RAYAPATI SAMBASIVA RAO:

SHRI VENKATESH BABU T.G::

SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

SHRI NANDI YELLAIAH:

SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

SHRI NAGAR RODMAL:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- a whether number of   irregularities/corruption cases including diversion of   funds, embezelement of wages lack of   transparency etc. under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have come to the notice of the Government; large
- the action taken   by the Government   in this and to check recurrence of  such irregularities/corruption cases; and funds released and utilized under the Scheme the said period State and UT-wise; regard during -
- if so, the category-wise details thereof indicating the nature of irregularities during each of the last three years and the current year; State/UT-wise;
- whether the social audits by Gram Panchayats are undertaken as per the prescribed procedure and if the details and outcome thereof; and being SO,
- the details of major initiatives major undertaken by the Government for effective implementation of MGNREGS?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## (SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT)

(a) to(c): The Ministry, under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) receives complaints of irregularities including diversion of funds, embezzlement of funds,   less/non-payment of wages, of  transparency etc. in many State/UTs. Since the responsibility of   implementation is vested with the State   Governments, all complaints received in the Ministry are forwarded to the concerned State Governments for taking appropriate action including investigation, aS per law. Detailed instructions by way of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for dealing with complaints have also been issued to all States/UTs. The State and UT-wise details of 'complaints is at Annexure-I

Inorder to ensure that such instances process and the  institution of Ombudsmen   have been  prescribed  The  effectiveness of these interventions is varying from State to State. The Ministry is actively involved with the States in improving the effectiveness of delivery of these interventions In order to strengthen the social been   approved by the Ministry. This scheme is currently under implementation: State/UT-wise details of fund released and expenditure incurred during the last three years and current year are at Annexure-II:

- (d): Except in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh, the social audits reportedly conducted have not met the standards laid down in the Audit of Scheme rules 2011. Efforts are going to train and  reorient the States in  order to conduct   the Social audits productively. State/UT-wise details on status of outcome of social audits as furnished by them are given in the Annexure -III:
- (e): The major steps taken by the Government to improve the programme implementation under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural   Employment   Guarantee Act   (MGNREGA) are given  in the Annexure-IV.

Table 1: Status of the State SAUs for 28 States (organized in order of expenditure in FY 2014-15)

| Name of State          | Nature of SAU                                    | Director, SAU                                                                | Grievance Redress Rules notified   |
|------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| 1 . West Bengal*       | Cell within the Department of Rural Development  | Commissioner P&RD and Director SIRD given additional charge                  | Yes                                |
| 2. Tamil Nadu*         | Society                                          | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | No                                 |
| 3 . Rajasthan*         | Cell within the Department of Rural Development_ | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | Yes                                |
| 4_ Madhya Pradesh*     | Society                                          | No Director appointed                                                        | Yes                                |
| 5. Andhra Pradesh*     | Society                                          | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | No                                 |
| 6_ Uttar Pradesh*      | Society                                          | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | Yes                                |
| 7. Chhattisgarh *      | Society                                          | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | Yes                                |
| 8 Telengana            | Society                                          | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | No                                 |
| 9. Karnataka*          | Society                                          | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | Yes                                |
| 10 . Maharashtra*      | Cell within the Department of Rural Development  | Deputy Secretary, EGS given additional charge                                | Yes                                |
| 11. Bihar*             | Cell within the Department of Rural Development  | Additional Secretary, Department of Rural Developmentgiven additional charge | No                                 |
|                        | Society                                          | No Director appointed                                                        | Yes                                |
| 13 . Kerala*           | No SAU constituted                               | No Director appointed                                                        | Yes                                |
| 14. Jharkhand*         | Cell within the Department of Rural Development  | Commissioner; MGNREGA given additional charge                                | No                                 |
| 15 . Gujarat*          | NGO                                              | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | No                                 |
| 16. Tripura*           | NGO                                              | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | No                                 |
| 17. Himachal Pradesh*  | No SAU constituted                               | No Director appointed                                                        | Yes                                |
| 18. Assam*             | SIRD                                             | SIRD Director given additional charge                                        | No                                 |
| 19. Jammu and Kashmir* | Cell within the Department of Rural Development  | Full time Social Audit Director                                              | No                                 |
| 20. Punjab *           | SIRD                                             | SIRD Director given additional charge                                        | Yes                                |
| 21. Uttarakhand*       | No SAU constituted                               | No Director appointed                                                        | No                                 |
| 22.Manipur*            | Independent Society                              | No Director appointed                                                        | No                                 |
| 23. Meghalaya*         | Independent society                              | No Director appointed                                                        | Yes                                |

| 24. Haryana           | Cell within the Department of Rural Development   | Director General, Rural Development Departmentgiven additional charge_   | Yes   |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------|
| 25 . Nagaland         | SIRD                                              | Director, STRD having additional charge                                  | No    |
| 26. Mizoram           | Independent Society                               | Full time Social Audit Director                                          | Yes   |
| 27. Sikkim*           | NGO                                               | Full time Social Audit Director                                          | Yes   |
| 28. Arunachal Pradesh | No data received                                  | No data received                                                         |       |

## II Status of Recruitment of Core Staff at State Level

As per the Special Project for Social Audit; the costs of recruiting the minimum core staff of the SAU will be met by the MoRD: The release of funds for the same will be based on the number of minimum th core staff and the nature of recruitment prescribed by the MoRD in its letters dated 11 June 2014 and th 11 August 2014.

As of today of the total 149 eligible vacancies at the State Level, SAUs have filled up 63 positions. 86 positions are to be filled up out of which selection committee notifications have been issued for only 12. yet

Table 2: Status of recruitment of core State level staff of SAUs for 28 States (organized in order of expenditure in FY 2014-15)

| Name of State          | Number of State Resource Persons that can be hired under Special Project   | Number of State Resource Persons hired   | Pending Recruitment   | Whether State Selection Committee notified   | Whether advertisements have been issued   |
|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 1 _ West Bengal*       |                                                                            | 3                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 2 _ Tamil Nadu*        | 8                                                                          | 8                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 3.Rajasthan*           | 8                                                                          | 2                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 4. Madhya Pradesh*     |                                                                            |                                          |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 5 . Andhra Pradesh*    |                                                                            | 6                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 6_ Uttar Pradesh*      | 17                                                                         |                                          | 13                    | No                                           | No                                        |
| 7.Chhattisgarh *       | 7                                                                          | 4                                        |                       | Yes                                          | Yes                                       |
| 8_ Telengana           |                                                                            |                                          |                       |                                              |                                           |
| 9.Karnataka*           | 8                                                                          | 2                                        |                       | Yes                                          | Yes                                       |
| 10. Maharashtra        |                                                                            |                                          | 6                     | Yes                                          | Yes                                       |
| 11. Bihar*             |                                                                            |                                          |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
|                        |                                                                            | 0                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 14.Jharkhand=          |                                                                            | 0                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 15.Gujarat*            | 6                                                                          | 5                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 16. Tripura            | 2                                                                          | 2                                        | 0                     | No                                           | No                                        |
| 17. Himachal Pradesh*  | 3                                                                          |                                          | 3                     | No                                           | No                                        |
| 18. Assam*             | 7                                                                          | 0                                        |                       | Yes                                          | No                                        |
| 19. Jammu and Kashmir* | 5                                                                          |                                          | 1                     | No                                           | No                                        |
| 20.Punjab*             | 5                                                                          | 5                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 21. Uttarakhand*       | 3                                                                          |                                          | 3                     | No                                           | No                                        |
| 22.Manipur*            | 3                                                                          |                                          | 3                     | No                                           | No                                        |
| 23_Meghalaya*          | 2                                                                          |                                          |                       | No                                           | Yes                                       |
|                        | 5                                                                          |                                          |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 25.Nagaland            | 3                                                                          |                                          |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 26.Mizoram             | 2                                                                          | 2                                        |                       | No                                           | No                                        |
| 27. Sikkim*            | 2                                                                          |                                          | 0                     | No                                           | No                                        |

| 28. Arunachal Pradesh Total   | No information 149   | No information 63   | No information 86   | No information   | No information   |
|-------------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|---------------------|------------------|------------------|

## III Status of Recruitment of Core Staff at District Level

As of of the total 1[ 82 eligible vacancies at the District Level, SAUs have filled up 582 positions. 600 positions are to be filled up, for which selection notifications have been issued only for 38 vacancies. today yet

Table 3: Status of recruitment of core District level staff of SAUs for 28 States (organized in order of expenditure in FY 2014-15)

| Name of Staff          | Number of District Resource Persons that can be hired under Special Project   | Number of District Resource Persons hired   | Pending Recruitment   | Whether District Selection Committee notified   | Whether advertisements have been issued   |
|------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| West Bengal*           | 128                                                                           | 16                                          | 112                   | No                                              | No                                        |
| 2 Tamil Nadu*          | 134                                                                           | 134                                         | 0                     | No                                              | No                                        |
| 3_Rajasthan*           | 79                                                                            | 33                                          | 46                    | No                                              | No                                        |
|                        | 82                                                                            |                                             | 82                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 5_ Andhra Pradesh*     | 173                                                                           | 173                                         | 0                     | No                                              | No                                        |
| 6. Uttar Pradesh       | 103                                                                           | 75                                          | 28                    | No                                              | No                                        |
|                        | 69                                                                            | 69                                          | 0                     | No                                              | No                                        |
| 8_ Telengana           |                                                                               |                                             |                       |                                                 |                                           |
| 9.Karnataka*           | 70                                                                            | 24                                          | 46                    | No                                              | No                                        |
|                        | 38                                                                            |                                             | 38                    | Yes                                             | Yes                                       |
| 11. Bihar*             | 61                                                                            |                                             | 61                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 12. Odisha*            | 32                                                                            |                                             | 32                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 13. Kerala*            | 48                                                                            |                                             | 48                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 14. Jharkhand*         | 23                                                                            |                                             | 23                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 15.Gujarat*            | 7                                                                             |                                             | 0                     | No                                              | No                                        |
| 16. Tripura            | 37                                                                            | 8                                           | 29                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 17. Himachal Pradesh*  | 15                                                                            | 0                                           | 15                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 18. Assam*             | 13                                                                            | 0                                           | 13                    | No                                              | No                                        |
| 19. Jammu and Kashmir* | 14                                                                            | 14                                          | 0                     | No                                              | No                                        |
| 20.Punjab*             | 3                                                                             |                                             |                       | No                                              | No                                        |
| 21. Uttarakhand*       | 7                                                                             |                                             |                       | No                                              | No                                        |
| 22.Manipur*            |                                                                               |                                             |                       | No                                              | No                                        |
| 24 Meghalaya"          | 8                                                                             |                                             |                       | No                                              | Yes                                       |
| 24.Haryana             | 4                                                                             |                                             |                       | No                                              | No                                        |
| 25.Nagaland            | 24                                                                            | 24                                          |                       | No                                              | No                                        |
| 26.Mizoram             | 5                                                                             | 0                                           |                       | No                                              | No                                        |
| 27. Sikkim*            | 1                                                                             |                                             | 0                     | No                                              | No                                        |
| 28. Arunachal Pradesh  |                                                                               |                                             |                       |                                                 |                                           |
| Total                  | 1182                                                                          | 582                                         | 600                   |                                                 |                                           |

## IV. Status of progress in conduct of social audits (since inception)

Table 4: Status of social audits conducted by SAUs of 28 States (organized in order of expenditure in FY 2014-15)

| State               |   Number of GPs said to be audited | Number of SA Reports and ATRs uploade d on the website   |   Numb er 0f grieva nces registe red by the SAU as per SA finding | Amount of money identified as misappropriate d (in Rs)   | Amount of money recovered (in Rs)   | Independent observation on quality of social audits being conducted                                                                                                         |
|---------------------|------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1_ West Bengal*     |                               3237 | 2738                                                     |                                                             83345 |                                                          |                                     | SAs conducted by Department. Does not include 100% household and work site verification being                                                                               |
| 2. Tamil Nadu*      |                                127 |                                                          |                                                              3085 | 6,23,000                                                 |                                     | SAs piloted as per the Rules Efforts underway for universal roll out post recruitment                                                                                       |
| 3 Rajasthan*        |                               8515 | 8998                                                     |                                                                20 | 3,01,000                                                 |                                     | No door to door verification work verification conducted only through documents and not by actual visit to field SA Teams reach the village on the of the SA Gram Sabha day |
| 4 Madhya Pradesh    |                                939 | 707                                                      |                                                                 5 | 1,54,622                                                 | 1,07,434                            | SAs conducted in compliance with Rules to some extent                                                                                                                       |
| 5 _ Andhra Pradesh* |                               9392 | 9392                                                     |                                                             17767 | 9,40,59,248                                              | 3,51,32,689                         | SAs conducted as per Rules                                                                                                                                                  |

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| State            | Number said to De audited                   | Number Nub of SA er f and grieva nces ATRs registe uploade red by d on the the website SAU as per SA Reports finding   | Amount of money identified as misappropriate (in Rs)   | Amount of Indlependent observation on recovered quality of social audlits conducted being                                                             |                       |               |
|------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|---------------|
| 6. Pradesh Uttar | 19730                                       | 169457                                                                                                                 | 1,44,22,568                                            | SAs conducted in compliance with Rules to                                                                                                             |                       |               |
| Chhattisgarh     | Since inceptio n: 700 FY 2014- 15: 550 5942 |                                                                                                                        |                                                        | some extent SAs conducted with MIS data SAs in 0 grievances and 0 deviations resulting                                                                |                       |               |
| 8 Telengana      |                                             | 6019                                                                                                                   | 19,429 1,79,14,968 33,                                 | is problematic SAs conducted as                                                                                                                       |                       |               |
| 9_ Karnataka*    | 4,900                                       | No data recorde                                                                                                        | 3,53,29,000 9,86,000                                   | per Rules SAs                                                                                                                                         |                       |               |
| 10. Maharashtra  | 853                                         |                                                                                                                        |                                                        | conducted in compliance with Rules to some extent not 100% SAs including                                                                              |                       |               |
| 11. Bihar*       | 30                                          | 468                                                                                                                    |                                                        | verification of households and worksites                                                                                                              |                       |               |
|                  |                                             | 300                                                                                                                    | 5,42,550 12,606                                        | 30 SAs conducted as per Rules State data of social auidits conducted by District Administration as report 0n social audits. to forwarding Discrepancy |                       |               |
| 12,Odisha*       |                                             |                                                                                                                        |                                                        |                                                                                                                                                       |                       |               |
| Jharkhand*       |                                             |                                                                                                                        |                                                        |                                                                                                                                                       |                       |               |
|                  |                                             |                                                                                                                        |                                                        |                                                                                                                                                       | 13.Kerala* 19,761 14. |               |
|                  |                                             |                                                                                                                        |                                                        |                                                                                                                                                       |                       | be correctecl |

| State                  | Number of GPs said to be audited   | Number of SA Reports and ATRs uploade d on the website   | Numb er of grieva nces registe red by the SAU as per SA finding   | Amount of money identified as misappropriate (in Rs)   | Amount of recovered (in Ioney Rs)   | Independent observation on quality of social audits conducted being                              |
|------------------------|------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 15 . Gujarat*          | 11,732                             | 8762                                                     | 987                                                               |                                                        |                                     | SAs conducted as per Rules to some extent                                                        |
| 16. Tripura*           | 1,038                              |                                                          |                                                                   |                                                        |                                     | SAs conducted as per Rules SAs resulting in zero grievances and misappropriatio nis problematic  |
| 17. Himachal Pradesh*  | 2271                               | 1842                                                     |                                                                   |                                                        |                                     |                                                                                                  |
| 18. Assam-             | 2201                               | Awaiting data                                            | Awaiti ng data                                                    | Awaiting data                                          | Awaiting data                       |                                                                                                  |
| 19. Jammu and Kashmir* | 4,123                              |                                                          | 267                                                               | 1,80,000                                               | 30,000                              | SAs not conducted on the basis of 100% household and worksite verification                       |
| 20. Punjab*            | 12520                              | 8941                                                     | 254                                                               |                                                        |                                     | SA teams reach GPs on the of the SA Gram Sabhas. No 100 verification of households and works day |
| 21 _ Uttarakhand       |                                    |                                                          |                                                                   |                                                        |                                     |                                                                                                  |
| 22 Manipur*            | Awaitin g data                     |                                                          |                                                                   |                                                        |                                     |                                                                                                  |
| 23_ Meghalaya*         | 876                                | 296                                                      |                                                                   | 4,80,600                                               | 4,80,600                            | Need independent observation                                                                     |
|                        | Since inceptio n: 17039            | Since inception 18466                                    | Since incepti on:                                                 | Since inception: Nil For FY 2014-15:                   | Since inception: Nil For FY 2014-   | SA teams reach GPs on the of the day                                                             |

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| State                             | said to be audited                        | ber of SA and ATRs uploade d on the website Num Reports   | Number nces the SAU as per SA finding   | Numb of er 0f grieva identified as misappropriate registe red by (in Amount money Rs)   | A Mount 0f recovered (in Ioney Rs)                  | quality of social audits conducted being                                                               |
|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                   | For FY 2014 15: 4732                      | For FY 2014-15: 2878                                      | 3169 For FY 2014- 15: 203               | Nil                                                                                     | 15: Nil                                             | SA Gram Sabhas. No 100 verification of households and works NREGA Officials involved in SAs conducting |
| Nagaland  26. 27. Sikkim* Mizoram | 32                                        |                                                           |                                         |                                                                                         |                                                     | on field                                                                                               |
| Nagaland  26. 27. Sikkim* Mizoram | Since inceptio n: 181 FY 2014- 15: 92 For | 32 Since inception 181 For FY 2014-15: 92                 | Since incepti on: 2534 For FY 2014- 15: |                                                                                         |                                                     |                                                                                                        |
| Nagaland  26. 27. Sikkim* Mizoram |                                           |                                                           |                                         | Since inception: 1,26,44,000 For FY 2014-15: 38,87,000                                  | Since inception: 6,30,000 For FY 2014- 15: 1,34,000 | SAs in complete compliance with done Rules                                                             |
| Nagaland  26. 27. Sikkim* Mizoram | Awaitin g data                            |                                                           | 1053                                    |                                                                                         |                                                     |                                                                                                        |
| 28 Arunachal Pradesh Total        | 71,598                                    | 39,757 0                                                  | 1,92,60                                 | 481,44,443                                                                              | 24,97,108                                           |                                                                                                        |