Lok Sabha Question No. 1678 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-10
Subject: Irregularities under Rural Schemes
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Smt. Mala Roy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1678 ANSWERED ON 10/02/2026

## IRREGULARITIES UNDER RURAL SCHEMES

1678. Smt. Mala Roy:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENTbe pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has sent any central team to States after  report  of  financialirregularities  under  rural  development schemes during the last three years;
- (b)
- (c)
- if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- the kinds of irregularities found, State-wise; and
- (d) the details of action taken by the Government in this regard, State-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a) to (d): Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) is implementing a number of welfare schemes/programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana-Gramin (PMAYG), Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY), DeendayalAntyodayaYojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM),

DeenDayalUpadhyayaGrameenKaushalyaYojana (DDUGKY), Rural Self Employment Training Institutes(RSETIs), National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Watershed Development Component  (WDC)  of  the  Pradhan  MantriKrishiSinchayeeYojana (WDC-PMKSY) for overall development of rural areas of the country. All these schemes/programmes are implemented with active cooperation with the States/Union Territories (UTs).

Transparency  and  accountability  are  the  prime  focus  of  the various  schemes/  programmes  of  the  Ministry.  MoRD  has  put  in place detailed mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability.  Whenever  any  shortcoming  is  observed  such  as misappropriation of funds, non-existence of works on ground, use of labour-replacing  machinery  or  mismatch  in  expenditure  reported

and actual work done on ground, remedial measures are promptly addressed. The Monitoring mechanisms include Special and Regular Monitoring by National Level Monitors (NLMs) empanelled by MoRD, as well as deputation of NLMs/Central Teams whenever a complaint is received or an enquiry is considered necessary. In addition to the same, Special Monitoring Teams are also deployed to States/UTs to conduct  spot  inspections  of  worksites.  The  Central  Monitoring Teams visits conducted by the Ministry under MGNREGS in the last three years are given at Annexure.

Similarly, under PMAY-G, inspections are conducted by central teams comprising Area Officers and National Level Monitors (NLMs) with monitoring also undertaken through multiple institutional mechanisms,  including  the  District  Development  Coordination  and Monitoring  (DISHA)  Committee  headed  by  the  Hon'ble  Member  of Parliament and Social Audits. The NLM system of MoRD functions as a third-party monitoring and reporting mechanism, aimed at regular assessment of the implementation of Rural Development schemes/programmes,  including  PMAY-G,  across  the  country.  As part of this framework, central teams were deployed to two States, namely (i) West Bengal and (ii) Odisha

(i)  West  Bengal:  Under  PMAY-G,  cumulative  target  of  45.69  lakh houses has been allocated to the State Government of West Bengal against which the State has given sanctions to 45.69 lakh houses. The  Ministry  has  already  released  25,798  crore  as  Central  share since 2016-17 till 2021-22 to the State of West Bengal for implementation of the PMAY-G.

However,  post  allocation  of  target  to  the  State  from  the finalized Awaas+ 2018 survey lists in November, 2022 (FY 2022-23), complaints  regarding  irregularities  in  implementation  of  PMAY-G, including  selection  of  ineligible  households;  removal  of  eligible households  and  renaming  of  scheme  in  the  State  as  "Bangla

AwaasYojana" were received.

The  Ministry  had  taken  various  steps  for  verification  of  the houses constructed under PMAY-G and inspection of the complaints through visits by 2 Central teams in 2 districts and National Level Monitoring (NLM) teams in 10 districts of the State during January 2023 (FY 2022-23), followed by visits of Senior Officers' teams of the Ministry to the same 10 districts for sample checks of Action Taken

Reports (ATRs) submitted by the State Government during April-May 2023  (FY  2023-24),  and  subsequently  visits  by  NLM  teams  to  the remaining  districts  of  the  State  for  verification  during  December

2023-January 2024 (FY 2023-24).

Complaints of irregularities in PMAY-G implementation in West Bengal were verified by National Level Monitoring (NLM) teams and Senior  Officers'  teams.  Their  observations  were  shared  with  the State Government for ATRs. No Central funds have been released to the  State  of  West  Bengal  under  PMAY-G,  with  the  approval  of  the competent  authority  in  the  Ministry,  during  FY  2022-23  to  FY 2025-26  (till  date)  for  targets  of  FY  2022-23  from  the  finalized Awaas+  2018  survey  lists,  due  to  non-submission  of  satisfactory

ATRs on the observations of the Central teams.

[

- (ii) Odisha:  A  central  team  was  sent  to  Odisha  in  9th  to  11th February,  2021  and  2nd  -4th  March,  2022  to  examine  inadequate action  on  irregularities  such  as   use  of  LOGO,  poor  quality  of houses,  Awaas+  survey,  poor  monitoring  by  states  and  no  social audit.

Grievance  redressal  is  an  integral  and  important  part  in  the implementation  of the  programme  and  being  resolved  as  per guidelines  of  the  schemes  on  priorities.  There  is  a  procedure  of lodging  complaints  on  the  Centralized  Public  Grievance  Redressal and  Monitoring  System  (CPGRAMS)  portal  (pgportal.gov.in).  The complaints received in the Ministry through CPGRAMs or otherwise, are forwarded to the respective State Governments for redressal of the  grievance  and  furnishing  the  ATRs  to  the  Ministry  under intimation  to  the  complainant  within  one  month  of  receipt  of  the complaint.

The Ministry regularly reviews the performance of the States/UTs with respect to the proper implementation  of  the scheme  through  various  forums  such  as  Performance  Review Committee meetings, Mid-term Reviews, Common Review Missions, NLMs,  Empowered  Committee  meetings,  Monthly  Reviews,  Video conferences  etc.  To  prevent  financial  irregularities,  under  PMGSY the Online Management, Monitoring and Accounting System (OMMAS) is utilised as a digital platform that ensures payments to contractors  are  made  only  after  verifying  physical  progress  and quality. Any procedural deviations identified during inspections are referred to the respective State Government for immediate

corrective action and  where  necessary,  recovery  of funds or disciplinary action against the concerned officials.

Similarly, under NSAP, measures like Aadhaar authentication, Direct  Benefit  Transfer  (DBT),  and  Aadhaar  Payment  Bridge  (APB) have been implemented to prevent pilferage and ensure transparency.  States/UTs  are  continuously  encouraged  to  achieve 100% Aadhaar seeding and DBT-based payments. In addition to this, a Digital Life Certificate (DLC) mobile application has been developed for Aadhaar-based biometric or facial verification, enabling  real-time  generation  of  life  certificates.  This  reduces exclusion  errors,  particularly  among  senior  citizens,  and  ensures continuity of pension benefits.

*****

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (d) of the LokSabhaUnstarred Q.No.1678 reg. 'Irregularities Under Rural Schemes' to be answered on 10.02.2026.

|   Sl. No. | Name of the State   | Duration of Monitoring   | Total Districts covered                                                             |
|-----------|---------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Jharkhand           | August 2024              | 8 Districts (Ranchi, Latehar, Giridih, Chhatra, Gumla, Garhwa, Hazaribagh, Jamtara) |
|         2 | Karnataka           | August 2024              | 5 Districts (Bellary, Bidar, Chitradurga, Haveri, Raichur)                          |
|         3 | Rajasthan           | August 2024              | 5 Districts (Dungarpur, Barmer, Nagaur, Pratapgarh, Jhalor)                         |
|         4 | Chhattisgarh        | August 2024              | 5 Districts (Kawardha, Mahasamund, Balod, Raipur, Korba)                            |
|         5 | Andhra Pradesh      | April 2025               | Srikakulam                                                                          |
|         6 | Andhra Pradesh      | June 2025                | Anantpur                                                                            |
|         7 | Andhra Pradesh      | June 2025                | Kakinada                                                                            |
|         8 | Andhra Pradesh      | June 2025                | Tirupati                                                                            |
|         9 | Assam               | September 2025           | South SalamaraMankachar, Dhubri                                                     |
|        10 | Bihar               | May 2025                 | Darbhanga                                                                           |
|        11 | Chhattisgarh        | April 2025               | Kawardha                                                                            |
|        12 | Gujarat             | May 2025                 | Dahod                                                                               |
|        13 | Haryana             | June 2025                | Hisar                                                                               |
|        14 | J&K                 | June 2025                | Kathua                                                                              |
|        15 | Jharkhand           | May 2025                 | Deoghar                                                                             |
|        16 | Karnataka           | April 2025               | Raichur                                                                             |
|        17 | Karnataka           | August 2025              | Kalaburagi                                                                          |
|        18 | Kerala              | April 2025               | Thiruvananthapuram                                                                  |

|   19. | Kerala         | April 2025   | Thrissur                  |
|-------|----------------|--------------|---------------------------|
|    20 | Kerala         | April 2025   | Palakkad                  |
|    21 | Kerala         | April 2025   | Kozhikode                 |
|    22 | Kerala         | April 2025   | Alappuzha                 |
|    23 | Kerala         | May 2025     | Mallapuram                |
|    24 | Madhya Pradesh | April 2025   | Morena                    |
|    25 | Maharashtra    | April 2025   | ChhatrapatiSambhaji Nagar |
|    26 | Maharashtra    | May 2025     | Pune                      |
|    27 | Maharashtra    | August 2025  | Beed                      |
|    28 | Meghalaya      | May 2025     | South West Garo Hills     |
|    29 | Mizoram        | May 2025     | Lawngtlai                 |
|    30 | Nagaland       | May 2025     | MON                       |
|    31 | Odisha         | April 2025   | Mayurbhanj                |
|    32 | Punjab         | April 2025   | Gurdaspur                 |
|    33 | Punjab         | May 2025     | Muktsar                   |
|    34 | Punjab         | June 2025    | Tarn Taran                |
|    35 | Punjab         | June 2025    | Fazilka                   |
|    36 | Punjab         | June 2025    | Bhatinda                  |
|    37 | Rajasthan      | April 2025   | Barmer                    |
|    38 | Tamil Nadu     | April 2025   | Tiruvannamalai            |
|    39 | Tamil Nadu     | April 2025   | Villupuram                |
|    40 | Tamil Nadu     | April 2025   | Salem                     |
|    41 | Tamil Nadu     | April 2025   | Dindigul                  |
|    42 | Tamil Nadu     | April 2025   | Thanjavur                 |

|   43. | Tamil Nadu            | April 2025   | Tiruchirappalli   |
|-------|-----------------------|--------------|-------------------|
|    44 | Tamil Nadu April 2025 |              | Cuddalore         |
|    45 | Tamil Nadu            | April 2025   | Pudukkottai       |
|    46 | Tamil Nadu            | April 2025   | Tiruvallur        |
|    47 | Tamil Nadu            | April 2025   | Madurai           |
|    48 | Telangana             | April 2025   | Vikarabad         |
|    49 | Telangana             | June 2025    | Siddipet          |
|    50 | Telangana             | June 2025    | Adilabad          |
|    51 | Telangana             | June 2025    | Nirmal            |
|    52 | Telangana             | May 2025     | Sangareddy        |
|    53 | Tripura               | May 2025     | Dhalai            |
|    54 | Uttar Pradesh         | April 2025   | Basti             |
|    55 | Uttar Pradesh         | July 2025    | Jalaun            |
|    56 | Uttarakhand           | June 2025    | Dehradun          |
|    57 | Madhya Pradesh        | April 2025   | Morena            |

*****