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The implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is not satisfactory in States such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, the Union Rural Development Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, said.
Low demand
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Ramesh said that despite poverty and unemployment in the three Eastern States, the demand for rural jobs is not so much as in the other well-to-do States.
He said, efforts were being made to strengthen the Gram Panchayats, the nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme.
SPENDING CERTIFICATES
The Government has made it mandatory for village panchayats to attach a chartered accountant's certificate on spending incurred under the scheme, the Rajya Sabha was informed.
Mr Ramesh said during Question Hour that gram panchayats get Rs 18-19 lakh annually under MGNREGA, whose spending would have to be “compulsorily certified” by a CA from the list of the official auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
He said that 10-15 per cent of these would be physically verified.
“CAG has been asked to do a performance audit of MGNREGA ... by November report (of CAG) will come,” he said, adding that cash payments have been started in Naxal-affected districts.
LOWER WAGES
The wages paid to workers under the scheme in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar, and West Bengal are lower than those provided under Minimum Wages Act, Mr Ramesh said, adding the Government was considering amending the Act or the Minimum Wages Act to bridge the divergence.
He said the total expenditure incurred under the scheme in 2011-12 was Rs 37,303.30 crore compared with Rs 39,377.30 crore in 2010-11.
TRIPURA CUT UP
Tripura, which topped the list of job creator States in the country under MGNREGA last year, on Tuesday criticised the Union Government for allegedly not releasing money for the programme.
“The Central Government has earmarked Rs 1,208.86 crore for MGNREGA budget for 2012-13. But in their official Web site it is shown that only Rs 38.60 crore has been sanctioned,” the State Minister for Rural Development, Mr Jitendra Chowdhury, said in Agartala.
aditi.n@thehindu.co.in
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