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Nudged by Sonia, govt plans Central NREGA audit by Swaraj Thapa


Barely a month after Sonia Gandhi flagged concerns over shortcomings in the implementation of UPA’s flagship MNREGA scheme and sought strengthening of social audit done by the gram sabha, as mandated under the Act, the government is looking at the scope of amending the Act to allow for better accounting scrutiny by the Central agencies. A meeting convened by Law Minister Veerappa Moily with Rural Development Ministry officials Monday examined the issue of tightening social audit mechanism, but it didn’t taken a final view on the issue.

The MNREG Act currently, officials contend, leaves little room for the Centre to intervene as the powers to conduct a social audit is entirely the domain of the gram sabha under the state government.

The Section 17(1) of the Act says that the gram sabha shall monitor the execution of works within the gram panchayat, while (2) says the gram sabha shall conduct regular social audits of all projects under the scheme taken up within the gram panchayat.

The Law Ministry is of the view that changes can be made in Section 24 of the Act to enable the Centre to make social auditing more effective.

The Section 24(1) of the Act says the Centre, may, in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, prescribe appropriate arrangements for audits of the accounts of the schemes at all levels.

The Section 24(2) adds that the accounts of the scheme shall be maintained in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the state government. A second meeting on the issue is expected to be held next week.

The meeting also took a stand that the minimum wages Act cannot be applied in case of MNREGA.