The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a pivotal part of India’s social welfare framework, designed to support rural households by providing guaranteed employment for 100 days each financial year. However, concerns over corruption continue to tarnish its reputation and effectiveness. This article delves into the details about MGNREGA, its social audit mechanism, related issues, and potential ways forward.
MGNREGA: A Brief Overview
Launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2005, MGNREGA is one of the world’s largest work assurance programmes. Its cornerstone is the legal guarantee it provides to any rural adult willing to engage in public work-related unskilled manual jobs at the minimum statutory wage. As of 2023-24, it boasts 14.32 Crore active workers. MGNREGA was introduced with the aim of bettering the purchasing power of the rural population, primarily offering semi or unskilled jobs to people below the poverty line in rural India. It seeks to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in the country.
Social Audit Mechanism under MGNREGA
Section 17 of the MGNREGA calls for the social audit of all works undertaken under the scheme. Social Audit involves the examination and assessment of the scheme with the active involvement of the public, comparing official records with on-ground realities. Unlike financial audits, which scrutinize financial records to assess organizational health, social audits focus on assessing a program’s effectiveness in achieving its social goals by involving stakeholders. The Social Audit provision under MGNREGA is aimed towards ensuring transparency, accountability, and community participation.
Issues Associated with Social Audit Mechanism under MGNREGA
Despite the provisions, the social audit mechanism under MGNREGA suffers from a myriad of issues. One of the main issues being social audit units grappling with insufficient funding, which hinders their functionality. Other challenges include inadequate training and resources, personnel shortage, and significant concerns about the recovery rate. Several states reported zero cases and zero recoveries over the past three years, raising questions about the efficacy of monitoring within these regions. States like Telangana, even with active social audit units, grapple with low recovery rates.
Recent Statistics: An Insight into the Recovery Rate
Recent statistics have shown a disappointing trend in terms of fund recovery under MGNREGA. In the ongoing financial year of 2023-24, misappropriation amounting to ₹27.5 crore was flagged by social audit units. After corrective actions, this sum was reduced to ₹9.5 crore, yet only a meager ₹1.31 crore (13.8% of the total) has been recovered. The recovery rates in previous financial years, too, exhibit a similar inefficiency. The consistently low recovery rates not only question the scheme’s effectiveness in combating corruption but also pose a threat to the credibility of the entire audit process.
Ways Forward
There are a few strategic ways forward that could potentially help in addressing the issues plaguing the social audit mechanism under MGNREGA. Involving all stakeholders in the evaluation and redesign of the social audit process, investing in training and capacity-building programs for auditors, establishing a robust mechanism for protecting whistleblowers, promoting active community participation in the audit process, setting up Grievance Redressal Committees at the village level, and creating a feedback loop where audit findings can be used to improve the MGNREGA programme are some of the potential strategies that could help in strengthening the effectiveness of the social audit mechanism under MGNREGA.