MGNREGS social audit unit in a state of paralysis in many States

Source: The post is based on the article “MGNREGS social audit unit in a state of paralysis in many States” published in “The Hindu” on 29th September 2023.

What is the News?

The Social Audit Units under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

What is Social Audit under MGNREGA?

Social Audit is the examination and assessment of a programme/scheme conducted with the active involvement of people and comparing official records with actual ground realities.

Section 17 of the MGNREGA has mandated Social audit of all works executed under the MGNREGA. 

Each State has social audit units that are supposed to work independently of the implementing authorities.

The social audit unit’s sole responsibility is to flag cases of malpractice. Recovering the money, and reprimanding the officials responsible, is up to the State governments.

What are the issues faced by the Social Audit units under MGNREGA?

Firstly, Social audit units are suffering because they are found-starved and do not have trained or adequate personnel working for them.

Secondly, less than 14% of the amount flagged by the social audit units has been recovered so far by the state.

– This dismal recovery rate threatens the credibility of the audit process since it makes the entire exercise futile.