CAG wants to audit rural job scheme

NEW DELHI: Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG) has asked the Centre to make an institutionalised audit system for job guarantee scheme with a key role for it.

CAG said MGNREGA accounts should be audited in every district annually by Local Fund Audit or chartered accountants appointed by state governments, and they should be empowered to give orders on how to audit. CAG has demanded the right to audit MGNREGA accounts at the frequency it desires.

These recommendations form part of CAG's views on the 'audit rules' Union rural development ( RD) ministry has drafted to create an institutionalised auditing system for the expenditure-intensive job guarantee scheme.

The issue came up for discussion at the February 2 function held to observe fifth anniversary of the job scheme. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drew the attention to corruption in the scheme and sought measures to plug loopholes in the law.

The RD ministry has formed a committee to discuss CAG's recommendations, but the civil society criticised the move as dilatory tactics.

A statement from Aruna Roy's Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan said, there was no need to discuss these points any more since they had come out of several committees, including the working groups of Central Employment Guarantee Council.

While the ministry has recommended changes in MGNREGA's rules to create the system of `social audit', CAG said there had to be arrangements for funds' scrutiny in its entirety.

A few `sample performance audits' has exposed the rot across states. However, there is no statutory mechanism to put a periodic and exhaustive scanner on the misuse of funds.