NEW DELHI: After the first performance review of the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in 2011, the government has begun the social audit of the ambitious rural job programme. The move has come at a time when the MGNREGS was allocated the record highest Rs 48,000 crores in this year’s Budget.
The Centre is keen to ensure that the money earmarked for the MGNREGS is spent for the works approved and completed in time. “The Gram Sabha, which has been provided with the trained manpower, will undertake the social audit of the works taken up under the MGNREGS. Since the works undertaken under the flagship scheme is being tagged with geo-spatial technology, the Gram Sabha will ensure highest standard of transparency in the execution of works,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Rural Development.
The official stated that the norms for the social audit have been arrived at in consultation with Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which had undertaken the performance audit in 2011.