Kerala Becomes First State to Complete Social Audit of MGNREGA Works

Kerala has become the first state in the country to complete a total social audit of the works carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the state. The audit was held in the wards of each rural Local Self Government (LSG) in Kerala through gram sabha meetings.

A total of 15,962 grama sabhas in 941 LSGs were held between October 2022 and March 2023 exclusively for the social audit organised by the Social Audit Unit (SAU), an independent society registered as per the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Social Audit Rules of 2011.

The SAU held 11,382 public hearings and 683 public hearings between April 2022 and September 2022 since the audits are mandated to be held twice a financial year. The state has 941 rural LSGs and 15,962 wards in total.

The audit was held on the works carried out under the scheme for around Rs 4,000 crore in the state, and discrepancies in works of Rs 1.03 crore, i.e. 0.02%, were also identified during the audit. Steps have been initiated to hold an enquiry on those responsible for discrepancies and recover the amount.

‘AUDIT REPORTS READY’

A public meeting was held to announce the completion of the social audits across all the rural local bodies on April 10. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the social audit for MGNREGA in all the panchayats is ready.

“The LDF government formed the SAU in 2018 to ensure social audit. The terminology may be new for many, but the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had implemented such schemes under ‘People’s Planning’ 25 years back”, Vijayan said while inaugurating the event.

Kerala has won laurels for the effective implementation of the scheme, including the 53.8 job days per household and 100 job days to 31% of eligible households against the national average of a mere 8% and 50%

“Though there has been a fall in the number of job days across the country in the previous financial year, the number of job days in Kerala has increased from 10.23 lakh jobs days in 2021-22 to 10.58 job days in 2022-23. We want to ensure transparency and accountability with people's participation in all the schemes implemented by the government”, Vijayan said. 

‘TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY’

Though the SAU had a bumpy start, the independent body has discharged the duty entrusted to it at an appreciable pace. The participation of the community in the process has been crucial in ensuring the schemes are implemented for the needy without any discrepancies and mismanagements. 

N Ramakanthan, director of the SAU, told NewsClick, “The first two years since 2015 was lost to just recruitment of village, block and district level resource persons. The LDF government regularised the mechanism in 2018, which was briefly halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we have successfully complemented the social audit.”

The central legislation mandates the conduct of social audits twice a year. The audit has been completed despite several challenges, including the non-allocation of funds.

“The audit was completed in only a few panchayats till 2018 due to the lethargy of the concerned department. The minister for LSG intervened effectively, which has resulted in the state becoming socially audited,” Ramakanthan said. 

The government received Rs 14 crore towards the social audit fund for the financial year 2022-23 due to its continuous efforts facilitating the auditing process. 

“The audit was completed for projects worth Rs 4,000 crore carried out across the rural LSGs in the state. Apart from the MGNREGA, the government has decided to conduct social audits for state and central projects, including the noon (Mid-day) meal scheme in school, PMAY and Arogya Kerala,” he added. 

The government has ordered an enquiry on the discrepancies identified during the audit, including misuse of funds and retrieval of such funds back to the exchequer. 

The LDF government, as part of the second-anniversary programs scheduled in May 2023, launched the total digital literacy campaign. 

“Around 900 government schemes are available online to ensure that all sections of the people are utilising this facility. The government has decided to ensure digital literacy,” the chief minister said during the event.