The government is in the process of rationalising allocation of funds to states under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, to check large-scale misappropriation of funds allegedly in the prosperous states of Punjab, Kerala, Gujarat and Haryana.
This could be done through mapping of districts which genuinely need funds under the scheme, stringent audits of the programme and greater use of funds towards creating durable assets.
The budget shows a 13% drop in fund allocation to the flagship employment guarantee programme in 2020-21 at Rs 61,500 crore vis-à-vis the revised estimate of Rs 71,001 crore in 2019-20. But the proposed figure is 2.5% more as compared to the initially budgeted allocation of Rs 60,000 crore in 2019-20.
The government cannot let go of funds under this scheme in the name of employment, a top official told ET. “Prosperous districts do not need work under the NREGA. The Government has to see how to allocate funds to districts which genuinely need employment under the scheme,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Another government official that ET spoke to said: “Fact of the matter is people in prosperous states do not take work under the NREGA as wages under the scheme is lower than the state wage. Yet we see demand for work under the scheme from these states. This fund is siphoned off in a majority of cases as there are not appropriate checks and balances in place.” This official too didn’t want to be named.
The government, however, said in the post budget interaction that the MGNREGA was a demand-driven scheme and funds would be made available at the revised estimate stage.
Source: Economic Times
