The Union Rural Development Ministry (MoRD) has told States that failure to carry out social audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) will invite action, including withholding of funds. However, it is the Centre that bears the administrative cost of these Social Audit Units, and inordinate delay in the release of funds has left many of these cash-strapped units nearly paralysed.
According to the report titled ‘Social audit calendar vs audits completed’ released on September 13 by the MoRD, only 14.29% of the planned audits have been completed in this financial year.
