Examiner News Desk | Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir’s implementation of the rural employment guarantee programme has come under sharp scrutiny after a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) audit found that nearly three-fourths of the MGNREGA works taken up for execution between 2019-20 and 2023-24 remained incomplete.
The CAG report for the period ending March 2024 found that against 27.14 lakh works planned under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), only 20.16 lakh works were taken up, of which just 5.34 lakh were completed.
This left 14.82 lakh works incomplete, accounting for nearly 74 per cent of the works taken up during the five-year period.
More significantly, the audit found that Rs 1,897.10 crore had already been spent on these incomplete works as of March 2024.
The CAG said the reasons for the non-completion of the works could not be established from the records made available to the audit.
The findings have assumed significance because MGNREGA is designed not only to provide rural households with guaranteed wage employment but also to create durable community assets and strengthen rural infrastructure.
The report was subsequently tabled by the Jammu and Kashmir Government in the Legislative Assembly.
The audit also flagged substantial financial liabilities accumulated under the scheme.
As of March 2024, Rs 704.39 crore remained unpaid, including Rs 49.19 crore in unskilled wages, Rs 646.92 crore towards material and semi-skilled/skilled wages, and Rs 8.28 crore in administrative expenses.
The scale of pending material-related payments was particularly significant.
Against Rs 1,333.25 crore spent on material, including skilled and semi-skilled wages, during 2019-20 to 2023-24, nearly half—Rs 646.92 crore, or 49 per cent—was still outstanding.
According to the audit, these payments had remained unsettled for periods ranging from one to five years.
The CAG observed that the prolonged pendency pointed to shortcomings in the financial management of the scheme, particularly in ensuring that payments relating to material procurement and wages were cleared within the prescribed timelines.
The delay also had implications beyond government accounts, with vendors reportedly facing mounting unpaid dues running into several crores of rupees in individual years.
The audit also examined the flow of MGNREGA funds from the Union Government to the State Employment Guarantee Fund (SEGF).
According to the conditions attached to sanction orders issued by the Government of India, the UT administration was required to transfer MGNREGA funds to the SEGF within three to 15 days of receiving them.
However, the CAG found repeated delays by the J&K Finance Department in releasing funds.
During 2019-20 to 2023-24, the release of Rs 2,150.39 crore to the SEGF was delayed by periods ranging from four to 122 days.
The audit calculated that these delays could have resulted in an interest liability of Rs 44.18 crore. However, the records examined by the CAG did not show that such interest had been claimed.
The finding puts the spotlight on the financial chain through which MGNREGA funds are transferred and ultimately used for wage payments, material procurement and other approved expenditure.
Another major concern flagged by the audit was the high number of rejected transactions under the rural employment programme.
Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, 3,16,178 MGNREGA transactions involving Rs 77.24 crore were rejected.
A striking 2,83,196 transactions—around 90 per cent of the total—related to wages of unskilled workers, involving Rs 48.91 crore.
The audit attributed the transaction failures mainly to administrative and banking-related issues, including dormant bank accounts, changes in account details, discrepancies in IFSC codes, incorrect bank account information and failure to link Aadhaar with beneficiaries’ accounts.
For rural workers dependent on MGNREGA wages, such transaction failures can directly affect the timely receipt of payments.
Of the 3,16,178 rejected transactions, 2,67,321 transactions involving Rs 65.45 crore were regenerated.
However, 40,349 transactions involving Rs 8.26 crore remained pending at the bank level as of March 2024. The audit noted that the records did not contain reasons for the delay in these cases.
Perhaps the most significant finding from the perspective of rural households concerns the central promise of MGNREGA—providing up to 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to rural households that demand work.
During the five-year period under audit, 37,82,594 households demanded employment under the scheme.
Of these, 34,99,449 households, or about 93 per cent, were provided employment.
However, only 77,512 households—roughly two per cent of those that demanded employment—received the mandated 100 days of employment during the five-year period.
The figures highlight the gap between the number of households seeking work and those able to access the full employment entitlement.
While the audit recorded that a large majority of households demanding employment were provided some employment, the proportion receiving the full 100-day entitlement remained very small.
The CAG findings bring together several problems across different stages of MGNREGA implementation—from planning and execution to fund management and payment.
At one end, 14.82 lakh works remained incomplete, despite expenditure of nearly Rs 1,897 crore on them.
At the other, workers, suppliers and vendors were awaiting payments, with total outstanding liabilities standing at Rs 704.39 crore as of March 2024.
The rejected transaction data adds another layer to the problem, with more than 3.16 lakh transactions worth Rs 77.24 crore rejected during the five-year period.
The audit specifically observed that non-payment of wages, material costs and administrative charges arising from rejected transactions contributed to the accumulation of pending liabilities.
It also noted that vendors were facing difficulties because their outstanding payments had accumulated to several crores of rupees in individual years.
The CAG observations raise questions about the efficiency of MGNREGA implementation in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in areas of project completion, financial management, payment processing and delivery of the scheme’s employment guarantee.
The programme is intended to create a predictable source of livelihood support for rural households while generating durable assets in villages.
The audit findings, however, point to significant gaps between works planned and completed, expenditure incurred and assets completed, funds released and payments settled, and employment demanded and the full 100-day entitlement received.
The fact that the reasons for non-completion of the works could not be established from the records available to auditors is particularly significant from the perspective of monitoring and accountability.
Similarly, the accumulation of liabilities over several years and the absence of recorded reasons for thousands of transactions remaining pending at the banking level indicate weaknesses in the tracking and settlement of payments.
The CAG report does not merely present a set of financial figures; it offers a picture of how implementation gaps can affect both rural infrastructure creation and the workers for whom MGNREGA serves as a livelihood safety net.
With 20.16 lakh works taken up, only 5.34 lakh completed, Rs 1,897.10 crore spent on incomplete works, Rs 704.39 crore in unpaid liabilities and 3.16 lakh rejected transactions, the audit has placed the scheme’s financial and operational management under close scrutiny.
At the same time, the employment figures show that while nearly 35 lakh of the 37.83 lakh households that demanded work received some employment, only 77,512 households received the full 100-day entitlement during the period examined.
The CAG findings therefore underline the need for stronger monitoring of works, timely release and settlement of funds, accurate beneficiary banking details, faster resolution of rejected transactions and closer tracking of employment demand.
For thousands of rural workers and communities dependent on MGNREGA, the central issue is ultimately straightforward: whether sanctioned works are completed, wages reach workers on time and the employment guarantee translates into meaningful and sustained livelihood support.
