Audit exposes Rs 62L irregularities in MGNREGA works in Solan
Even as the replacement of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a new law has sparked a debate, irregularities unearthed during a social audit in Solan district has revealed the troubling flip-side of the scheme.
A social audit conducted in 217 gram panchayats has flagged alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 62.10 lakh. Of this, Rs 91,444 relate to financial discrepancies while Rs 61.19 lakh stem from “deviations” in sanctioned developmental works.
Solan district has 240 gram panchayats and the audit is being carried out in all of them to assess the scheme’s effectiveness. Cases classified as deviations point to the lack of adherence to the prescribed rules and the instances of sanctioned works being executed at locations other than those approved — violations that undermine the scheme’s core norms.
In Nalagarh, the district’s largest development block, the audit done in 66 panchayats brought 376 minor irregularities to light, including financial discrepancies of Rs 11,380 and work deviations amounting to Rs 92,355.
In Patta block, irregularities of Rs 3.20 lakh have been detected across 22 of 25 panchayats. Meanwhile, Kunihar, the second-largest block, reported financial discrepancies of Rs 2,800 and deviations worth Rs 2.73 lakh in 53 panchayats.
The audit in the Solan development block revealed the highest figure, with irregularities totaling Rs 38.53 lakh in 30 of the 37 panchayats audited.
In Dharampur, 150 irregularities surfaced in 23 of 24 panchayats, involving Rs 6,856 in financial discrepancies and Rs 9.85 lakh in deviations.
In Kandaghat, the audit in 23 out of 26 panchayats exposed financial irregularities of Rs 59,298 and deviations amounting to Rs 6.04 lakh.
Officials say deviation-related irregularities are being addressed through discussions in Gram Sabha meetings. Block Development Officers have been instructed to seek responses from individual panchayats regarding the issues raised during the audit.
A panchayat secretary, on being questioned, said deviations typically arise when panchayats are not properly guided on budget allocation or prescribed construction materials.
“Payments are made as per the approved estimate, but deviations occur when materials like bricks are used where cheaper stone was budgeted,” the official explained.
He added that delayed payments for construction materials discourage villagers from participating in the scheme. “Arranging labour under MGNREGA is difficult when private work offers better pay,” he said.
The secretary also noted that despite over 200 permissible works under the scheme, villagers tend to restrict its use to just five to seven activities, such as building roads, tanks and culverts — limiting the scheme’s wider potential.
