The State government has decided to conduct social audit of toilets constructed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil told presspersons here on Tuesday that non-governmental organisations would conduct social audit of all works executed under the scheme, with special emphasis on toilets, in all districts.
NGO members would verify construction of toilets by visiting the houses of beneficiaries and this would help the department to rectify loopholes, if any, in the construction and design, the Minister said.
Stating that there was no scope for corruption or misuse of funds under the MNREGA, he said Rs. 3,155 crore had been sanctioned for 2014–15. A sum of Rs. 2,095 crore had been spent in 2013–14. Electronic Fund Monitoring System was being followed under the scheme to ensure transparency in the transfer of daily wages to beneficiaries, he said.
He said an inquiry would be conducted into the alleged misuse of ATM cards issued to beneficiaries under the job scheme. ATM cards were issued during the previous BJP government’s tenure.
Mr. Patil said 300 villages in the State had been facing severe drinking water crisis and Rs. 490 crore had been made available to zilla panchayats to drill borewells and ensure supply of drinking water. A sum of Rs. 1,744 crore was spent under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme in the last fiscal year, Mr. Patil said.
