The NGOs involved in the social audit of the scheme have, for instance, found that instead of using the workforce of the jobless on the site, the officials had used big machines and earth movers for digging trenches. These machines were said to have been supplied by the JCB company.

The nexus or collaboration is clear. The NREG scheme is essentially a labour-intensive scheme designed to engage the large workforce of rural jobless in all the districts covered by the scheme.

The use of large machines would result in downsizing the number of hands to be employed. The basic purpose of the scheme would thus be defeated.

The dangerous trend of encroachment by big machines and big sharks in the shape of corporate houses should be nipped in the bud, and the Government has to ensure that the scheme is not hijacked by the corporate houses.

The social audit also warned of attempts to undermine the scheme by village panchayats and heads of these institutions.

It is an irony that Nagpur was chosen by the Central Government to mark the golden jubilee of the panchayat raj institutions in the country. But it was the vocal sections of these panchayats which offered the maximum resistance to social audit of the scheme. They put hurdles in the supply of village records of the scheme, the muster rolls and the payment of wages to workers engaged under the scheme.

The audit also brought out the deficiencies and financial irregularities. It revealed the large-scale existence of bogus muster rolls, fake job cards, and more alarming, the long delays in actual receipt of wages by the workers. The delays were caused by the district-level officials and post offices involved in operating the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

There were also complaints about officials indulging in siphoning off of NREG funds provided by the Central Government.

It is for the Gehlot Government to ensure that the loopholes are plugged and the benefits of the scheme reach those for whom it is meant.

A notable feature of the social audit of the scheme, conducted in Bhilwara district was the participation by a large number of officials from other states willing to implement the scheme with greater commitment. (IPA Service)