CAG offers to audit Centre’s rural spending

He said the CAG has offered to create an auditing system for rural development programmes,the way it has established a system for local bodies under Panchayati Raj.

The CAG’s offer is significancant as the ministry has the largest civilian budget of around Rs 90,000 crore,among all Central departments. Ramesh said while the CAG expressed its inability to conduct concurrent audit,it offered to conduct regular financial audit for expenditure,followed by performance audit at district and panchayat levels.

The CAG’s move has come in the backdrop of the ministry notifying social audit rules,which was formulated in consultation with the CAG,to undertake social audit of the NREGS. The CAG is learnt to have informed Ramesh that it has finalised district-wise list of chartered accountants to conduct financial audit of NREGS.

Ramesh hoped to put in place the social audit infrastructure at state and district levels in less than a year. He,however,lamented delayed wage payments under NREGS as a major deterrent and asserted that the average expenditure under NREGS would go beyond stipulated Rs 40,000 crore this year to over Rs 80,000 crore under an efficient wage disbursement mechanism.

Having promised to bring in a unified land acquisition and rehabilitation Bill in the forthcoming session,Ramesh said the Bill would strike a balance between requirement of land for “industrialisation and urbanisation” and “fair and transparent” compensation to land owners and those dependent on land for their livelihood.