We, very often, through these lines, voice our concern over the most important aspect of audits and inspections given not the required importance in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir which is paramount and non-negotiable as the same is ascertaining the financial and procedural dealings and doings in any organisation to be all transparent, fair and in accordance with the laid down provisions. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is such a scheme which not only is on back to back basis, a social security and a welfare measure covering almost all villages of the country but providing a 100 days minimum employment to one member of the family hence lot of money involved and lot of eligible people from rural areas covered. Interesting part of this grass root scheme is of ensuring the guarantee of Right to Work (100 days) through Gram Panchayats, again the grass root democratic institutions . Should such Gram Panchayats, therefore, not caused to be subjected to periodic audits followed or preceded by social auditing as to whither was the process of implementation in all aspects.
While on the one hand, there are clear cut guidelines for both these audits of each and every Gram Panchayat in the country hence in Jammu and Kashmir to be mandatorily conducted, yet the situation on the ground paints a dismal picture which is directly in gross violation of the guidelines laid down by the Central Government. The data available on the issue being that against the number planned, less than half thereof in respect of Panchayats had undergone social audits and even lesser than that under concurrent audits. The position is more or less the same for both the financial years of 2019-20 and 2020-21. How can, therefore, it be presumed that all went quite normally and in accordance with the rules and procedures governing the MGNREGS? How can, like this, transparency and accountability be established? How can piled up irregularities of the left out Panchayats in the absence of the audits be addressed as the same are not even known, both in content and in nature. How can it be known whether the attendance registers for the persons deemed to have been employed are genuinely correct, which types of assets with particulars of assets have been created and how the quality thereof having been ascertained ?
Daily cash-book and preparation of ledger accounts, balancing of books followed by preparation of the requisite financial statements are necessarily to be the part and parcel of an organisation engaging labour, creating assets, making regular payments and the like. How can the correctness and the fairness of books of accounts of left out large number of Panchayats unaudited for two years consecutively be ascertained? What if some major fraud is perpetrated in any of the Panchayats and who will in that case, own the responsibility? What measures, therefore, have been put in place by the Rural Development Department to obfuscate attempts whether made knowingly or intentionally to cause majority of Panchayats not to be audited at all? On the other hand, social auditing playing its own role cannot be ignored in importance as besides ”checking and verifying” the accounts ledgers, invoices, vouchers, proof of expenditures etc, it also verifies to its satisfaction, whether payments due have been made/ released within the time schedule and ancillary supportive evidence of implementation of the flagship scheme being there on records. We learn that all such basic requirements are lent least attention by the supervising UT Rural Development Department, nothing heard about the Action Taken Report either or any corrective measures taken even belatedly while all issues are getting piled up, now for two consecutive years. That sounds quite strange.
Principle Accountant General (Audit) Jammu and Kashmir as also UT Finance Department along with the Rural Development Department must take a notice of the fact that with widening of the scope and functions of the Gram Panchayats, with comparative broad based financial activities and holding adequate funds, need regular auditing and monitoring of Action Taken Report on the finding of such audits . That means austere auditing in activities especially in respect of implementation process of large schemes like MGNREGS that have otherwise large scope for manipulations. Strict water tight compartmenting approach and ”not within our jurisdiction” can only result in grave irregularities. Social auditing of no less import wherein more is done on recording and writing basis supported by valuable inputs and evidences should invariably be not given any miss.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel