Guwahati, Oct 28 (ANI): Aiming to bring accountability and transparency in graft-ridden rural development programmes, the government has asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India to examine the existing welfare schemes.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said the government had asked the CAG to examine the financial usage and performance of the rural development schemes.
"We are putting in place systems to ensure accountability and transparency. We have decided and I will be making available the details next week to all the state governments all rural development expenditure in all states will now be audited by the CAG," he added.
Ramesh further said he would be ruthless in ensuring accountability from state governments in their implementation of mass welfare programs.
"My philosophy is be liberal in funding rural development but be ruthless in demanding accountability and transparency. So, all the state governments will find that I will be proactive in supporting them, but I will also insist on the highest standards of accountability and transparency," he added.
Expressing concern at the reportedly poor performance of many states on the Centre's flagship programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Ramesh said the biggest problem in implementation was "delayed payment" to workers.
"This was because a majority of job cardholders had no account in post offices or banks", he added.
The scheme aims at providing work to a member of each rural household for 100 days a year. The budgetary allocation for this during 2011-12 is Rs 40,000 crore.
He said the rural development ministry was in touch with the Unique Identification Authority of India for providing biometric cards to job cardholders. (ANI)
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