Social audits fail to spot NREGS rot

The most recent scam at Dhari taluka of Amreli district involves siphoning off Rs 1.3 crore over a period of three years. Even here,the social audit did not mention any irregularity.

“Social audits in the affected villages reported nothing amiss,” said Dhari Taluka Development Officer M C Raval.

Incidentally,all the scams unearthed so far have been exposed by individuals as was the case in Kotda village of Porbandar district,where an e-literate paanwala blew the lid off the scam. At Dhari too,the first complaints were raised by a couple of individuals.

Based on this,the district authorities ordered an inquiry by a team comprising officials from the District Rural Development Authorities of Amreli,Junagadh and Bhavnagar districts.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the modus operandi in the affected villages — Khicha,Chatadia,Jira and Bhayavadar was not much different from that of Kotda,where the scam was first unearthed. Fake job cards and muster rolls had been created to siphon off NREGS funds,said Raval.

Last week,Raval registered a police complaint against Dhari taluka NREGS technical assistant Nayna Rathod and assistant program officer Amarsing Solanki in this connection.

Social audits are supposed to be conducted once in six months. The schedule should be prepared by the program officer and it should be held under the supervision of sarpanch during the gram sabha.

In all the scam-affected villages,be it Kesaria in Una taluka of Junagadh,Kotda in Kutiyana taluka of Porbandar and Dhari in

Amreli district,the sarpanch and the program officers stand accused. Kesaria sarpanch has been suspended and in the Rs 1 crore scam hit Kotda village,the sarpanch has been give showcause notice and the talati suspended.