MGNREGA_SAMEEKSHA

Governance and Process Challenges 65
advantages of the system of bank payments, it is
important to recognise that the banking system has
certain problems. 48 Some of these are:
• Poor coverage/network of banks/post offices:
This suggests that the distance from the nearest
bank/post office may be too much, making it inconvenient
for the beneficiary to collect payment
• Non-streamlined record-keeping at banks/post
offices: This is primarily due to a lack of staff given
the large volume of MGNREGA beneficiaries and
payments. Other problems include non-updation
of pass-books; in a survey in Uttar Pradesh
and Jharkhand, it was found that pass-books
were updated in only 44 per cent of the cases. 49
• Illiterate workers: Workers sometimes do not get to
open or operate their own account. In a survey conducted
in Allahabad and Ranchi, only 28 per cent
of the sample workers had opened their accounts
on their own. 50 Filling deposit and withdrawal
slips is also a problem for illiterate beneficiaries.
• Low Cash and Line Limit: A major problem faced
by branch post offices (BPOs) is that their cash
and line limit is very low. States need to raise the
cash and line limit for their BPOs so that they are
not strapped for funds while making payments to
MGNREGA workers.
However, despite these issues, beneficiary
interviews in Allahabad and Ranchi indicated that
a majority (77 per cent) of the sample workers
preferred bank payments over the traditional form
of cash payments. 51
The GoI is currently pilot testing innovative ways for
wage payment, including use of bio-metrics, smart
cards, etc. (see chapter 7, Box 7.2). Also for timely
wage payments in IAP districts, cash wage payments
have been allowed in areas where the outreach of
banks/post offices is inadequate. A provision is
also being made that, a reserve amount equal to
one month’s wages will be mandatorily required to
be kept with the Head Post Office (HPO) to avoid
delays on account of clearance of cheques, etc.
Leakages and Misappropriations in the
Scheme
MGNREGA has received serious criticism on
account of perceived misappropriations and
leakages under the Scheme. While there is no
denying that in several cases these are true,
states are making progress by introducing IT
innovations.
MGNREGA has received serious criticism on
account of perceived misappropriations and leakages
under the Scheme. There are several field studies that
confirm the fact that, given the scale of the programme,
there are large scale discrepancies at state/district level.
Some of the main findings from these studies are:
Muster Rolls 52
Wage payments to beneficiaries are calculated on
the basis of attendance and measurements listed on
Muster Rolls (MR). MRs are supposed to be available
at worksites and updated every day. However, studies
that have conducted an MR verification indicate
several irregularities in the filling and maintenance
of these MRs.
Non-availability of MRs at Worksites/
kachcha (non-permanent) Entries in MRs
In a study conducted across Himachal Pradesh,
Punjab and Haryana, it was found that in Sirsa
district of Haryana, MRs were not available at any of
the worksites. The main reason for its absence was
that the MRs were filled only after the completion of
work. In Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh, MRs
were available only with 50 per cent of the GPs. 53
The CAG audit found that copies of MRs were not
available for public scrutiny in 246 GPs across 15
48
K. Bhatia and A. Adhikari, ‘NREGA Wage Payments: Can we Bank on the Banks’, in Economic and Political Weekly,
2 January 2011.
49
Ibid.
50
Ibid.
51
Ibid.
52
Muster Rolls are attendance sheets used for MGNREGA works. MRs are normally issued by the Block to the Gram Panchayat
and each of them are stamped with a unique identification number.
53
Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), ‘Appraisal/Impact Assessment of NREGS in Selected
Districts of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana’, Report submitted to the Ministry of Rural Development/UNDP, 2009.