PRESS NOTE
Move to ensure timely redressal of grievances under MGNREGA, Procedure for Stoppage of Funds Operationalised
4 September 2012, New Delhi
To effectively address issues of concern on implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and leakages in the Scheme, the Ministry of Rural Development has formulated the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under Section 27(2) of MGNREGA for redressing complaints. The new mechanism delineates procedures for managing various types of complaints that will streamline the redressal procedures. Announcing this, the Minister for Rural Development, Shri Jairam Ramesh said, "This is the second major recent step in the direction of enhancing transparency and accountability of the UPA Government's flagship programme in the last few weeks. It follows the announcement that the audit/certification of MGNREGA accounts at the gram Panchayat level will be mandatory."
Through the SOPs, for the first time, a clear procedure has been laid out for stoppage of funds, a concept which so far only existed on paper. As
per the provisions in Section 27(2) of MGNREG Act, the Central Government may, on receipt of any complaint regarding lack of effective implementation of the provisions of the Act or regarding the improper utilization of funds, order an investigation into the complaint and if necessary, order stoppage of release of funds to the scheme if no appropriate remedial measures are instituted. This has now been operationalised.
As per the SOP, the complaints received in the Ministry will be categorized into four major types and the States will have to take appropriate action accordingly. Broadly, the complaints will be categorized into (1) Petitions (2) Grievances/Complaints regarding procedural violation of Guidelines (3) Complaints relating to effective implementation of the Act and (4) Complaints involving financial irregularities. The SOP also outlines timelines for both the Centre and State for disposal of complaints.
In line with the Ministry's move to promote the use of ICT for increasing transparency and accountability, a software will be developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to monitor timelines and action taken as per individual and institutional responsibilities. The software will support uploading the complaints and generating unique complaint number to the complainant for knowing the status of their complaint. The complaints will be categorized State wise and each State will be given user name and password to access the complaints and upload the enquiry report/ATR.
As per the SOP, the State Governments should establish a Complaint Cell, under the direct charge of Secretary, Rural Development in the state, for looking into complaints related to MGNREGA. The complaint cell may either be for complaints specifically related to MGNREGA or it may be the same as for complaints related to other programmes/ Schemes of Ministry of Rural Development.
The SOP comes into force with immediate effect, and has been shared with the States. It is also available in the website of MGNREGA:
final SRD 3 Q 201 2.pdf