A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Karnataka has identified procurement violations, payment delays, irregular recruitment and suspected fraud.
The report highlights gaps in compliance, monitoring and delivery under MGNREGA, which guarantees up to 100 days of wage employment to rural households.
Access to the scheme remains uneven, with 34,499 applicants waiting for job cards and many issued cards not adhering to prescribed formats.
The scheme's core objective has not been met, with over 48% of families not provided employment and only 5% receiving the full 100 days of work.
Procurement practices emerged as a key concern, with purchases exceeding ₹5 lakh made without inviting tenders.
Delays in wage payments and administrative bottlenecks have further affected workers, with arrears amounting to ₹1.28 crore remaining unpaid for several years.
The report also recorded ₹35.10 crore pending in rejected and revived Aadhaar-based wage and material transactions.
The audit pointed to discrepancies in attendance records and called for closer scrutiny, recommending an investigation into the fraud and discrepancies in attendance.
Irregularities in execution of works were widespread, with cases of payments made for houses already completed, to ineligible beneficiaries and without any construction activity.
