Ranchi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged major irregularities and implementation gaps in three flagship rural welfare programmes — Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and MGNREGA — in reports tabled in the assembly on Tuesday.Finance minister Radha Krishana Kishore tabled five reports covering the three schemes, the state’s finances and revenue-related matters.The PMAY-G performance audit found that 6.32 lakh eligible households remained outside the housing scheme because of deficient planning and problems in beneficiary identification.Jharkhand had identified 22.34 lakh eligible households by Nov 2022. However, inaccuracies in the Socio-Economic and Caste Census priority list, the state’s inability to utilise targets and a two-year delay in finalising beneficiaries led the Centre to allocate only 16.02 lakh houses, the report said.The state sanctioned 15,92,124 houses between 2016 and 2024, of which 15,62,249 had been completed by Jan 2025. Expenditure stood at Rs 14,113 crore against available funds of Rs 20,199.98 crore, with annual utilisation ranging from 55% to 83% during 2019-24.The JJM audit highlighted slow implementation, with only 28% of approved schemes completed by Dec 2024. The state approved 98,067 schemes estimated at Rs 24,360 crore and took up 97,535 at an agreed cost of Rs 24,665.29 crore. Only 27,249 had been completed.When JJM was launched in Aug 2019, Jharkhand had 52,27,214 rural households, including 3,45,165 with tap water connections. By March 2025, 34,31,115 households had received functional household tap connections. Coverage stood at 55%, against the national average of 80%.The MGNREGA audit found discrepancies between the NREGASoft portal and the department’s certified financial accounts. It also found that wages worth Rs 321.84 crore for unskilled workers remained unpaid from 2019-20 to 2023-24.Of 1,02,68,484 works proposed during 2019-24, only 27,96,044, or 27%, were completed. Another 50,21,492 works, or 49%, remained incomplete till March 2024 despite expenditure of Rs 2,633 crore.
