Rajasthan owes ₹2014.39 crore in MGNREGA wages and materials, CAG finds

It reviewed planning, financial management, employment generation, execution of works, and monitoring systems.

Who it concerns: Government of Rajasthan (specifically the implementation of MGNREGA across selected districts, Panchayat Samitis, and Gram Panchayats).

What the auditor found

• Baseline surveys were not conducted in any test-checked Gram Panchayats (GPs) during 2019-24, preventing realistic development planning.
• District Perspective Plans were not prepared in any test-checked districts.
• Block Resource Centres (BRCs) were not set up in any selected blocks, leaving GPs without technical support for planning.
• Staff shortages ranged from 3% to 64% for regular staff and 31% to 80% for contractual staff across all levels.
• 100% of regular Block Resource Persons (BRPs) and Village Resource Persons (VRPs) posts were vacant at the State level as of July 2024.
• Delayed release of funds by the State Government created an interest liability of ₹9.08 crore for 2019-20 and 2020-21.
• Pending liability for wages and material component was ₹2014.39 crore as of September 2025, with ₹1892.67 crore specifically for the material component.
• Only 7.15% to 16.33% of households that availed employment received the guaranteed 100 days of work.
• 21% of works approved (19.74 lakh works) were incomplete as of September 2025, with 8% of these pending for more than three years.
• 88% of the 11.36 lakh works approved under convergence were incomplete as of September 2025.
• ₹948.54 crore in wage payments (2.82% of transactions) were made with delays of 16 days to over 90 days.
• ₹52.91 lakh in unemployment allowance was pending as of July 2025.
• 80% of compensation claims for delayed wages were rejected.
• Recovery of financial irregularities pointed out in social audits was only 23.58% at the state level.
• Recommendations include conducting baseline surveys, preparing District Perspective Plans, and appointing adequate trained VRPs and BRPs.

Also in the document

• CAG found that the State Government had a pending liability of ₹2014.39 crore for wages and materials as of September 2025.
• CAG reported that 100% of regular Block and Village Resource Person posts were vacant at the State level as of July 2024, affecting social audit efficiency.
• CAG noted that 88% of works approved under convergence schemes were incomplete as of September 2025.
• CAG observed that mandatory 65% expenditure on Natural Resource Management (NRM) work was not incurred in any year during 2019-2024 in test-checked NRM blocks.