Only 3% labourers got jobs under MNREGS in Bihar in 2014-19: CAG

Bihar's Nitish Kumar government managed to gave only 3 per cent employment to labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme between 2014 to 2019, the Comptroller and Auditor General said in a report.

As per the report, there were 26 to 36 per cent people in Bihar who applied for 100 days guaranteed employment under the MNREGS but only 3 per cent got work.

The report further said that 86.61 per cent labourers do not have land in Bihar and were completely dependent on the scheme. It conducted a survey among 60.88 lakh labourers before preparing the report.

The CAG has also found financial irregularities in the Nitish Kumar government's ambitious project, Lohia Path Chakra, the multi-purpose grade separator on Bailey Road near Raj Bhavan in Patna.

The government auditor said that construction company Bihar Rajya Pul Nirmaan Nigam Ltd (BRPNNL) has taken some wrong decisions during planning, preparation of Detail Project Report (DPR) and construction, wrongly expending Rs 6.04 crore in design, Rs 10.86 crore on specialist observers, and Rs 1.52 crore on other expenses.

As a result, the state exchequer bore a loss of Rs 18.42 crore, it said.