SRINAGAR: The audit has flagged significant discrepancies between the Jammu and Kashmir Government’s departmental records and data uploaded on NREGASoft regarding funds available and expenditure under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) during 2019-20 to 2023-24.
The issue has been highlighted in the Composite Audit Report (Civil) for the period ended March 2024, which noted that the discrepancies undermine the reliability of financial information placed in the public domain through the MGNREGA Management Information System.
As per Table 2.14 of the report, the departmental figures and NREGASoft data showed substantial differences in the reported availability of funds and expenditure in several years.
For 2019-20, the Department reported total available funds of Rs 1,438.70 crore and expenditure of Rs 1,013.74 crore, while NREGASoft showed Rs 1,015.82 crore and Rs 1,004.80 crore respectively, resulting in differences of Rs 422.88 crore n available funds and Rs 8.94 crore in expenditure.
In 2020-21, the corresponding differences were Rs 981.49 crore in available funds and Rs 17.79 crore in expenditure. For 2021-22, the variations stood at Rs 942.71 crore and Rs 1.40 crore, respectively.
The audit recorded a difference of minus Rs 0.14 crore in expenditure for 2022-23, while the difference in available funds was Rs 863.51 crore. In 2023-24, the difference in available funds was Rs 658.56 crore, while expenditure showed a variation of minus Rs 86.15 crore.
The audit also detected inconsistencies within NREGASoft itself in the opening and closing balances reported for successive years.
According to Table 2.15, the closing balance for 2020-21 was shown as minus Rs 793.50 crore, against an opening balance of minus Rs 1.42 crore, with a difference of Rs 12.44 crore. For 2021-22, the opening balance was Rs 146.86 crore and the closing balance minus Rs 843.34 crore, resulting in a difference of minus Rs 940.36 crore.
The differences continued in subsequent years, with NREGASoft showing a minus Rs 938.76 crore variation in 2022-23 and minus Rs 694.34 crore in 2023-24.
The audit noted that Paragraph 11.9 of the MGNREGA Operational Guidelines, 2013 requires the entire data to be placed in the public domain through the Management Information System and viewed over the internet. It also requires States and Union Territories to put in place mechanisms to ensure the integrity of data entered into the system.
In its reply in August 2025, the Department attributed the discrepancies primarily to misreporting in earlier years on NREGASoft, stating that some entries had not been updated in time. It said the resulting differences emerged when the online records were compared with reconciled departmental figures.
The Department further maintained that the discrepancies were not due to lapses in fund management, but arose from technical reporting and legacy-updation issues in NREGASoft. It said the matter was being addressed in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The audit, however, did not accept the explanation, stating that information made available to the public through NREGASoft was expected to be reliable and accurate and that the Department was responsible for ensuring its correctness.
