50% of MGNREGA beneficiaries 'pay bribes' for payment: Study

NEW DELHI: A study by an autonomous research institute under the Ministry of Finance has claimed that "50 per cent" of the MGNREGA beneficiaries "pay bribes" for payment of their wages.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha today, Minister of State for Rural Development Sudarshan Bhagat, however, said that the study needs to be validated by major studies based on primary data.

"Yes sir. A study by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) based on certain secondary survey data has made a statement to that effect. However, that study, which relied on newspaper articles of 2007-08 needs to be validated by major research studies based on primary data," Bhagat said.

He was replying to a question on whether the government is aware that as per a recent study report, 50 per cent of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) beneficiaries pay bribes for payment of their wages.

The study is significant in the backdrop of frequent complaints about leakages in the scheme and allegations of corrupting in the flagship rural job scheme reported from many places in past.

In his reply, the minister has also named the provisions to check corruption and bribes in the scheme through social audit, grievance redressal mechanisms, state quality monitor and national-level monitors.