The Comptroller and Auditor General found major irregularities in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin, Jal Jeevan Mission and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Jharkhand, according to reports tabled in the state Assembly. The audit highlighted planning and execution lapses across housing, water and rural employment schemes. Figures in the report are presented here in million (mn) and billion (bn) for clarity.

The PMAY-G audit found that the state had identified 2.234 mn eligible households by November 2022 but the Centre allocated 1.602 mn houses after inaccuracies in priority lists, inability to utilise targets and delays in finalising beneficiaries, leaving 0.632 mn eligible households uncovered. The state sanctioned 1,592,124 houses between 2016 and 2024 and had constructed 1,562,249 houses as of January 2025. The report also noted inadequate financial management under the scheme.

Total expenditure under PMAY-G in the state amounted to Rs 141.13 bn against total available funds of Rs 202.00 bn, with funding utilisation ranging between 55 and 83 per cent from 2019 to 2024. The audit said deficiencies in planning and fund absorption contributed to unspent allocations. These shortfalls translated into a gap between sanctioned targets and beneficiaries covered.

The Jal Jeevan Mission audit showed that the state government approved 98,067 schemes at an estimated cost of Rs 243.60 bn and that 97,535 schemes were taken up at an agreed cost of Rs 246.65 bn, but only 27,249 schemes were completed as of December 2024. When the scheme was launched there were 5,227,214 rural households, of which 345,165 already had tap connections, and by March 2025 3,431,115 (55 per cent) out of 6,253,471 households had functional household tap connections, below the national coverage of 80 per cent. The MGNREGA audit detected discrepancies between NREGASoft data and certified financial accounts and reported outstanding wages to unskilled labour totalling Rs 3.22 bn for 2019-20 to 2023-24. Out of 10,268,484 works proposed for 2019-24, only 2,796,044 (27 per cent) were completed, 5,021,492 (49 per cent) remained incomplete and Rs 26.33 bn had been spent.