Punjab cabinet sub-committee directs officials to conduct social audit of panchayats

During the discussion on the issues related to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA, Cheema asked the department to send a copy of the rules related to the act to all the village heads sarpanch and panchayat members.

The Punjab cabinet sub-committee Thursday directed officials to conduct a social audit of all the panchayats in the state by December.

The committee, comprising Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Minister for NRI Affairs Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, gave these directions to the Rural Development and Panchayat Department during a meeting with the Khet Mazdoor Union here, an official statement said.

The cabinet sub-committee also asked the officials concerned to make the audit report public. During the discussion on the issues related to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Cheema asked the department to send a copy of the rules related to the act to all the village heads (sarpanch) and panchayat members. He also asked the officials to ensure that no job card is issued to a person below 18 years of age. Cheema added that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has written a letter to the Central government for increasing the daily wages of MGNREGA workers.