ImpactMojo Studio · Accountability

Scheme Tracker — the claim and the audit

India's big government schemes, two facts side by side: what was officially announced, and what the government's own auditor found. The left column is the claim — a ministry statement, a press release, a dashboard number. The right is the finding — from the Comptroller & Auditor General (the Constitution's independent auditor), a parliamentary committee, NITI Aayog, or the government's own official statistics. Both sides are official and cited.

This is not commentary. It pairs what a scheme announced with what an official review reported — both sourced, no editorial verdict, no party named. The CAG is the government auditing itself; a parliamentary committee is Parliament reviewing the executive. Often the two columns simply measure different things — connections issued versus connections in use, houses sanctioned versus completed — and that gap is the whole point. Some findings are national; others are state performance audits that show the gap somewhere specific rather than measuring the national total. Each is labelled. Read both columns and draw your own conclusion.

How this is built

What counts as a claim. An official government statement of achievement — a Press Information Bureau release, a ministry annual report or dashboard, a reply in Parliament, or a budget statement — usually with a headline number (cards issued, toilets built, connections given).

What counts as a finding. An assessment by an official body with a mandate to check: the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (performance and financial audits), a Parliamentary Standing Committee or the Public Accounts Committee, NITI Aayog evaluations, or the government's own official statistics (e.g. National Accounts, RBI-defined data, figures placed before Parliament). Cards resting on a formal audit are labelled "what the audit found"; cards resting on official data or outcome figures are labelled "what the official record shows." Each names the body, report and year; where a report PDF is public it is linked. A single-source flag marks pairs resting on one secondary report rather than a named primary document.

National vs state scope. Several schemes are national but the most concrete, quotable audit numbers come from a state performance audit (the CAG audits schemes state by state). Those cards carry a state audit badge — the gap was found somewhere specific, not that the whole national programme was audited to that number. Cards assessed at the national level carry a national badge.

Why a development-education site runs this. Practitioners have to work with these schemes — design around them, evaluate them, build on them. Knowing both the announcement and the audit is part of doing that work honestly. This tracker takes no political position; it surfaces public official records so readers can weigh them. It is independent and not affiliated with any government body. Findings are summarised from the cited reports; for the full context and the government's own responses, read the linked source and the ministry's reply. Corrections welcome via contact.