Bhubaneswar, April 1 -- A performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged systemic failures in Odisha's tribal welfare, rural employment and nutrition programmes, revealing large-scale exclusion of beneficiaries, non-functional assets and serious lapses in implementation. The audit of schemes for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from 2019-20 to 2023-24 found that 54% of the state's PVTG population, about 160,000 people, remained outside welfare coverage despite significant expenditure. The CAG report, tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday, said Micro Project Agencies failed to extend services to newly identified tribal habitations. A 2018-19 survey had identified 1,138 such villages, but these were not covered under the Odisha PVTG Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement Programme. Basic amenities were limited, with only 18% of excluded households having access to safe drinking water and 34% receiving gas connections. In some cases, entire communities remained outside the system due to non-functional implementing agencies, the report, seen by HT, said. A joint inspection of 69 drinking water projects found 55% of drinking water projects and 58% of irrigation projects non-operational due to lack of maintenance. To combat malnutrition, the state established 116 Nutrition Resource Centres, yet 55 of these units built at a cost of Rs.3.59 crore were found lying idle because the department failed to plan for operational expenses, the report said. The MGNREGS audit showed that only 6.24 to 11.26% of households demanding work received the full 100 days of employment between 2019 and 2024, with the figure dropping to as low as 0.20% in some districts. Over 1.22 lakh (122,000) households were denied work without being paid unemployment allowance, while 35% of projects remained incomplete despite Rs.9,898.70 crore in expenditure, the report said....