Supporting underprivileged women

This piece came in 'GRASSROOTS' in May 2009 issue
http://pressinstitute.org/scripts/grassroots_index_popup.asp?id=361

Supporting underprivileged women

By : Pradeep Baisakh
Orissa
The proposal of Nano car may not have gone well with the people in Singur, but the concept of nano finance has definitely caught the imagination of the needy in the Sambalpur district of Orissa.

Contrary to the traditional social practice, where a mother stays with her son’s family, Lata Bagh of Sambalpur district stays with her daughter and son-in-law, as she has no son. But she is not a burden to them, she is rather an asset. She sells vegetables in the local market and makes a substantial contribution to the family. Of late, her business has been profitable due to the small monetary help she got through nano finance from “Amara Biswas”- an institution that provides small financial aids to the poorest women in times of need. Previously, she used to take loans from the local money lenders to invest in her small business. The high interest loan had virtually put her in a vicious cycle.

Nano finance – It is all about giving small monetary help from 100 to 1000 rupees without interest to people in need for meeting their emergency consumer expenditures or to undertake small entrepreneurial ventures. “The whole idea of nano finance came to my mind when I saw our domestic help in Sambalpur paying Rs 50 every month to a money lender against a small loan of Rs 500 taken for her son’s illness. As per the condition, she either had to repay the complete amount at a time or has to pay Rs 50 every month. And she would never have 500 rupees at a time to repay! This is the scale of exploitation by the local money lenders, but the poor lady had no other choice,” says Ms Jayashree (Ranu) Mahanti, a non-resident Indian (NRI) who coined the terminology ‘nano finance’ and is practising the concept in Sambalpur.

Amara Biswas has kept a sum of four lakhs for circulation among the needy and five lakhs as security money. Ms.Susama, is officially appointed to carry out the transactions. The women in need come through references of women who have already benefited. No security deposit is taken from anyone for handing out the loan nor is any interest charged. It is totally based on mutual trust. When you ask her what is the certainty that the loan receiver would return the loan since no security deposits are taken, Ranu Mahanti has this to say, “Trust is the hallmark of the functioning of nano finance in Amara Biswas (Our Trust). We do judge the returning capacity of the women at the time of disbursing loan by asking three questions: Why do you want; what will you do and how will you repay.” In last one year of transaction, the return rate has been about 80 percent and the rest have bought some more time to repay. As many as 1700 people have benefited in one year. The beneficiaries are treated as the stake holders of the money. For example, when there are ten needy women coming to take money at a time and the availability of money in Amara Biswas is for seven. Then the ten women themselves decide who needs the money most and money is given to them. It is therefore a practice of ‘women helping women’. To sum up the various beliefs of nano, they are: no greed, personal touch, community responsibility, sympathy and sacrifice.

Nano has proved to be quite useful to the poorest whose monthly income is less than 2000 or 3000 rupees. This small help makes a very big contribution to them. For example, Tapaswini Hota did not have enough money to purchase necessary material to send her newly wedded daughter back to her in-laws house. Nano helped her by giving 400 rupees. People have even taken loan for purchasing wood for the funeral of a dead family member. Similarly, its role in nano entrepreneurship is no less. Binodini has a small business of badi and papad, which she prepares and her mother sells in the market. She has recently expanded her business by taking loan from nano finance. Nano has brought about a sense of security in the women as another beneficiary Lata Bagh puts it, “Previously, whenever we needed money, we had only one difficult choice - the money lenders, but now we are confident that whenever we need money, we can safely go for nano finance.”

The nano finance in Sambalpur is flourishing even as the micro finance is gradually losing its appeal, not withstanding the big claims being made toward the success of micro finance institutions (MFIs). In certain cases, the MFIs have been exploitative to the extent of using coercion on the helpless women, who had to turn to money lenders again to repay their weekly instalments! These realities defeat the objective of MFIs to free women from exploitation of money lenders by making them self sufficient through entrepreneurship.

“Nano is implicit in micro finance,” says an employee of a MFI and continues, “In reality, most MFIs are basically banking business in the guise of women’s empowerment. In most cases, the interest rate is as high as 30 percent. And in other cases, though the declared rate is less but there are hidden charges. On the other hand, nano seems to be working well due to its truly non-profit motive and hassle free transaction.” Due to its success in Sambalpur, it has expanded to other districts of Orissa like Bhadrak, Jagatsingpur, Nuapada, Bargarh and Anugul.

Whether the rather forgotten concepts of trust, interpersonal relationship and sacrifice imbibed in nano will sell in this era is a moot point. Yet another area of concern is its expandability. The institution has to be kept small in order to keep the aspect of personal touch intact. It cannot be a huge institution like other MFIs. So nano finance may be supplementary to micro finance. Only time will tell if it can be a substitution to the latter

Of forest dwellers, voters and elections

This Piece came in 'Meri News' on 24th April 2009
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15766595

and in Orissa Diary on 20th April 2009
http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=12215


Of forest dwellers, voters and elections
By Pradeep Baisakh

This time around the forest dwelling communities are keenly watching the performance of ruling and the opposition parties on the Forest Right Act, which aims to recognise tribals' and other forest dwellers' right over forest land and resources..

IN THE midst of the general and Assembly elections, various political parties are busy making tall claims on what they have done and would do in future for the poor. This time around the forest dwelling communities are keenly watching the performance of the ruling and the opposition parties on the Forest Right Act (FRA), the law that aims to recognise tribals’ and other forest dwellers’ right over forest land and resources.

Orissa is among the forerunners along with some other states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal in reaching the full potential of receiving the claims under Forest Rights Law, claims the recent status report provided by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, government of India. Till the period ending February 28, 2009, a total number of claims filed in the state at the Gram Sabha level is 2, 91,524 out of which 2, 71,352 are of individual claims and 20,172 are community claims, states the report on the achievements of BJD government in Orissa led by ‘the most popular CM’ Naveen Patnaik (Courtesy: India Today). Till only recently it was a BJD and BJP coalition government. (BJP withdrew its support from the coalition government on March 7, 2009)

A research angle to the issue suggests that the state government’s score on FRA is not very high. According to the Planning Commission’s statistics, the number of people who are critically dependent on forest in the state is above one crore. Accepting the census standard of the size of a family (five people constitute a family), the number of potential families to reap individual benefits from the law is 20 lakhs. These include both the tribals and the other traditional forest dwellers. So, the submission of 2.71 lakh individual claims against the potential 20 lakh families does not leave much room for celebration, though comparatively Orissa has done better than many other states. Moreover, out of these many claims filed, only about 22,000 individual claims have been finally approved by DLC till the reported period.

Ground realities suggest that the rejection rate of the claims is very high. For example, in Sagada GP under Bhawanipatna block of Kalahandi district, out of 26 villages the verification in nine villages was complete by the Sub Divisional Committee (SDLC) by end of December 2008. Out of 196 claims received, the SDLC has rejected 144 claims. “Basing on the status of the implementation of the law in 2700 villages from 10 districts of the state that we are tracking, the percentage of rejection is as high as 60 percent” informs Tushar Dash, a researcher. If this data is extrapolated to the whole state, the households to be benefited after completion of the process are 1.08 lakh, which is a meagre 5.4 per cent of the total potential beneficiaries!

First big problem with the implementation of the law in the state is non recognition of the rights of the Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) during joint verification done by SDLC. Three generation issue has come up as a major bottleneck at the SDLC and DLC level. So the claims of this category are rejected. In Sagada GP all such claims filed by the OTFD, which were verified by the SDLC, have been rejected.

In some cases, the people have ignorantly filed claims over revenue land assuming them as forest lands, which are being rejected by SDLC as they would not be acceptable under this law. But the officials are responsible for this ignorance of people. Dash says “In 1980s, during ‘hal’ settlement many of the forest areas were transferred to different kisam of revenue and other (non-forest) land. However, revenue and forest officials kept the people ignorant about this and continued to extort them.” The case of Ramesh Maji of Sagada GP is an instance to cite.

According to Forest Survey of India report 1999, out of total 46,989 villages in the state, about 29,300 villages are located adjacent to the recorded forest areas, which include the villages inside the forest. If it is assumed that at least one community claim should comes from these villages, the performance of the government seems to be quite good as such claims filed at Gram Sabha level is more than 20,000. But, the concern remains about the minuscule number of such claims approved by the District Level Committee (DLC) which is only 27 till the reported period.

The government deserves a pat on its back on some of the progressive steps taken by it eg it identified the ‘village’ as the ideal unit for formation of FRCs and holding Gram Sabhas as against the Gram Panchayat approach in many states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat; it has empowered the Gram Sabha to issue caste certificates; it has directed the collectors to take special effort to sensitise people to file more community rights claims; and it has specially directed not to neglect the un-surveyed forest villages in the process.

But problem still lies which the government cannot wash away. Most of the forest land in the State is un-surveyed and detailed maps/records are not available.

The claims preferred by the communities living inside the protected areas are not verified by the technical committees appointed by the SDLC. The problem is more acute in tiger reserves of the state like Satkosia, Sunabeda and Simlipal. The government is also criticised by the activists for its lackadaisical approach in the High Court in fighting the case filed by the retired forest officials against FRA, for which the disbursement of the entitlements has been withheld.

The main opposition party in the state, Congress has not done enough toward the cause of the forest dwellers. In the current Assembly, it has not raised this issue with any seriousness inside the Assembly and failed to pressurise the ruling dispensation to deliver on FRA outside the Assembly also.

The election results will show on how far people were satisfied with the performance of these parties toward FRA, namely, BJD, Congress and BJP who are the major three players in the state.

Orissa government: Has it done enough for the poor?

This piece came in "merinews" on 18th April 2009

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15766246

Orissa government: Has it done enough for the poor?

By Pradeep Baisakh

The Orissa government has not delivered on NREGS and therefore the ruling party lacks the moral right to ask for votes from rural labourers. It has faltered in terms of providing work and wages to the workers in time.

HAS THE Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government of Orissa led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is now the most popular Chief Minister of the country according to an ‘India Today’ survey, done enough for the poor labourers in the rural patches of the state by way of delivering on NREGS to plead for their votes in the ensuing general and assembly elections?

If you roam around several villages in Lamtaput, Nandpur and Machhkund blocks of Koraput district, you will find people just loitering around and wasting their time. When asked “why are you wasting your time? Do not you have any work available in your village?” The answer you get is a big ‘No’. In several villages like Enugu, Logum, Litiput among others no work under NREGS is available during this lean agricultural season forcing people to migrate or simply stay in the village and do nothing. Recently, thirteen 13 Logum village migrated to do work on railway tracks in Secunderabad.

Collector Gadadhar Parida (recently transferred elsewhere) says “As many as five out of 14 blocks of Koraput have no regular BDO. In Lamtaput post office, there are no additional staffs to open passbooks of people for making NREGS related payments.”

After repeatedly asking, Parida with reluctance admits that the block and panchayat level officials are not showing much interest to take up NREGS work after introduction of the bank payment system. It may be noted that the bank payment system under NREGS has almost checked the prevailing PC (percentage cuts) culture (where a fixed percentage of the welfare expenditure is siphoned of by the officials involved in the implementation) existing in the panchayat and block levels. Therefore it obvious that the officials at these levels are demotivated! During the survey on NREGS conducted in Orissa in October 2007 by G B Pant Institute, Allahabad, it was revealed that as much as 22 percent of the money goes as percentage cuts to the JE, BDO, Sarpanch, VLW, computer operator at the block level and others apart from the percentage that the contractor keeps for himself. The Collector laments “currently we are in a state of under utilisation of funds under NREGS”

Very poor performance in comparison to other states:

In several such districts of the state like Bolangir, Nuapada, Malkanagiri, Nawrangpur, Sundergarh, Ganjam etc where migration is rampant, NREGS has effectively failed check this trend. According to official figures, in the last financial year (2008-09) the total number of house hold provided jobs are meagre 9.4 lakhs as against about 51 lakhs job card holders in the state. Admittedly, all these card holders did not apply for work so not qualified to get job, the plea the government officials generally take- but people not applying for work does not qualify the perception that they are not needy but they are unaware about the demand driven character of NREGS. And the onus to generate awareness lies on the state. A inter state comparison till 5th March 2009, reveals that Orissa has been able to spend only 48.7 per cent to the total allocated fund whereas states like Bihar has done 63 per cent, Chhatisgarh 76 per cent and Jharkhand 63 per cent. Total percentage of work completed by this date is: Bihar-47 per cent, Chhatisgarh-51 per cent and Jharkhand-32 per cent and Orissa-a meagre 6.49 per cent!

Political and administrative will is lacking:

There have also been continuous complaints from different parts of the state about not providing work despite applications. In January, 2008 about 110 job card holders from Hanumal and Hantalput villages of Koraput district reportedly staged a dharana in front of the block office to demand payment of unemployment allowances as they were not provided work in time even after application for the same.

Complaints have also come about non payment and about in surmountable delay in payment of wages under NREGS to the workers. According to reports by the grass root activists, labourers of Hatipokna and other villages under Tentulikhunti block of Navrangpur district did not receive wages for more than five months till February 2009. Provision of compulsory payment of wages through banks and post offices has aggravated the already worsening condition of irregular payment. Though the bank payment system works well in Andhra Pradesh, in Orissa due to involvement of lengthy and cumbersome procedure and due to lack of any serious attempt by the government to streamline the transaction system, the statutory provision of wage payment within 15 days has been being unceremoniously flouted.

The grievance redressal system in the state is in complete disarray. Complaints of the workers lie unattended by the responsible officials at the block, district and state level for months together. A visiting delegation of Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) in November 2007 submitted 20 complaints to the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Panchayati Raj department of the state. They are yet to be heard.

If this is the situation at the state level, it can well be imagined what the situation would be at the block and district levels. All these have accumulated to create a situation where people have started losing faith on the efficacy of NREGA to address their work need and poverty by consequence. Though distress migration is characterised by inhuman working condition and various forms of exploitation-physical, mental and sexual, with the political and administrative class taking no interest on delivery of NREGA, the people of the state have no option but to go for it.

With this dismal show on providing guaranteed employment to the rural mass, does the government command any moral right to ask for votes from the rural labourers? The government may not actually need to bother much as Umi Daniel of Action Aid puts it “About two lakh migrant workers from western Orissa and more than four lakh from Ganjam district will be completely away from the election in the state!” Yahan honge tabhi to hamare khilap vote de payenge!

Disabled or differently abled?

This piece came in the 'grassroots'-the old and famous development journal in April 2009 issue
http://pressinstitute.org/scripts/grassroots_index_popup.asp?id=352
Disabled or differently-abled?

By : Pradeep Baisakh
Orissa
Twenty six-year-old Buddhadev Nayak from Rangamatia village in Mayurbjanj district of Orissa suffers from muscular dystrophy. Muscular dystrophy is a muscular disease by which the body muscles get weaker with each passing day, making the person unable to move his body parts. By implication, he gradually enters into a state of physical handicap. It started at the age of ten when he found that he was not fit enough to go out with his school friends to run and play. Belonging to a poor family, Buddhadev could not do much for the treatment of the disease. (Muscular dystrophy has no such effective treatment in medical science). Despite the disease he somehow managed passing matriculation. But as he was growing weaker and weaker, his movements were shrinking and he was ostracized from his family and society, who treated him as a liability. He started using a tricycle for movement as his legs stopped functioning. The sense of helplessness also grew in him and he treated himself as really ‘disabled.”

One day, he came in touch with the social workers of Sadhana, a local NGO who works for differently-abled people. With the inspiration and support from them, Buddhadev took the initiative to contact differently-abled people from the area with the objective to form a self help group (SHG). Eventually a group of twelve people of different forms of disability was formed in the name of “Sampark Bhinnakshama Swamshayak Sangha” (Sampark differently-abled self help group) in March 2006. A senior lady Nishamani Nayak was made the president of the group and Buddhadev the secretary. Each member started contributing a sum of ten rupees a month to the group bank account and decided to meet at least once a month in the group. Their individual level of helplessness, the agony of being disabled and being a liability to the family, added by the experience of being ‘looked down upon’ by the society was overcome by the group solidarity and group bondage. Emboldened by the group strength and some savings in hand, the group members decided to start some small business and inch towards financial self sustainability. At the group level they started with Mahula business, and at individual level, the members stitched ‘sal leaves’, made brooms of ‘Sabai grass’ and sale.

Starting from here, there is no looking back for them. Now, with the recommendation of the block, Buddhadev has got a personal loan of Rs. 25,000 to start a grocery shop. Elated with the change in his life, Buddhadev says “I was quite depressed without seeing a purpose in my life. The idea of forming a group gave me hope and confidence and now I own a shop for supporting myself and my family.”

Forum for emotion sharing

The members of Sampark SHG started with sitting once in a month for the group meeting. But gradually, the frequency of meetings increased, and it became a practice for all the members to sit every evening in the house of President Nishamani. What is the purpose of having daily meetings? Nishmani answers, “We speak about our problems; we share our agonies and happiness amongst ourselves. Who else is there near whom we can share our emotions? The belongingness and fellow feelings has brought us closer to each other.” Another member of the group adds, “We just like to sit with each other.” They just do not waste time in gossips in every evening. They do their regular work like stitching leaves etc and discuss about their problems and same of their villages and plan their future course of action. They are now regularly participating in the Palli Sabha and Gram Sabha meetings.

Example Setters

Buddhadev and his fellow members in Sampark SHG are no longer the persons to be looked down with pity; rather they are example setters for others. They started tracing similar differently abled people in other villages and persuaded them to form groups. With their effort, three such groups have been formed in Biridi, Badsole and another village of Badjod GP. And all these four SHGs have federated themselves at the GP level in name of Pragati, Badjod, Their success encouraged similar people from other GPs of the block to form and federate SHGs. A larger federation of these SHGs have been clinched in Baripada block. Such federations conduct regular interface with the administration to demand their entitlements as a matter of right, not just as charity. They also have connected themselves with the state level network of differently-abled people.

They have immensely contributed to the lives of people in the village. They persuaded the family members of Sivani Behera, a speech and hearing impaired female child to send the child to school. Similarly, they negotiated with the local school teachers and got many such children admitted into schools. They helped many potential beneficiaries to take advantage of the ‘Single Window Provision’, known as ‘Windows of Hope; for differently-abled people started in the district for providing disability certificates, bus passes, I cards, aids and alliances, etc. The single window system was initiated by the then Collector Karitikeyan Pandian for which he received several at the state and national levels.
Satisfied with their efforts and performance, the villagers wrote to the BDO to provide Sampark the PDS dealership of the Panchayat.

The attitude of the administration
Despite strenuous efforts, all is not turning well, particularly the attitude of the administration and the society in general to them. Narrating the difficulties faced by such groups of people, Ranjit Mahapatra of Sadhana says “Though the Orissa government has provisions for formation of SHGs of differently-abled people under ‘Mission Kshamata’ in reality, they do not recognise the groups so formed. As result of which such SHGs are not getting any loans from banks for undertaking entrepreneurial activities.” While we are considering the differently-abled people as the criteria for defining ‘homogeneity’, they still apply the gender definition to it. In the case of this category of people, forming groups in line of gender is neither desirable nor feasible,” he adds. The PDS dealership application by Sampark SHG was rejected on ground of non-homogeneity as both male and female members are present in it. These people are also not provided work under NREGS in the area despite the provisions of the law to give them work according to their ability. Unfortunately, there disability is viewed first by the implementing authorities before their ability is judged.

How safe are NREGS wage payments through banks and post offices?

This article came in "Infochange"-a web journal carrying article on developmnet issue in February 2009

http://infochangeindia.org/200902057602/Poverty/Features/How-safe-are-NREGS-wage-payments-through-banks-and-post-offices.html

How safe are NREGS wage payments through banks and post offices?
By Pradeep Baisakh

When the government decreed that all payments to beneficiaries under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act would be made through banks and post offices it thought it had plugged the leaks in the system. But bank accounts too can be manipulated, as a social audit carried out in Karon block in Jharkhand state showed

The success of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) depends on its beneficiaries getting the wages due to them, and doing so on time. Provisions for maintenance of muster rolls and job cards, payment of wages in front of all the labourers, providing access to all government records, and social audits are aimed at achieving exactly this.

However, as this gigantic employment guarantee scheme unfolded across the country, it was observed that muster rolls and job cards were being grossly manipulated by the implementers of the scheme to siphon off a large proportion of money from the wage component. (Money from the material component is also diverted.) To end this loot of public money, it was decided to pay the wages through banks and post offices rather than direct payment of cash to the workers.

What was overlooked was the fact that bank records could also be manipulated; if muster rolls and job cards -- both government records -- can be manipulated, so too can bank and post office passbooks. A recent social audit in Karon block, Deoghar district in Jharkhand showed just how vulnerable the system is.

The social audit was conducted in five gram panchayats of Karon block in mid-October 2008 by the Mazdoor Kisan Samiti (MKS), a local organisation, together with researchers from the G B Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad. In a startling revelation, and to everyone’s horror, it was found that signatures on withdrawal slips were forged to access money in the beneficiaries’ accounts in banks and post offices alike, without the beneficiaries’ knowledge.

In Ranidihi gram panchayat of Karon block, a well for irrigation purposes was sanctioned on the land of Koka Baori under NREGS. The audit revealed that the muster rolls were forged, and money was withdrawn from the bank accounts of the people who worked on the project, without the latter’s knowledge, by Naval Singh, the contractor, and Gopal Choudhury, chairperson of the Central Cooperative Bank in connivance with Umesh Singh, the panchayat sevak and N K Das, the manager of the bank.

Naval Singh, the main culprit, got the well sanctioned by the panchayat. It was to be dug on the land of Koka Baori, a poor dalit. Singh recruited labourers from outside the village, and the family members of Koka Baori also got some minimum amount of work. The muster roll, however, recorded only the names of Koka’s family members and his neighbours. Bank accounts in the names of these people were opened in the Central Cooperative Bank. The money was withdrawn from these accounts by forging the signatures of the account holders.

Based on these findings, the deputy commissioner, Mastram Meena, immediately ordered that a police complaint be filed against the aforesaid four accused in the scam. During a public hearing, the block development officer, Rajesh Singh, admitted that he was lax in carrying out his responsibilities and ensuring adequate monitoring, thus allowing the scam to occur. He agreed to deposit Rs1,000 as penalty for neglect of duty under Section 25 of NREGA. This is probably the first case where Section 25 of the law was invoked to impose penalty on an authority who failed to implement the provisions of the law.

Many means of manipulation
Anish Vanaik, a surveyor, says there are broadly three ways in which payment through banks and post offices ca be manipulated. One, signatures are forged and money withdrawn as was done by Naval Singh. Two, the signatures of the account holders are true, but they are taken under false pretences. This may be done at the time of opening the account (or later) when the innocent labourer is asked to put his signature on a form and later the form is misused to withdraw money. Third, the people are taken to the bank or post offices with the contractor/middlemen and they themselves withdraw the money, but then are made to hand over some of it to the contractor. They do this because the contractor gives them the information that the money has been credited to their account, which otherwise they would not know.

This shows how dependent the labourers are on the contractors. In one such case in Tekra gram panchayat, Lacchmi Mahato worked on an NREGS project to dig a well on Indu Mandal’s land. Though the full official wage of Rs 86.40 per day was credited to Lacchmi’s account, he paid part of it to Indu who decreed that the daily wage was Rs 70 per day.

The culture of ‘percentage cuts’
Another scam discovered in the course of social audits is the ‘percentage cut’ where various government officials and elected representatives share a percentage of the labourer’s wage.
Taufique Zarra of Mahuatand gram panchayat in Karon is a victim of this practice. “He got his well sanctioned under NREGS but not without a price. He gave Rs 2,500 to the panchayat sevak initially, and a further 13% in cash to the panchayat sevak and 10% to the overseer on each cheque released,” says Sunil, a surveyor. Zarra had to sell his bullock and take a loan at a high interest rate from the market to bribe the officials.

Abbas Mian also got a well dug on his land. He admits that he manipulated the names in the muster roll and filled it with the names of his relatives, and not the actual labourers, so that he could withdraw money from the bank. Kasim, cousin of Abbas Mian explains why this practice is resorted to.

“We have to pay the labourers on time otherwise they will not come to work. But the credit to the bank under NREGS gets in too late. We therefore pay the wages from our own pocket. We keep our relatives’ name in the muster roll so that it will be easier for us to withdraw the money from the bank.”

The politician-contractor-bureaucrat nexus makes the whole percentage system fairly unchallengeable. People like the contractor Naval Singh, who is also leader of the ruling party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, are difficult to punish because of the political protection they enjoy. This ‘PC’ culture, as it has come to be known, is the root cause of all the forgery -- earlier with muster rolls and now in bank payments. This has not only eaten into the wages of the poor labourers but is also corrupting people like Taufique Zarra and Abbas Mian on whose land the wells are sanctioned, and who have to forge muster rolls and manipulate the banking system out of compulsion.

The bank payment system has also brought uncertainty for the labourers as they don’t know when the wages are credited into their accounts. Sandhya, a surveyor, says, “The bank payment system has not gone down well with people because it functions in a lackadaisical manner. People have to go to the bank two and three times to enquire if their wages have been credited.”

This uncertainty has led to the increasing role of middlemen who have access to such information, and makes the innocent labourers quite vulnerable as they think the middleman is doing them a favour by telling them when they can withdraw their money.

The system has also led to delays in the payment of wages. One reason for this is that often it involves inter-institutional transactions (for example, from a bank where the gram panchayat has an account to the banks/post offices where the labourers have accounts). “Since the banking system has not been put in place properly, it has worsened the delay in payment of wages to the workers,” says Pankaj Kumar of MKS.

The system is good when it works
Making NREGS payments through banks and post offices is a good idea for several reasons. For one, it separates the implementing agency from the payment agency. So, as against direct payment of cash to the labourers by the panchayat/block authorities (or even contractors), who could keep a share of the money for themselves, in the banking system the money goes directly into the account of the labourers. This would also discourage corrupt authorities from fudging the muster rolls. Moreover, the payment through banks and post offices would promote the habit of saving among rural unskilled workers.

In Andhra Pradesh, the bank and post office payment system has worked quite well. At the time the block office sanctions payment to the bank based on the muster roll, a computerised pay slip is generated which is distributed in public to the beneficiaries in the villages. At the time of distribution, the muster roll details are also read out. The system works well because there is political will to ensure that it does, which is missing in a state like Jharkhand.

In Karon, the system is dysfunctional. Ever since the bank system has been implemented the signature column has disappeared from the muster rolls. “This is a fundamental problem as the labourers have no clue about their workdays and wages. The signature column in the muster roll should immediately be restored,” says Prof Jean Drèze, who led the survey team in the Karon audit.

Deputy Commissioner Mastram Meena cites a staff shortage as the major reason for the shortcomings in the implementation of NREGA. “From now on there will be one officer (gram rozgar sevak or panchayat secretary) present during the payment to the labourers from the banks or post offices,” Meena said.

While the introduction of payment through banks and post offices could check the prevailing corruption, it is not a foolproof mechanism. Jean Dreze and auditor Reetika Khera say that the transition from the conventional payment system to bank payment requires great caution including strict monitoring of banks and post offices, and must be combined with strict enforcement of all the transparency norms.

Ultimately, though, the essential ingredient for checking corruption and increasing transparency is the people’s awareness and assertiveness, which cannot be supplanted by any system however well thought out it may be.

(Pradeep Baisakh is a freelance journalist based in Orissa)
InfoChange News and Features, February 2009

NREGS challenges the Institutional Extortion System

This piece came in "South Asia Politics"-an international journal in September 2008 issue

I have co-authored this article with Rajkishor Mishra, Orissa State Adivsor to Supreme Court Commission on Right to Food

NREGA challenges Institutional Extortion System

Rajkishor Mishra and Pradeep Baisakh

“Killing was engineered by vested interests that were apprehensive of Lalit’s exposing their corrupt practices” reads the condolence message sent by Sonia Gandhi on Lalit’s murder.

“A Sarpanch (President of Gram Pnchayat) spends about five to seven lakhs in the Panchayat election, a MLA spends 40 lakhs to 2 crore rupees in the assembly election. Similarly a Panchayat Samiti Chairperson and Zilla Parisad President spend about 10 to 22 lakhs to purchase the members of Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parisad for winning the position. Where does this huge amount of funds come from? How these funds are replenished after winning the election?” asks a Panchayat expert from Orissa.

Lalit Kumar Mehta, an activist who was working on right to food and right to work issues in Palamau District of Jharkhand was brutally killed on 14 May 2008 while he was on his way from Daltonganj to Chhattarpur by a motorcycle. At the time of the incident, Lalit was helping a team of student volunteers from GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allhabad and elsewhere to conduct a social audit of NREGA works in Chainpur and Chhattarpur Blocks of Palamau District. Before liquidating him, attempts had already been made by the vested interested groups to dissuade the aforesaid team from conducting this investigation, particularly in Chainpur Block.

In similar such incidences Narayan Hareka, a Naib-Sarpanch in Borigi Gram Panchayat, Narayanpatna Block of Koraput district was killed recently while he was returning to his in-law's house from the block head quarter where he had gone to bring some information on NERGS. Kameshwar Yadav, a CPI Liberation NREGA activist was killed in Giridih District, Jharkhand for similar reasons very recently.


The recent days have witnessed infliction of violence against the activists and people by the groups which gets illegal gratification form the implementation of NREGS during when inspection of the work under NREGS is done by the former. This has been wide spread in various places for the country including Jhalawar of Rajasthan (in February 2008) where activists were attacked by the goons of the vested interest groups, in Malkangiri district of Orissa in March 2008 where Jacob Naka and his mother were thrashed by vested interest as they dared to testify in a public meeting , in Mayurbhanj district and Sundergarh districts of Orissa etc (in April-May 2008) where people giving testimony in the public meetings of NREGA social audit were attacked by the contractors’ lobby and in various other places including in Jharkhand. It has been so as the social audits brings fore the public money siphoned off by them. True, no body would like to be caught as a thief which becomes real in the public meetings conducted at the end of the inspection and cross verification of documents. But nobody would expect that the backlash would go to the extent of taking somebody’s life! Alas, this barbarism has now become true with the murder of Lalit and Narayan and Kamlesh, all of whom had tried to expose corruption in NREGS works by using the transparency mechanism existing in the law.

Instances of percentage cuts:
Prof Jean Dreze, the famous welfare economist and architect of NREGA legislation write in his article “Corruption in NREGA: myths and reality” came in ‘The Hindu’ on 22nd January 2008 writes “ In Jharkhand, detailed muster roll verification of NREGA works in five randomly selected Gram Panchayats of Ranchi district suggested leakages of about 33 percent.” It writes “In Bolangir and Kalahandi districts the infamous “PC system” (where various functionaries demand fixed percentage of scheme funds) continued and seem to absorb around 22 percentage of funds” . The percentage distribution among various players is found out in break ups as following in Orissa: the BDO takes two per cent, junior engineer five per cent, assistant engineer three per cent, other block staff one per cent, PEO five per cent, GP secretary three per cent, miscellaneous three per cent. The total works out to be 22 per cent. Over and above this the contractor has his/her share in terms of percentage and/or some share from the material cost. The total cut therefore comes to the level from 30 to 36 percentages.

Confidential sources suggest existence of similar percentage system in the surveyed blocks namely, Chainpur and Chhattarpur of Palamau district which is between 30 to 36 percent. Sources also reveal that contractors from Bihar having link with politicians both in Bihar and Jharkhand are functioning in the government works in Palamu district indirectly.

The cuts culture is well entrenched in the system wherein the funding to the elections are managed partially form the cut. Therefore any attempt by anybody to challenge the system where these powerful people are the stake holders, the backlash is most likely.

“The huge inflow of money under NREGS in a district has also raised the quantum of percentage cuts to a handsome level. Out of 75 crore rupees spent on NREGS last year, if we accept that about 20 percent is accounted toward percentage cuts then it comes out to be 15 crores which is not a small amount. On the other hand in one single work the percentage may yield to a small 50,000 to 60,000. This may not prompt a murder. Therefore the murder could not have taken place because it has affected the interested of one single individual, or a small group of persons. A sum of 50,000 rupees may not prompt a murder, but 15 crores can”: opines, a engineer friend of Lalit. He adds “Lalit was not only going to block office to get to get records and other facts under NREGA, he was also visiting DRDA office for similar purpose.”

Lalit has been a threat to all those who were making illegal money from the NREGA funds. Due to his engineering background he was able to make proper measurement of the earth work done and to decipher the “measurement book” in each work. “He was teaching people / beneficiaries on how to measure their work under piece-rate wage system and how much wages they should get according to their work done. By this, the corruption in measurement of work may straight way be caught. This would not go well with the engineers and other functionaries. And this is the reward he got for his work for people” laments Gopi, a leading NREGA activist of Jhrakhand and a colleague of Lalit.


It is an open secret that there exists institutional extortion system that take percentage cuts form all the welfare schemes implemented at various levels of governance and this has intricate relationship with the funding of elections right from the levels of elections to Panchayats, Assembly and above. The contractor system though patronage of political parties is one such phenomenon which constitutes the institutionalised extortion system. The contractors serve as the primary funder to the contestants during elections. Or on the other way around, the party cadres who campaign for the party/candidate during elections are rewarded by giving tenders and contracts by the political leaders with the help of officials after the election if the party/candidate comes to power. Jogendra Behera, an MLA from Titlagarh in Bolangir district in Orissa, wrote letter with his seal and signature to the BDO of his area to grant NREGA works in favour of his pet contractors. This may serve a case in point in support of the presence of patronage contractor system. The bureaucracy plays a vital role in this entrenched system of organised loot.

But why so much fuss about the system ‘now’ which has been existing since time of independence? The answer is simple. Though many know it exists, but nobody has the clue as what is the extent, what is the percentage share, how to expose the embezzlement with corroborative facts and figures. NREGA is probably first such well drafted legislation that provide ample scope for exposing and plugging in the areas of corruption. Jean Dreze says “NREGS aims at dismantling the prevailing organised loot of the public money and bring about a transparent system which is accountable to the people.”

NREGA hits at the root of percentage system:

NREGA hits at the root of the political patronage of contracting out the government work to the pet men by banning the contractors system in all NREGA works. Various transparency and accountability measures have been clearly enumerated in the act e.g. planning at the Gram Sabha, selection of mate by the villagers, constitution of vigilance and monitoring committee, proper maintenance of the muster rolls at worksite, device of Job Card as a document near the worker to keep track of his work and payment, payment in open before all the workers or by bank and post office pass books, suo moto disclosure of all the records of the work, furnishing the information/records relating to NREGA to all citizens in seven days of application, compulsory social audit of the works by Gram Sabha so on and so forth.

It is these mechanism accompanied by the action by vigilant civil society groups and academicians who have been using the provisions on a continuous basis to bring out the cases of embezzlement in NREGA works in various parts of the country has ruffled the feathers of the corrupt system in which only a handful people corner the gain. As the audits of NREGA works have brought out the levels of corruption and fixes responsibility on the authorities, the vested interested groups have been panicky in responding to the activism of citizens determined for a more transparent and accountable system backed by a strong legislation.

Brief findings of Palamu survey:

A brief look at the preliminary findings of the surveyors in Palamu district would be useful in understanding the size of the hole and why the backlash is inevitable. The survey was conducted in 10 randomly-selected Gram Panchayats of Chainpur and Chhattarpur Blocks of Palamau District, in May 2008 by the G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad.

1. 44% of workers (out of 100 workers surveyed) reported that contractors were involved at the worksite. This means ban on private contractors is routinely violated
2. In Chainipur block, a muster roll in a work done by forest department in Khendra Khurd panchayat there were 108 names on it, whereas only a few labourers (around 8) have actually worked. So almost all the signatures are fudged and the muster roll is a fake one.
3. In a case in Chiru panchayat in a muster roll 36 names were found but not a single person from them have actually worked!
4. Suresh Bhuyan, the mate of a work done in Shahpur GP testified in the Public Hearing on 26th May 2008 that he had to bribe the Gram Sevak for releasing the money.

These are few instances of manipulation done to cover up the corruption in NREGA works in the district. This may show why those who would be exposed by the survey would have tried hard to prevent the attempt by the surveyors and Lalit.

District administration’s desperation to cover up fault:
The letter written in by the District Collector NP Singh and The Superintendent of Police Deepak Verma of Palamu district to the Rural Development minister at centre Raghuvansh Prasad would show their anxiety and desperation to de-establishing the link between NREGS fraud and Lalit’s murder. They wrote that there is no link between the irregularities in execution of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and killing of Lalit Mehta. They have raised various other possible reasons for the murder: road rubbery, inter religion/caste marriage of Lalit that was not accepted (as the report claims) by both the families, and the involvement of Vikas Sahyog Kendra (VSK), of which Mehta was the secretary, in dealing in cash meant for execution of various developmental schemes. “It used to be a gathering point for many contractors also. It is quite obvious that some kind of dispute over share of money might have led to killing of Mehta” the letter mentions. The letter even stoops to the level of accusing Prof Jean Dreze and others of attempting to malign the state government and falsifying statements.

A group of activists led by Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey write in an appeal letter meant for the citizens of the nation to sign “…Instead of presenting a serious analysis of the circumstances of the murder, the report (prepared by DC and SP) makes absurd insinuations, such as Jean Drèze's possible involvement in the murder, or the allegation that he and his team manufactured evidence of fraud in NREGA works… The report reinforces earlier suspicions that there is an entrenched and deep rooted nexus of corruption and violence surrounding NREGA in Palamau, with powerful connections. Otherwise, why would the district's senior most officers go to such length to undermine a forthright examination of the use of NREGA funds in this area?”

Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey wrote in Indian Express online edition on 14th June “The police, with unseemly haste, buried the unidentified body (of Lalit), carrying it back 25 kilometres to the scene of the crime, after a hurriedly conducted post-mortem… the social audit conducted after 12 days of the murder established that a large proportion of the Rs 73 crore spent in the district had been siphoned off by contractors, officials and the well-entrenched development mafia.”

The Chief Minister of Kharkhand Madhu Koda, while ordering CBI inquiry on 19th June 08 to the matter (though after much reluctance) said “Though the CID probe, which I had earlier ordered, was following the case very closely, I chose to go for the CBI enquiry as a section of people had started suspecting the role of state police”

NREGA will deepen democracy at grass root:

The incidents of violence are likely to increase as more and more surveys and social audits are to be conducted through out the nation as part of the mandate of the act, and as because NREGA has provided both platform and opportunity for the concerned citizens to break the vicious cycle of hitherto unchallengeable loot. The intensity of backlash would be more in the poorer states like Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Chhatisgarh as the index of corruption is high in these states due to low level of awareness of the people on one hand and the established strong nexus among the contractor, implementing officials and politicians on the other which take the lions share from all welfare schemes. They are likely to take all possible tricks to safe guard their fort of corruption and exploitation.

Various groups and individuals perceive the provisions of NREGA in their own mirror. The corporate world sees it as drainage of public money as the real benefit of NREGA does not percolate to the target people as the findings of social audit suggest. This group is in fact knowingly ignored the fact that it is the social audit mandated under NRGEA which has brought out the level of corruption that has been existing in implementation of previous welfare schemes which are unknown till date. In fact a different politics work in corporate world that has shaped its image of antipathy toward NREGA. It is only natural that more public money diverted toward welfarism, less is available for investment in industrial sector. On the other hand Mihir Shah, the co-founder of National Consortium of CSOs supporting Gram Panchayats in planning implementing and social audit on NREGA, writes in his article “ The real radicalism of NREGA” in The Hindu on 22nd May 2008 “ the brutal murder of Lalit Mehta exposes the violent opposition by the vested interest deeply threatened by the radical provisions of NREGA” While some of the provisions are admittedly radical, the real fact is that NREGA has unlimited potential to bring social transformation in rural areas and has real prospect of deepening democracy by uniting people to ask questions and seek accountability from the public servants. It has the capability to challenge the status quo and usher a new era of transparent governance at the grass root level.

During the process the presence of the contractor-politician-official nexus will have to disappear gradually. Though this transformation may not be so peaceful and gradual as recent killing and many instances of violence on the people and activists suggest. In fact the series of NREGA related murders in different parts of the country only strengthens the belief that the root of this extortion system is deeper than seems on its face. Mihir Shah writes in the same column “Lalit’s work revealed high levels of corruption involving people in high places”

The social audits at various places of the country have witnessed the real democracy in operation. In the public meetings where the findings of the social audit were presented in the presence of the villagers and the officials, the fearless testimony of the rural poor and his/her assertion in taking the hissab from the Panchayat and block level authorities would be noteworthy observations. For example, in Silhadon panchayat of Ranchi district, where social audit was conducted as part of the exercise undertaken by National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) in the whole Ranchi district in May 2007, it was found that the names of 10 women had been struck off the muster rolls when they demanded payment against providing drinking water to the workers. At the public hearing the panchayat Sewak simply folded his hands and apologized, and agreed to pay the women for the work done within 3 days. Similarly in Kuchhu Panchayat under Angadha block, in one case, where people had worked for three days but were not paid as that project was scrapped afterwards, the BDO ordered the payment to be made immediately during the public meeting. Similarly in Orissa in a series of social audits conducted by NIRD in association of CSOs and villagers during January to May 2008 it was observed that the the platform of SA has also been used to redressing other grievances of people. For example, in Similipadar GP under Kantamal block of Boudh district just after the public hearing on NREGA the people complained of prolonged irregularity in supply of ration under PDS to the BDO and the Asst Project Director, DRDA. The people gheraoed the officials and relented only after assurance of smooth ration distribution. These instances substantiate the claim that NREGA has the potential to reinstate faith of common people on democracy. In the social audit process they are participating not only in the decision making but also in the implementation. These occasions provided the platforms, for the first time for people, where officials are forced to answer to their questions on various aspects of policy and implementation of NREGA. What has been exhibited is the public accountability in its real sense. Social audits provide voice to the hitherto voiceless.

Governments’ waning commitment toward NREGA:

The biggest cause of concern is the signs of waning support from different governments from NREGA. The recent move by the central government to increase the minimum hours of work from seven hours a day to nine hours and then reducing it to eight hours after protest is one such example.

In Jhalawar district (the home district of Ms. Vasundhara Raje, the Chief Minister) of Rajasthan the attempt by Abhiyan, a campaign of labourers, small farmers, activists, researchers, students and people from all walks of life committed to transparency, to conduct social audits during January-February 2008 was met with violent attack on the volunteers by the locals led and fed by the Sarpanch union and other vested interest groups. Such planned violence has happened despite the fact that Ms Aruna Roy had personally handed over a letter to the Chief Minister Ms. Vasundhara Raje on January 25th informing her of the social audit and asking for her support. The activists were of the view that the state government, which had made commitments to the employment guarantee scheme and its transparent implementation, working in co-operation with the Abhiyan ever since its much-successful social audit in Dungarpur in 2005, distanced itself from the social audit by Abhiyan from Banswara (in Decemabre 2007) and Jhalawar (February 2008) coming under the pressure from its cadres at the local level.

Conclusion:

Organisation of the workers is a must to contain this back lash from the powerful groups. The act itself provides the space for the same. It discusses about labour union for uniting people on the issue of right to work under NREGA and surprisingly there is space for this in the Act itself. The activists who are committed toward successful operationalisation of NREGA should depend on people’s power to deal with the possible onslaught of the powerful vested interest. Also this would help break the nexus of corruption and exploitation (politician-contractors and officials). The recent order of the Chief Minister Madhu Koda for a CBI inquiry into Lalit’s murder will prove to be a turning point in the fight to save NREGA .

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Rajkishor Mishra is State (Orissa) Advisor to the Supreme Court Commission on Right to Food
Pradeep Baisakh is a Freelance Writer based in Orissa

Social audit scenario in Orissa

This article came in "Yojana" monthly journal published by Publication Division, GOI, in August 2008 issue

Social Audit scenario in Orissa
Pradeep Baisakh

Social audit of government works is a unique tool of establishing government’s direct accountability to the people. In National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) (section 17 sub section 1,2,3) itself it has been made an integral and important part with the purpose to enforce the constitutional and democratic right of the citizen to take the “hisaab” of the public money.

After the NREGS came into effect from 2nd February 2006 social audits and surveys have been undertaken by various groups in different paces of Orissa at different points of time. A rough list is given below:
List of places of Social Audit/survey undertaken
Name of the place Period
Makarsola village of Kendupati GP, Kalahandi district June 07
Sanpokhri village of Bisra block, Sundergarh district March 07
Belaput GP of Nandpore block, Koraput district May 07
Makar Sola village, kendupati gp, junagarh of Kalahandi May 07
Pujariguda gp Tentulikhuni Navrangpur May 07
Ukhla Gp under Jaipur block, Sonepur district August 07
Khari and Situla GP, Sonepur dist December 07
Paikphulbeda GP under Dasmantpur block, Koraput district November 07
11 social audits in Koraput, Kalahandi, sonepur, Boud, Bolangir and Nuapada districts
21st January to 4th February‘08

A series of Social Audit (SA) is being undertaken in 19 districts of the state by NIRD, Hyderabad with the request of the State government. NIRD in turn has sought cooperation of the local NGOs and volunteers. In the first phase SA was done from 21st January to 4th February 2008 in 11 GPs in six districts namely Bolangir, Koraput, Boud , Sonepur, Nuapada and Kalahandi.

Brief finding of the social audit (21st January to 31st January 2008) done in one work in Koraput district is given below:
Information as per official records:
Name of the work: Road construction work from Lakhiguda to sindhiguda
Place: Panasguda GP under Borigumma block of Koraput district
Financial year: 2006-07 (work done between 16 December 06 to 23 March 07)
Sanctioned amount: 5 lakhs
Total number of labourers worked in the work as in the Muster Roll (MR): 136
Total number of person days created as per the official record: 2837
Expenditure toward labour payment: 4,13,115
Expenditure toward material cost: 7,000
Royalty to the state government: 77,966

During the survey the team however met about 10 such people who have worked under the work but names were not mentioned in the MR.
Summary findings:
1. 75% of wages shown in the MR is not paid to the labourers
2. The length of the road is shown to be 1280 metres, but a real measurement was found to be 700 metres
3. 7000 rupees were paid toward the T&P (tools) but in reality it is not paid
4. No worksite facilities like drinking water, rest shed , first aid kit etc were available

A survey on NREGA works was conducted by Prof Jean Dreze and colleagues from the G B Pant Institute at 30 worksites in GPs of six blocks randomly selected from three districts of Kalahandi, Bolangir and Boudh in October 2007. This survey provides a broader picture. The interim report of the survey observes, “The verification of 30 sample worksites shows that only 60 per cent of the days of employment recorded in the MRs were confirmed by the respective labourers. The corresponding discrepancies in the wage payments may even be larger. However, this is hard to ascertain as the verification of wage payments poses considerable difficulties…”

Areas of concern
During the social audits and surveys conducted some of the following areas of concerns have come up which are briefly discussed as follows:

1. Inaccessibility to records: Though the act clearly dictates for easy availability of the MR and other documents to the citizen, reality speaks differently. In the recently concluded survey and SA by NIRD (21st January to 4th February 08), the district administration of Nuapada district and the BDO of Sinapali of the district virtually denied parting with the record of the works. Similar non cooperation was reported in Belpada block of Bolangir district.
2. The labourer is not able to verify his/her payments from the job card due to absence of wage column specifying the wages paid. The state government, however, has decide that there will be a column for “wage payment” in the new Job Cards and the remarks column in the existing card will be made use for the purpose.
3. Two types of muster rolls namely kachha (unofficial) Pacca (official) kept by the contractors/mate in order to accommodate necessary manipulations to cover up corruption.
4. The infamous ‘cuts’ culture in the government works is also seen in NREGA works. In the block works the total percentage of direct pilferage may work out to be nearly 20-22%. The BDO, JE, Auditor, Clerks, AE,data entry operator, PEO, Panchayat Secretary, contractor etc have their share. The ‘cuts’ has links with the funding of elections in the panchayat and the assembly.

However, JEs and VLWs privately agree that under NREGA managing percentage cuts have a considerable risk, and eventually it has to go down, particularly after the payment through banks and post offices becomes fully operational, which has just started in the state now.

5. Contractors are to be seen in all NREGA works, some are visible and some are not.
Saswat Mishra, additional secretary, department of panchayati raj, however says “We have instructed the JE and VLWs, in whose names work orders are issued, to entrust the work to the VLLs selected by Palli Sabha, not to the contractors.”
6. Social activist opposing the involvement of contactors and conducting social audits have been beaten in many cases. For example, after the social audit in Semala and Ekamba GPs of Navarangpur district in November 07, a social activist was badly beaten by none other than the PEO and the Sarpach and was hospitalised.

7. The hierarchy of grievance redressal system has unfortunately not been put in place in the state.

8. The Management of Information System (MIS) has been too rigid leading to “adjustments” in the written records.
9. Staff shortage at block and panchayat levels, low travelling allowance to the panchayat workers, JEs etc have bearing on the implementation of the NREGS works.

Apart from these systemic issues, regular complaints like denying work to old people and widows, manipulating MRs, providing fewer wages to the women than men, non availability of worksite facilities including crèches etc were also reported.

Impact of Social Audit
SA is probably the best form of generation of awareness and mobilisation of people. The impact of SA process has been both immediate and long term. During the recent SA in Pandasguda GP of Borigumma block of Koraput district, the authorities distributed about 300 Job Cards within seven days to the villagers which were not given for last two years. In Nilabadi GP under Bandhugaon block work was immediately sanctioned by the authorities to about fifty people after the survey team arrived to conduct SA. Making pending payments were also reported during the audit process that was undertaken by NIRD recently.

The platform of SA has also been used to redressing other grievances of people. For example, in Similipadar GP under Kantamal block of Boudh district just after the public hearing (in last week of January’08), the people complained of prolonged irregularity in supply of ration under PDS to the BDO and the Asst Project Director, DRDA. The people gheraoed the officials and relented only after assurance of smooth ration distribution.

However, the long term impact of SA in terms of increased awareness of people accompanied by assertion of their entitlements under the act and the response of the authorities toward better implementation of the scheme is encouraging. In Paikphulbeda GP of Koraput district, where SA was done in the month of November’07, a group of 52 women, who were not piad their two days wages of the work done in 2006-07, were paid within fifteen days of the audit. “In Bilaput GP of Nandpore block of Koraput district, where SA was done in May’07, the people who were getting wages of rupees 30 to 35 are now getting the minimum wage of seventy rupees per day. People have now started demanding work and are vigilant about wages, worksite facilities etc” says Bidyut Mohanty of SPREAD (a NGO) that facilitated the audit there. Recounting the gains of audit done in Sanpokhar village of Birsa GP in Sundergarh district, Binay Sahu, a local activist says “so many irregularities were found during when social audit was done. But now, providing work in time, making payment within fifteen days etc are done. In some cases even people have got 135 days of work in a single financial year. The decentralised planning at Palii/Gram Sabha has also got a fillip. Now the Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) is keeping old women as ‘aya’ in the worksite to take care of babies of working women and paying them the minimum wages”

“These improvements give the hope that NREGS can be implemented in letter and spirit in due course of time” says, Rajkishor Mishra, the State (Orissa) Advisor to the Right to Food Commission of Supreme Court.

In fact two surveys done in the state, one by CEFS, a New Delhi based NGO in May-June 2007 and other by G B Panth Institute in October 07 brought substantial impact on the state government to streamline issues at policy level. State government took some vital decisions of redesigning job cards, appointing ‘gaon sathis’ to make measurements, constituting the State Employment Guarantee Council (SEGC), directing to VLW/JE not to entertain contractors, requesting NIRD to conduct social audits in 40 GPs etc. These decisions, if properly implemented, will give proper direction to the scheme in the state.

Recommendations for betterment of implementation
Recommendations were made by the visiting members of CEGC in November’07; by the survey team from G B Panth institute and by the the CSOs of the state to the state government which are briefly given below:
1. Regular maintenance of Job Cards should be strictly enforced. Responsibility should be clearly fixed on the Gram Rozgar Sevaks for the task.
2. “Adjustments” in the records should not be allowed in any circumstances. Persons without a Job Card should be provided with a Job Card before they join a worksite.
3. A uniform, single, numbered, well-designed muster roll should be used throughout the state. Accountability should be fixed for ensuring that live muster rolls are kept at the worksite, and completed muster rolls are available for public scrutiny at the Panchayat Bhawan.
4. Additional staff should be appointed as per NREGA Guidelines both at GP and block levels. A Gram Rozgar Sevak should be posted in each Gram Panchayat and the Programme Officer at the Block level should be “a full-time dedicated officer”, not below the rank of Block Development Officer.
5. Immediate government order should be issued to the block and district level officers mentioning the time limit for grievance redressal under the act.
6. Awareness drives urgently need to be conducted, as most labourers are still unaware of their entitlements under NREGA. A simple, reader-friendly “primer” on NREGA should be made available to each Gram Panchayat.
7. Each Block and District should have a NREGA Helpline (for information as well as for complaints). Helpline numbers should be printed or “sticked” on each Job Card.
8. Planning process at the Palli/Gram Sabha level should be activated with proper awareness drive and facilitation.

Despite many odds NREGA remains the ray of hope of the poor people in rural Orissa. The strength of the legislation has already been exhibited in the state by enforcement of the clause of unemployment allowance in case of 546 job card holders who have got Rs 1,04,355/- in total. The process of social audit has also proved to be an effective tool in the hands of common people to ensure transparency and demand entitlements. It will be wrong to interpret that the level of corruption in NREGA, as the findings suggest, is more than other schemes. The fact of the matter is that in previous welfare schemes the extent was of this level or more, but was not in public knowledge. The transparency mechanisms visualised in the act have been able to bring fore the extent of misappropriation of public funds. The levels are to go down in due course as has been seen in some above discussed cases. For still better implementation, the process of social audits should be done before and during and after the work is undertaken. It should be a continuous process.

E mail: 2006pradeep@gmail.com