If you want to see how a good plan loses its relevance due
to corruption, then you must come to Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. This is the same constituency from where the chief minister Vasundhara Raje is the MLA. Despite the fact that information about the progress of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) should be available within seven days, queries from representatives from Kisaan Majdur Shakti Sanghtan (KMSS) were ignored for about a month in this high-profile area. At least when KMSS finally got the required information after a long wait and dharna for three days, they understood why they were being ignored.
Based on a social audit of five panchayats of Manohar Thana block, the Sanghtan found that there has been a huge scam in job cards and large sums had been siphoned off. A member of KMSS, Shankar Singh, says, “When we went to the village for the audit, the sarpanch and his goons attacked us with lathis and stones. Later, we finished the audit under police security. It was evident that the village sarpanch and corrupt officials didn’t want the social audit because of fears that reality will be out in the open.”
The NREGS was launched in 2006 by the UPA government. But it failed to meet its targets. At least, this is clear from the reports by social organisations and NGO’s across India. The working of the NREGS has been in question from the beginning. As the scheme gathered steam, corruption became an issue. In the second phase of NREGS, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted in his report that only 5% of the people in 200 villages benefited from the scheme. But the fact is that the scheme worked in places where NGO’s are active and produced results.
In its recent survey, KMSS found that of the Rs.11.5 million spent in Jhalawar district under the NREG scheme, there was a fraud of Rs.2.1 million. Economist Jean Dreze, who has played a major role in the programme and is a member of the National Employment Guarantee Council, feels that corruption is one of the primary reasons that the scheme is not working out properly. He elaborates, “If this program needs to be saved, then corruption needs to be fully eradicated.” Despite this, it is also true that under this programme, hundreds and thousands people have got employment. A spokesperson of NGO, Hum Kisaan, says, “If people get employed in activities other than agriculture, their situation improves. They get cash, which helps in increasing their savings.”
The audit by KMSS finds that poor people were forced to shell out a bribe of Rs.500 to get a job card. Speaking about this aspect, social activist Devendra, who carried out the audit, says, “In the master roll of Boreband panchayat, there were names of 5 people, who were dead. This makes it clear that the names of fake people are being used to siphon off money.” Master rolls are important because they form the basis on which workers are given their wages. So, if there’s discrepancy there, it stinks of corruption. The audit brought to the surface the fact that there were caste and class discriminations in Dabang and Saryana sarpanchs while doling out the job cards to dalits.
According to NREGS, a labourer can approach the panchayat and demand a job. Such workers need to be given a priority over others while creating job cards. And it is mandatory that they get a job within 15 days. In case the government does not provide them with a job within this period, according to the rules, it needs to give unemployment wages. Says a local worker, “It has been seen that the sarpanch and other officials do not give receipts and job cards. In such situations, even if the labourer complains, he has no proof. Thus, he cannot avail of the unemployment wages. Other than this, according to the government rules, it is mandatory that after 15 days, the workers need to be paid. But there have been many incidents where people have not been paid in six months.”
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
to corruption, then you must come to Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. This is the same constituency from where the chief minister Vasundhara Raje is the MLA. Despite the fact that information about the progress of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) should be available within seven days, queries from representatives from Kisaan Majdur Shakti Sanghtan (KMSS) were ignored for about a month in this high-profile area. At least when KMSS finally got the required information after a long wait and dharna for three days, they understood why they were being ignored.Based on a social audit of five panchayats of Manohar Thana block, the Sanghtan found that there has been a huge scam in job cards and large sums had been siphoned off. A member of KMSS, Shankar Singh, says, “When we went to the village for the audit, the sarpanch and his goons attacked us with lathis and stones. Later, we finished the audit under police security. It was evident that the village sarpanch and corrupt officials didn’t want the social audit because of fears that reality will be out in the open.”
The NREGS was launched in 2006 by the UPA government. But it failed to meet its targets. At least, this is clear from the reports by social organisations and NGO’s across India. The working of the NREGS has been in question from the beginning. As the scheme gathered steam, corruption became an issue. In the second phase of NREGS, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted in his report that only 5% of the people in 200 villages benefited from the scheme. But the fact is that the scheme worked in places where NGO’s are active and produced results.
In its recent survey, KMSS found that of the Rs.11.5 million spent in Jhalawar district under the NREG scheme, there was a fraud of Rs.2.1 million. Economist Jean Dreze, who has played a major role in the programme and is a member of the National Employment Guarantee Council, feels that corruption is one of the primary reasons that the scheme is not working out properly. He elaborates, “If this program needs to be saved, then corruption needs to be fully eradicated.” Despite this, it is also true that under this programme, hundreds and thousands people have got employment. A spokesperson of NGO, Hum Kisaan, says, “If people get employed in activities other than agriculture, their situation improves. They get cash, which helps in increasing their savings.”
The audit by KMSS finds that poor people were forced to shell out a bribe of Rs.500 to get a job card. Speaking about this aspect, social activist Devendra, who carried out the audit, says, “In the master roll of Boreband panchayat, there were names of 5 people, who were dead. This makes it clear that the names of fake people are being used to siphon off money.” Master rolls are important because they form the basis on which workers are given their wages. So, if there’s discrepancy there, it stinks of corruption. The audit brought to the surface the fact that there were caste and class discriminations in Dabang and Saryana sarpanchs while doling out the job cards to dalits.
According to NREGS, a labourer can approach the panchayat and demand a job. Such workers need to be given a priority over others while creating job cards. And it is mandatory that they get a job within 15 days. In case the government does not provide them with a job within this period, according to the rules, it needs to give unemployment wages. Says a local worker, “It has been seen that the sarpanch and other officials do not give receipts and job cards. In such situations, even if the labourer complains, he has no proof. Thus, he cannot avail of the unemployment wages. Other than this, according to the government rules, it is mandatory that after 15 days, the workers need to be paid. But there have been many incidents where people have not been paid in six months.”
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
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