Centre for Environment and Food Security

New Delhi, July 25
After unearthing Rs 500-crore scam in Orissa, a second survey carried out by the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) has claimed to unearth yet another multicrore scam in the UPA government’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and this time in Madhya Pradesh.

Alleging a Rs 2,100 crore scam in the rural employment guarantee scheme of MP, the organisation, on the basis of a survey, says that only 25 per cent of NREGS funds were actually spent on providing employment to the poor and remaining 75 per cent were siphoned off through fake job entries in muster rolls and job cards.

According to CEFS director Parshuram Rai, the sample survey was conducted in MP between December 2007 and January 2008 in 125 poorest villages spread over five poorest districts of the state in Shivpuri, Chhattarpur, Tikamgarh, Dhar and Jhabua.

As per data posted on the NREGA website, the state was provided Rs 3,288 crore under NREGS and was able to spend Rs 2,891 crore during 2007-08. With this expenditure, 2753 lakh persondays of wage employment was given to 43,46,916 households during this period. In other words, 43,46,916 households were given 63 days of average employment during 2007-08.

Ray, however, says that during first 10 months of 2007-08 (April 2007-January 2008), sample households got only 10.61 days of average employment and just 2.36 per cent sample households got 100 days of wage employment. “It was shocking to note that 65.39 per cent of sample households did not receive even a single day of employment between April 2007 and January 2008. Moreover, 38.49 per cent of sample households never got any employment under the NREGS,” he alleges.

The CEFS study suggests that really speaking not more than 16 days of average employment was given to needy households during 2007-08. Since sample households in MP were given only 10.61 days of average employment during first 10 months of 2007-08, the average employment during 12 months of the financial year 2007-08 came to about 13 days.

“Even if three days more are added on account of margin of error, the average employment figure for the year comes to only 16 days. Therefore, average employment figure of 63 days claimed by the state government is about four times more than the CEFS figure of 16 days,” he says.

The difference is because only about 25 percent of the job figures given by the MP government are actual and remaining three-fourth are based on faked job entries in job cards and muster rolls, he adds

In other words, only 25 per cent of NREGS funds actually reached intended beneficiaries in the state while the remaining, about 75 percent, were siphoned off by officials.

New Delhi, July 24: An NGO has questioned Madhya Pradesh’s credentials as India’s top performer in the rural job scheme, saying state officials had siphoned off at least 75 per cent of the funds by showing bogus projects.

A sample survey by the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), conducted across five districts of the BJP-ruled state, says just over a fifth of the official spending and project figures are true.

Officially, the state’s 4,346,916 eligible families were provided an average of 63 days of employment in 2007-08, against the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme’s target of 100 workdays a year. The CEFS survey says the actual figure was only about 13 days.

“The difference is so steep because corruption is rampant in the region. At the most, only 25 per cent of the job figures on the scheme’s website are real — the remaining are fake entries in the muster rolls and cards,” said CEFS director Parshuram Rai, who spent nine months in the five districts to help complete the survey.

“Most of these people don’t know what a muster roll is. So, if only 25 per cent of the actual allocated amount of Rs 2,891 crore is being spent under the scheme, then Rs 2,100 crore (75 per cent) is being siphoned off.”....

BHOPAL: A study carried out by the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) has challenged the Madhya Pradesh Government’s claim that under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) Rs.2891 crore out of a total allotment of Rs.3288 crore was spent to give 2753 lakh person-days of wage employment to 4,346,916 households in the State during 2007-08.

Briefing media persons here, CEFS Director Parshuram Rai said that the study, based on a purposive sample survey, was carried out in December 2007-January 2008 in 125 poorest villages spread over five of the poorest districts -- Shivpuri, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Dhar and Jhabua.

According to the CEFS survey, during the first 10 months of 2007-08 (April 2007-January 2008), the sample households got only 10.61 days of average employment and just 2.36 per cent of the sample households were given 100 days of wage employment. The CEFS findings reveal that 65.39 per cent of the sample households did not receive even a single day of employment during the year. The study suggests that 16 days of average employment was given to the needy households during 2007-08...

Bhopal, July 17: Even as the Madhya Pradesh Government pats itself on the back for its implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) on Thursday alleged that a major chunk of the money was siphoned off by those in charge of disbursement. The CEFS disclosure came out after a study conducted over two months in 125 villages spread over five MP districts.

CEFS director Parshuram Rai claimed officials submitted inflated estimates and used heavy machines like JCBs and dumpers to carry out the works. The money was pocketed by creating fake job cards and bogus entries in muster rolls, the NGO alleged in its report released to the media.

According to the NREGA website, the state was given Rs 3,288 crore and was able to spend Rs 2,891 crore during 2007-08. In other words, 43,46,916 households in MP were given 63 days of average employment during that period, Rai said.

The CEFS survey, however, found that the households got only 10.61 days of average employment during the period of the study and just 2.36 per cent of the households got 100 days of wage employment, which is the scheme’s basic objective. Rai alleged that 65.39 per cent of the households did not receive a single day of employment.

CEFS alleged that as much as three-fourth of the job figures were based on fake entries, adding that if the samples were extended to the entire state a whopping amount of Rs 2,100 crore was siphoned off and misappropriated by executing officials of the implementing agencies.

Sarpanches, panchayat secretaries and local activists in Shivpuri, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Dhar and Jhabua districts reportedly told the researchers that money was released only when the authorities concerned received their pound of flesh. Transparency safeguards inbuilt in the scheme are virtually non- existent in Madhya Pradesh, he alleged, adding that not a single villager, labourer or gram panchayat functionary in the sample villages had heard of social audits.

Despite several attempts state Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Rustam Singh was not available for comments. A senior bureaucrat, who was associated with the department till recently, dismissed the report saying: “It’s a big scheme, there may be some irregularities. Action will follow a proper channel.”

New Delhi, May 20
The Centre's ambitious rural employment scheme - National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) - is under scanner once again. The scheme ensures employment guarantee of 100 days in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do unskilled manual work at statutory minimum wage.

After a reality check by CAG, which concluded post a survey of 68 randomly selected districts, that barely 3.2 per cent of registered households were able to avail 100 days of employment as promised by the scheme, the Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre and all states following a petition alleging large-scale corruption in NREGS.

The petition, filed by Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) in the Apex court in January 2008, highlighted that most of the funds issued under the scheme were not reaching intended beneficiaries. Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, the counsel for the CEFS, asked for effective execution of NREGA and schemes envisaged under the Act and pleaded that directions be issued for fixing responsibility on the chief secretary and district collector.

Last week, an apex court bench directed the rural development ministry and state governments to respond to allegations levelled in the petition that politicians and bureaucrats were involved in bungling in the distribution of funds allotted by the Centre for implementation of the scheme.

According to CEFS director Parshuram Ray a field study carried out on implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in Orissa last year revealed 'that most of the funds allocated for NREGS do not reach intended beneficiaries and are instead siphoned off by corrupt officials and contractors, thereby denying crores of poor people their fundamental right to livelihood and other incidental fundamental rights like the right to food and education.'

Ray, who is now conducting a similar exercise regarding implementation of NREGA in Madhya Pradesh, says out of Rs 733 crore spent under NREGS in Orissa during 2006-07, more than 500 crore were misappropriated by government officials of implementing agencies.

"There are thousands of villages in Orissa where around 80-90 per cent of NREGS funds have been misappropriated by executing officials."

NREGA was initially launched in 200 selected districts and extended to 130 more districts in 2007-08. With an eye on general elections, the government decided to extend the scheme, earlier than scheduled, to other remaining districts in April 2008.

During 2007-08, the Centre released Rs 12,353.22 crores under the programme. Against the total available funds of Rs 19, 028 crores, the states reported an expenditure of Rs 15,678.86 crore, adding that 3.37 crore households were provided employment during 2007-08 and 142 crore man-days of employment generated under the programme.

NEW DELHI: The UPA government's pet project, National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), came under SC's scanner on Thursday as it entertained a PIL alleging lack of transparency and accountability in implementation of projects under the scheme.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice M K Sharma issued notice to the Centre and all states on the allegation of petitioner NGO 'Centre for Environment and Food Security' that the merits of the scheme were being lost by its lack of transparent implementation.

Appearing for the NGO, counsel Prashant Bhushan said the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its recent report, had pointed out several anomalies in the implementation of NREGP, especially transparency in payment of wages. He said that district level implementing authorities, like DMs should be held accountable for depositing the wage in the bank account or the post office account of the beneficiary instead of the present practice of paying wages in cash.

NEW DELHI, MAY 15: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked all states and the Centre to furnish replies with regard to allegations about the tardy implementation of the UPA Government’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The directive came on a petition filed by an NGO, Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), which highlighted that most funds allocated under the scheme “do not reach the intended recipients, are are instead siphoned off by the corrupt officials and contractors”.

The petition is based on the draft CAG report besides the NGO’s own survey. The Indian Express, too, had highlighted the same in a series of reports earlier this year.

Acting on the submissions of advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the NGO, Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued a notice to the Ministry of Rural Development besides chief secretaries of all states. Urging the court to make the authorities concerned accountable for non-implementation of the Act, the advocate pleaded that the court issue directions for fixing liability on the chief secretary or the district collector.

Alleging that the scheme, which was notified in September 2005 with a view to provide 100 days of minimum guaranteed employment to at least one member of each rural household, is riddled with corruption and mismanagement, the NGO has sought “proper and equitable implementation of the Act and schemes envisaged under it”.

The first reality check for the scheme had come after a six-month performance audit conducted under the CAG across 68 randomly selected districts. The report had concluded that barely 3.2 pc of the registered households could avail 100 days of employment in a year.

The Supreme Court today sought response from the Centre and all the states on a petition seeking proper and effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Act aimed at providing employment to at least one member of each household.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued notices to Ministry of Rural Development and state governments on a petition filed by an NGO -Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) seeking proper utilisation of the funds allocated under the Act.

CEFS alleged that Rs 22,000 crore project, which was implemented in September 2005 with a view to provide 100 days of guaranteed employment to at least one member of each rural household, suffers from large scale corruption and mismanagement.

The NGO contended that various organisations including CEFS conducted field study on the working of the Employment Guarantee Act which reveals that the scheme under the Act is not working as it has been marred by corruption due to non-transparency of the implementation of the scheme and entry of private contractors who are banned under the Act.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, submitted that District Collector/District Magistrate should be made responsible for the effective implementation of the project.

He said study shows that "most of the funds allocated for the implementation of the Act and schemes thereunder do not reach the intended recipients and are instead siphoned off by corrupt officials and contractors denying lakhs of poor people their fundamental right to livelihood."

New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court today sought response from the Centre and all the states on a petition seeking proper and effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Act aimed at providing employment to at least one member of each household.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued notices to Ministry of Rural Development and state governments on a petition filed by an NGO -- Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) -- seeking proper utilisation of the funds allocated under the Act.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, submitted that District Collector/District Magistrate should be made responsible for the effective implementation of the project.

Another study conducted in three districts of Orissa namely Kalahandi, Bolangir and Boudh by Prof Jean Dreze, a member of Central Employment Guarantee Council and one of the architects of the Act, has found that the employment guarantee scheme in the state is vulnerable to corruption.

The report says that the 'job cards' that are meant to enable labourers to verify the details of their wage payments are virtually useless as the design of the card does not provide any space for recording these payments.

Similarly, the administration has allowed extensive adjustments in the muster rolls to accommodate workers who do not have a job card, opening the door to further adjustments that serve different purposes, Prof Dreze's report said.

It further said that private contractors, banned under the Act, are still in control of projects in many areas.

Contending that transparency safeguards mandated by the NREG Act are not in place in Orissa, the petitioner sought a CBI probe or a thorough inquiry by special commission of inquiry appointed by the apex court to look into the corruption involved in the state.

Citing the study report conducted in 21 districts of 14 states by another NGO Society for Participatory Research in Asia, CEFS submitted that less than six per cent of households registered under NREG scheme in the country got 100 days of employment.

The study also highlighted that in four out of 14 surveyed states, namely Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana and Orissa, no State Employment Guarantee Council had been constituted even after more that a year of the Act coming into force.

The NGO submitted that about 42 per cent of the households, who were surveyed, said that they were paid less than the minimum prescribed wages for agricultural labour in the state.

...The report’s author, Parshuram Rai, said a just concluded study in Madhya Pradesh had reached similar conclusions, with between 55% and 75% of funds missing...

... "The NREG program is shocking and disastrous in its scale of corruption," an angry Parshuram Ray, director of the New Delhi-based Center for Environment and Food Security, told Asia Times Online. "Over 70% of the funds have been looted and the program has made little impact to rural people at the ground level. And now the government refuses to accept the findings of its own auditors."

Ray admitted to being so upset at the large-scale abuse of taxpayers' money that he shouted at Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh during a TV discussion on the controversy in a leading English news channel, NDTV.

Ray, talking to Asia Times Online while touring rural districts of Maharashtra state in western India, alleges that many non-governmental organizations executing the program are also guilty. "They [NGOs] get NREG program funds for creating awareness and so on and the most shocking part is they have become part of the corruption. We have filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court and a hearing is due on January 20." ...

BHUBANESWAR: While New Delhi based NGO Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) has alleged that NREGS fund to the tune of Rs 500 crore has been misappropriated in the State, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has detected several procedural and financial irregularities...

BHUBANESWAR: National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, will evaluate the wage employment programme under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to find out its impact on the beneficiaries.

The State Government entrusted the job to NIRD following allegations of misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore in the implementation of the programme in 2006-07 by Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), a New Delhi-based NGO.

The Centre for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (CPME), NIRD, will conduct a household survey in 40 gram panchayats under NREGS while in another 40 the evaluation will be made through social audit.

This was decided at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy here today.

Professor and head of CPME S.Rajakutty, faculties of Xavier Institute of Management, Kalinga School for Rural Management and representatives of six NGOs - Rupayan, Network, SPREAD, Action Aid, Harmony and Humanity were present.

During the social audit, grassroot-level NGOs will be involved to organise gram sabhas where the programme will be assessed by the beneficiaries.

Some NGO representatives expressed apprehension of non-cooperation from BDOs concerned to the social audit.

Allaying the fears, Panchayati Raj Director Saswat Mishra reportedly said the instruction will be issued by the Government to the BDOs to cooperate with the NIRD team.

The survey work will be completed by January 25 and the report will be submitted by February-end. Meanwhile, the State Government has submitted a report to the Centre giving pointwise counter to the CEFS report.

Reacting to reports of alleged misappropriation of funds in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), Rajya Sabha members have demanded the setting up of a foolproof mechanism to plug loopholes in the UPA government's flagship employment scheme.

A monitoring panel needs to be set up to prevent corruption in the scheme, Congress member V. Narainswamy said in the Upper House on Wednesday. The Hindustan Times (October 16 edition) had reported that Orissa and Chhattisgarh had allegedly diverted a whopping Rs 550 crore from NREGP funds for purposes other than generating employment in rural areas.

The report had quoted the findings of the New Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) that 75 per cent of NREGP funds spent in Orissa in 2006-07 (Rs 500 crore of the total Rs 733 crore spent) were siphoned off. Narainswamy clarified that 68 per cent, and not 75 per cent as reported by the media, of funds in Orissa had been siphoned off. He also cited similar reports concerning misappropriation of funds in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Pointing out that the demand for jobs under the scheme hasn't increased, CPM leader Brinda Karat said this was because of the limited and rigid definition of work under the plan. Wage payment and productivity norms also need to be revised, she added. Arjun Sengupta (Independent) said there is an opportunity for the NREGP to be an example for other social programmes.

Tall claims around Naveen Patnaik’s government prove hollow on the ground, reports BIBHUTI PATI in a comprehensive round-up of the many ills that continue to plague Orissa.

It has been a long honeymoon. But there are unmistakable signs that it is finally coming to an end. As the country gets into election mode, BJD supremo and Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik is preparing for what could well be his first real electoral battle.

Even as the government was patting itself on the back for being the ‘No. 2’ state in the country in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) came the stunning allegation by the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) that as much as Rs. 500 crore of the Rs. 750 crore purportedly spent under the scheme had been siphoned away by officials. The Union Rural Development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has now ordered a CAG inquiry into the scandal, seriously denting the image of the supposedly ‘corruption-free’ government....

At the risk of sounding cynical, corruption in India surprises no one. Be that as it may, a two-part report in this paper, uncovering the fact that funds collected in 1999-2000 by Red Cross societies in Punjab never reached the victims, has made us sit up.

The funds were used, instead, for personal expenses by government bureaucrats. The report also added that grants received from central ministries were also diverted. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has now ordered a probe. Everything, alas, looks all too familiar.

These are not isolated cases. Recently, there were reports of large-scale siphoning of funds from the UPA’s showpiece National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Orissa. A survey conducted by a Delhi-based NGO uncovered that of the Rs 733 crore spent under NREGS in six of the poorest of poor districts in the state, more than Rs 500 crore went unaccounted for — probably misappropriated by officials. In October, people in West Bengal’s Bankura and Birbhum districts attacked ration dealers because food stocks were being diverted to feed the open market. Though the dealers came under scrutiny, there is no doubt that someone ‘upstream’ had given the go-ahead to this diversionary tactic in exchange for benefits. And on a broader scale, there have been cases of foreign donor agencies shying away from putting their money in the development sector fearing similar siphoning of funds. Corruption seems more de rigeur than the exception in this country. So what is to be done?

Two things perpetuate such frauds. One, most of us — the urban, educated class included — are not even aware of our rights, and therefore are in no position to demand them when denied. In most cases, we make a contribution to the relief funds and forget all about it. If this is the case in urban India, then rural India, with its high illiteracy rates, doesn’t stand much of a chance in exercising its rights. The other side of the story is the hoarding of information by the government itself. Even in today’s Information Age, bureaucrats find out ways to keep the public away from information. While the Right to Information (RTI) has made some difference, it has hardly been the be all and end all. RTI makes sense as a legal measure to be used as the proverbial last resort. Easy and timely access to information is the key to making corruption a difficult pastime. From that difficulty will stem its extinction.

Staff Reporter
32 p.c. of the fund for the scheme being misappropriated, says economist

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Orissa Government claims to have ‘found’ no discrepancy in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the State, there seems to be no let-up in corruption allegations.

Jean Dreze, development economist and member of Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), here on Thursday alleged nearly 32 per cent of NREGS fund being spent to provide jobs to needy people was going to pockets of officials and contractors.

The ‘findings’ were based on a quick survey initiated by the G. B Pant Social Science Institute (Allahabad University) and conducted by students from Delhi University with local volunteer at 30 worksites in three Orissa districts such as Bolangir, Boudh and Kalahandi from October 3 to 12 this year.

Making a presentation on the findings here, Mr. Dreze said, “a major part of the loot is recycled through the so-called ‘PC’ (percentage) system, whereby various functionaries receive fixed percentage of NREGA funds.”

The beneficiaries of percentage system were Block Development Officer (2 per cent), Junior Engineer (5 per cent), Assistant Engineer (3 per cent), Block staff (1 per cent), Village Level Worker (5 per cent, Gram Panchayat Secretary (3 per cent) and miscellaneous (3 per cent), he charged saying contractors were making 10 per cent profit.

“Private contractors are banned under NREGA. However, in a majority of the samples of gram panchayats, the investigators found evidence of continued involvement of contractors, either directly, or indirectly (through dummy village labour leaders),” the survey findings said.

The survey pointed out 10 major loopholes in the implementation of NREGS in the state.

These include NREGA staff shortage, dormant gram sabhas, lack of grievance redressal cell, lack of transparency in muster rolls and faulty design of job cards.

Recently, the State Government carried out two-tier inquiries – one by district-level officials and other by State-level officials – to ascertain the veracity of report of one NGO that alleged the corruption in NREGS implementation in Orissa amounted to Rs. 500 crores. The Orissa Government had dismissed all the allegations of corruption saying “these were without any basis or rationality.”

Meanwhile, CEGC is scheduled to meet government officials and civil society groups here for an interaction on implementation of the anti-poverty scheme.

Bhubaneswar : A fact-finding committee, constituted by the State Government to probe the alleged misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore, has found procedural deficiencies in records related to the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The team was constituted after CEFS, a New Delhi-based NGO, lodged complaints, official sources said on Thursday.

"There are procedural deficiencies in the record keeping on the number of working days in job cards and in the employment register. "The online data posted on the national portal has not been validated and discrepancies have been noticed between the actual data (recorded in the register) and the data provided online," observed the committee in its report. The report has been submitted to the Government. The Government team believes that the discrepancies may be attributed to the general lack of knowledge among the panchayat workers regarding the process.

However, the committee, headed by Panchayati Raj Secretary, ruled out any misappropriation of funds released for the implementation of the Central Employment Scheme. Recently CEFS, a New Delhi-based NGO, had alleged that funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore released for the implementation of the NREGS had been embezzled. "This allegation is baseless and not based on facts," said the committee in its report.

"There is no discrepancy in the work done, the records kept or the payment made according to the muster roll. No case of misappropriation has been noticed. Quality of work has been found to be good," the report added. The report has been submitted to the Centre.

Bhubaneswar: With serious mismatch between the findings of the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) and the State Government fact-finding team on the alleged financial irregularities in the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the latter has invited the Delhi-based NGO to cross-check facts.

The State Government will submit its report to the Centre only after verifying facts and figures with CEFS which brought out a report making serious allegation of financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 500 crore against the Government in the implementation of NREGS in 2006-07.

The Government thought of cross checking some facts and figures with the NGO in view of the discrepancies in the findings, official sources said. The fact-finding teams of the Government detected fault in the on-line entry system, the software for which has been provided by the Centre. Similarly, job card entry and muster roll entry were found to be defective. The State Government has nothing to do with it, the officer said. The CEFS's allegation of non-payment to the job card holders were found to be false.

Fact-finding teams of the Government visited the same villages and contacted the persons with whom the NGO claimed to have talked. However, a majority of the people contacted by the official teams said neither they have any idea of CEFS nor they have talked to any non-Government agency people on NREGS.

There were cases of late payment but none of the contacted job card holders complained of non-payment for their works, the sources added. On verification of records and audit of accounts, the Government teams found that permanent assets have been created out of the NREGS funds utilised and there is no evidence of siphoning of funds as alleged by CEFS.

However, the Government officer admitted that works under NERGS were provided to persons who do not possess job cards. As each BPL family is entitled to a single job card, in some cases other adult members of the family were provided job on demand. Hence, 100 days of work per card holder was exhausted within a month, the sources said and added that the families were forced to migrate to other places in search of job.

Besides, people migrate when get better payment offer from private agencies. The Government cannot stop them, the officer said.

INDIA has been rather slow in enacting social security legislation to bail out the poor, the jobless and the aged in times of crises, because of lack of funds and an inadequate machinery to execute and monitor the projects.

The first notable social security act was introduced by the Maharashtra government way back in the mid-1970s, at a time when the state was facing a major crisis caused by drought. Millions of rural workers were migrating to the cities in search of employment, abandoning their homes and farms. Politicians and bureaucrats panicked and soon responded by introducing an Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS), which was funded by taxing professionals and employees in the organised sector. The funds were used to provide employment to the rural poor, whose labour was utilised to execute public works – constructing rural roads, building canals or dams. The poor were usually provided foodgrains for their labour. Of course, most of the projects failed to take off and appeared directionless, but the poor were gainfully employed for a few months a year and earned some money.

The apparent success of the EGS, which slowed down the process of rural migration and provided succour to the needy in many of the backward districts of the state, triggered off similar programmes elsewhere in the country.

Southern states like Tamil Nadu came out with innovative programmes like the Midday Meal scheme, in the 1980s to lure the poor to send their children to schools. Other states, including Gujarat, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh came out with similar schemes; in 2001, the Supreme Court directed all government schools to provide meals to poor pupils.

The relative success of the Maharashtra EGS also saw the central government introduce a National Rural Employment Programme in the 1980s, followed by other programmes including food-for-work schemes, none of which, however, made much of an impact.

Recent years have seen a slackening in the implementation of the EGS in Maharashtra as well, with corrupt officials and contractors siphoning off a large chunk of funds. The enactment of the landmark Right to Information Act has seen several NGOs and individuals seeking details about specific projects, shedding light on numerous scams.

Billions of rupees have been spent on social security schemes in India in recent years, but there is a huge question mark about the effectiveness and success of these schemes. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had in the late 1980s noted that less than 15 paise out of every 100 spent by the government on such schemes reached the poor.

THOUGH politicians of mainstream parties like the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been reluctant to splurge on social security schemes in India, there has always been a vocal section of society – including members of NGOs, left parties and academicians – that has been demanding allocation of increased funds for pro-poor schemes.

When the Congress got the support of the left parties and formed the United Progressive Alliance government at the centre in 2004, it had to agree to the demand for initiating a nationwide employment guarantee scheme. The result was the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which was initially rolled out in 200 districts across the country.

Described as a remarkable initiative, representing a paradigm shift in the government’s approach towards providing employment for the poor, it was launched in early 2006 in 200 of the most backward districts of the country. Later, the government extended the scheme to another 130 districts.

The NREGS act guarantees at least 100 days of assured wage employment every financial year to a rural household that is willing to do unskilled manual labour, providing a safety net to the poor. For the first time in India, a member of a poor rural household could demand as a right a job from the government for 100 days in a year.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh noted that the legislation aims at not only providing wages to the rural poor, but also creating durable assets for them. It would also hopefully strengthen the third tier of governance – the Panchayati Raj institutions – as 50 per cent of the programme would be executed by these local bodies.

According to the government, in financial year 2006-07, about 21 million households have been provided employment under the NREGS. They include nearly 60 per cent of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households, and 40 per cent of the beneficiaries were women.

Nearly 800,000 projects were taken up and over 45 per cent of it has been completed. The government allocated over Rs120 billion for the scheme and nearly 75 per cent of it has been spent.

The NREGS was to have been expanded gradually and all the 604 districts in the country were to have been covered within five years of launch. But the apparent success of the scheme has seen the project being fast-forwarded.

Rahul Gandhi, who was recently promoted as general secretary of the Congress, in a much publicised move, urged the Prime Minister to extend the NREGS to cover all 604 districts in the country. And Singh responded enthusiastically, agreeing to do so immediately, instead of waiting for a few more years. Rahul’s mother, Sonia – who is the Congress and UPA chief – has also been hailing the implementation of the NREG.

BUT has the ambitious social security scheme of the UPA government been effective in alleviating rural poverty? Two recent studies conducted by NGOs indicate that the scheme has been a huge failure, and the only beneficiaries are corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

According to a study by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), just six per cent of the registered households under the NREGS that were surveyed could get 100 days of employment in 2006-07. In the first phase of the study that was conducted last year, PRIA noted among other things that there was low awareness among people about the procedure for registration and getting employment and a “lack of transparency and accountability in the absence of proactive disclosure, functional monitoring and vigilance committees and social audit.”

The second phase of the study, conducted across 14 states, revealed that just 45 per cent surveyed among the registered households had demanded a job. And only 27 per cent of such households had been given a receipt. Less than half of those who had demanded a job got employment within 15 days as prescribed by the law; worse, no unemployment allowance was paid to these people.

Similarly, over 40 per cent of those who responded claimed they were paid less than the minimum prescribed wages.

Another Delhi-based NGO, the Centre for Environment and Food Security, was scathing in its criticism of the government regarding implementation of the NREG scheme in Orissa. The organisation conducted a survey in 100 villages in Orissa and found that of the Rs7.33 billion spend under NREGS last year, over Rs5 billion “has been siphoned off and misappropriated by government officials of executing agencies.”

The CEFS study revealed that a large number of needy households were denied not only jobs but even job cards, and not more than five days of average wage employment was given to each of the needy families in the 19 NREG districts in the state.

“We have found that more than 75 per cent of the NREG funds spent during last year have been siphoned off,” the NGO wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Singh. “However, we are absolutely certain that there are thousands of villages in Orissa where the scale of misappropriation is 80-90 per cent. It is distressing to note that there has been open and participatory loot of NREGS funds in Orissa.”

Aware about the potential for scams in such multi-billion-rupee schemes, the government is now trying to tighten up the rules. It is toying with the idea of issuing multi-application smart ID cards to monitor schemes like the NREG. The Planning Commission has been urging the government to go in for an integrated smart card system for entitlement schemes to check corruption and fraud.

NEW DELHI: The Union Rural Development Ministry is planning to institute awards for non-governmental organisations and civil society groups which play a role in creating awareness of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The awards will be given at the panchayat, district and State levels to promote people’s participation in the scheme, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said.

“We are working out the details of the scheme,” he said.The move was prompted by the “highly positive” role played by NGOs and civil society groups in informing people of the scheme and highlighting any discrepancy detected in its implementation.

Recently an NGO in Orissa brought to light ‘frauds’ in the implementation in several districts, while another NGO in Madhya Pradesh helped people in Badwani district get unemployment allowance because the State failed to provide them jobs within the stipulated time.

Statesman News Service
NAWARANGAPUR, Oct. 22: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA), which was implemented in the district from 2 February 2006, have failed to check the mass exodus of labourers from the district.

A survey conducted by the leading NGOs reveals the presence of large-scale irregularities in the implementation of the NREGA. At some places, labourers who work under this scheme are not paid. According to a survey conducted in 100 villages, it has been revealed that out of Rs 5,138,29 lakh spent under the scheme, more than Rs 4,000 lakh have not reached the beneficiaries.

Official sources said that a large number of labourers are migrating to the neighbouring districts and states in search of jobs. According to the official data, under the scheme, 1,78,48 households are registered and 1,73,618 job cards have been issued up to the end of August 2007. Out of these 8, 22,935 households have demanded work and 17,046 households have been provided employment under the NREGA/OREGS scheme. Besides this, 26,829 job seekers have been provided employment in the district by the end of September 2007. Under the NREGA/OREGS schemes, Rs 1,565,44 lakh and Rs 1,56,55 lakh have been provided by the Central and state governments respectively, out of which only Rs 729,04 lakh have been utilised by the end of September 2007.

In an attempt to provide 100 compulsory working days to each labourer, a centrally sponsored scheme, SREGS/OREGS was launched in February last year in 10 blocks targeting three lakh rural households in this tribal dominated district.

But 18 months, after its implementation, the scheme began to flounder following the lack of coordination between the gram panchayats and the blocks. There is a rumour that contractors have formed a nexus with the PEOs and the block staff. Funds have been siphoned off. With work becoming increasingly mechanised, manual labourers are being forced to migrate from the district in search of jobs.

Often these workers end up as bonded labourers. The labourers alleged that the PEOs are not receiving their application for work. Recently a study conducted by the Delhi based centre for environment and food security (CEFS) reinforced the belief that food security, despite the implementation of NREGA has emerged as the main headache. Reports of the CEFS and other fact finding teams are unanimous in their information. NREGA has not been able to ensure livelihood to the tribals. When the scheme was launched in Nawarangapur district, hundreds of job seekers rushed to the panchayats to get themselves registered. But work order has not been issued, alleged Mr Diba Bhatara, sarpanch of Agnipur GP under the Nawarangpur block. He also alleged that due to the lack of coordination, 14 labourers migrated to Andhra Pradesh, out of which one died there.

In another case, the Nawarangapur police have rescued 14 labourers while they were on their way to Bangalore. OREGS and NREGAs in Nawarangpur, Nandahandi, Tentulikhunti, Kosagumuda, Raighar, Umerkote, Jharigam, Dabugam, Papadahandi and Chandahandi, have failed completely. There are allegations that the scheme benefits have not explained to the villagers.

A high-level inquiry have been proposed regarding the misappropriation of funds.

THE UPA'S flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) has been undermined by non-Congress ruled states, including Chhattisgarh and Orissa, which have been charged with diverting Rs 600 crore for purposes other than generating employment in rural areas.

The New Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security's (CEFS) findings suggest 75 per cent of NREGP funds spent in Orissa in 2006-07 (Rs 550 crore of total of Rs733 crore) was siphoned off and pocketed in "participatory and organised loot". The Hyderabad-based National Institute of Rural Development is inquiring into the matter. In Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, 40 per cent of funds for 2006-07 (Rs 50 crore) was illegally spent on "land treatment" instead of "land development" and for unauthorised purchase of several hundred tonnes of pesticides and fertilisers, a state government inquiry committee found.

In the name of NREGP implementation, unaccounted funds were also reportedly spent on the purchase of items including utensils while an unjustifiable sum of Rs 50 lakh was provided to an NGO to conduct a workshop for village sarpanchs. The UPA government is expected to ask the Chhattisgarh government to immediately replenish the Rs 50 crore diverted from the scheme. The CEFS study was conducted in May-June 2007 in 100 villages across six districts in Orissa. Officially, 799 lakh people were employed but the survey found that just 25 per cent of them had actually got jobs.

The employment records of the remaining 75 per cent were based on "fake master rolls, false job cards and forged official documents". The NREGP has been virtually hijacked by the very officials responsible for its implementation, the survey states. As for Chhattisgarh, which failed to furnish a detailed statement on the illegal spendings in Kanker, the Rural Development Ministry has held back the release of an additional Rs 20 crore demanded by the state.

Sources indicate the Raman Singh government has expressed willingness to compensate for the loss by redirecting Rs 50 crore from the state budget to the NREGP corpus. Meanwhile, with the complete inquiry report awaited, there are apprehensions that the rural job scam could well exceed Rs 50 crore. Possibilities of the case being referred to the CBI are not being ruled out.

Rs.500 crores of Orissa's funds for rural employment guarantees for 2006-7 appear to have been siphoned off by the state bureaucracy. This money would have brought 10 lakh poorest families two subsistence meals for four-six months, at a time of hunger and starvation deaths. Parshuram Rai has more.

19 October 2007 - The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is arguably the most progressive and radical legislation in the history of Independent India. If implemented in letter and spirit, this historic Act has the potential to transform the face of rural India. It would be a great tragedy if the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) ends up as another money minting machine for India's sarkari babus, i.e. the bureaucracy. Unfortunately, that is what has happened in the state of Orissa.

Rupa Majhi, a poor Adivasi of Palsipada village in Kalahandi district, was actually given 21 days of employment and paid Rs.600 as wages during 2006-7. Majhi worked on a road construction project executed under the high-profile anti-poverty programme NREGS. But, on his job card, government officials falsely wrote that he had worked for 336 days. Majhi job card posted online on NREGS website has a third version of work and payment details. As per those entries, Majhi was given 102 days of wage employment and paid Rs.6310 as wages. So, out of Rs.6310, only Rs. 600 actually came in Majhi's hands. The remaining Rs.5710 which is more than 90 percent of the total wage payment has been siphoned off and misappropriated by the government officials.

Chandra Majhi of Palsipada village has not received any employment under rural job scheme. But, in his job card (hard copy), there is fake job entry of 126 days. On the NREGS website, 108 days of employment and Rs.5940 as wages have been falsely shown in his name. In this case, 100 per cent of the wages have been eaten up by the government officials.

The stories of Rupa Majhi and Chandra Majhi are not isolated cases of financial bungling and misappropriation of NREGS funds in Orissa. This is the story of about 13 lakh poor households of Orissa who were 'supposedly' given wage employment under NREGS during 2006-7.

Orissa is one of the poorest states with a very high percentage of rural population living in abject poverty and chronic hunger. It is only logical to give top priority to this state in terms of fund allocation. Orissa was allocated Rs.890 crores under NREGS and the state was able to spend Rs.733 crore during 2006-7. As per the official records of the state government, it provided 799 lakh persondays of employment to 13,94,169 households during 2006-7 and no family was denied wage employment. In other words, every needy and demanding family in the state was given an average 57 days of wage employment during the year and not a single needy household was denied wage employment in 19 NREGS districts of the state. The Orissa government also claims that 1,54,118 families in the state completed 100 days of wage employment during 2006-7.

But a random survey in 100 villages of Orissa has revealed that all these claims are bogus and manufactured only in official records in order to siphon off NREGS funds. The survey conducted in Orissa's six poorest districts has uncovered that of Rs.733 crores, more than Rs.500 crores has been siphoned off and misappropriated by the government officials.

The Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) conducted this survey in 100 villages from six districts of KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region - Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada. I was the principal investigator and writer of this survey report. Our back of the envelope calculations suggest that less than 200 lakh persondays of employment has been provided on the ground and more than around 600 lakh persondays of employment has been provided only in the pages of false job cards and fabricated muster rolls. Not more than 5 days of average employment has been given to each of the needy families in 19 NREGS districts of the state and large number of needy families were denied any employment.

We could not find a single family in the 100 sample villages who had actually got 100 days of wage employment. 37 villages out of 100 sample villages have got no wage employment whatsoever. More than 40 villages had on an average of four to five times fake job and wage entries than their actuals. We found very few families who had got 20-40 days of wage employment. The rest of the families, if at all they have got any employment, it is mostly between 5 to 21 days. However, online job cards of most of these households have job and wage entries for 111 days, 108 days, 104 days, 102 days, 100 days, 96 days, 90 days, 84 days, 72 days, 65 days, 60 days, 52 days and so on, which are evidently fabricated. This is the way Orissa has spent Rs.733 crore.

To put Rs.500 crores of siphoned NREGA funds in perspective, this amount of money would have given about 90 days of wage employment to about 10 lakh poor families of Orissa. In other words, each of these 10 lakh poorest families would have got Rs.5000 as wages. This amount of Rs.5000 in the context of these poor and hungry families would have given 4-6 months of two subsistence meals or one meal for the whole year. Therefore, it is not just another financial scam, but the Orissa bureaucracy has literally robbed 10 lakh hungry families of one meal for the whole year. It is not surprising that during last one month hundreds of Adivasis have died in Rayagada, Koraput and Kalahandi districts of Orissa due to disease, and hunger.

As a result, the current levels of hunger, poverty and deprivation in Orissa's KBK region is as deep, demeaning and dehumanising as ever. The Rural Employment Scheme has made virtually zero impact on the livelihood security of Orissa's rural poor. There is no let up in the level of distress migration of Adivasis and Dalits from Orissa's KBK reason in search of livelihood in other parts of the country. On the Human Development Index, many of the sub-Saharan villages would fare better than most of the KBK villages. Hunger and abject poverty are widespread in all the 100 villages of KBK region we visited. Large number of children in these villages are suffering from severe malnutrition. The hollowed cheeks, sunken eyes and distended bellies of the emaciated children tell this story.

The provision of social audit included in the NREGA looks like a fraud on the rural poor of Orissa. There has been no social audit whatsoever in any of the 100 villages visited by us. There is zero accountability, total absence of transparency in the administration of NREGS, and subversion of the grassroots democracy. Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have been completely sidelined in the implementation of NREGS. For example, Sarpanches are asked by Village Level Workers (also called Panchayat Executive Officers in some states or PEOs) to sign on blank cheques and VLWs (Village Level Worker) decide everything.

The VLWs are the lowest rung in the chain of state bureaucracy, with the Chief Secretary of the state being at the apex. VLWs are appointed by the state governments and they are supposed to report to the Block Development Officer (BDO). As per the constitutional scheme, the role and relationship of the VLW with the Sarpanch should be similar to the role and relationship of a secretary/commissioner with the Minister of a Ministry or Department. The former is accountable to the later and not vice versa.

Out of 100 villages visited, we could not find a single panchayat office open. There was lockout on all the panchayat bhawans we visited. The villagers told us that these offices open only once or twice in a month. The VLWs, who are the only fulltime and salaried officials, normally stay in towns 40-50 kms away from the gram panchayats, and they go there only when it is 'absolutely necessary'. They do most of their official works from home. Even muster rolls and job cards of the NREGS are kept in the homes of VLWs, which is illegal.

In the panchayats we visited, VLWs are not sharing a single piece of information about the NREGS works with any of the elected representatives. Muster rolls are treated as more secret than the nuclear secrets of the country. We could not meet a single person in these 100 villages who had ever seen muster rolls of the NREGS works in his village. Muster rolls are always kept in the homes of VLWs and villagers who work in NREGS projects are made to sign on blank muster rolls. This is the flagrant violation of the NREGA law passed by Parliament. As per the NREGA, muster rolls are a public document and should be always available for public scrutiny by anyone.

It is a mockery of grassroots democracy and blatant violation of the 73rd amendment of the Indian constitution whereby gram panchayats have been given substantive executive, financial and monitoring powers with regard to implementation of all the development programmes and social welfare schemes pertaining. But the colonial work culture of Orissa's bureaucracy allows a VLW to behave as if the Sarpanch is accountable to him and not vice-versa. This inversion of role and relationship is the biggest hurdle in the way of real empowerment of PRIs.

The rot goes all the way to the top. Orissa's citizens and NGOs need the permission of the BDO to see muster rolls of NREGS and what's worse, citizens need the District Collector's permission to go to the block office or meet the BDO! The BDO of Nandapur Block (Koraput district) Jyoti Ranjan Mishra has instructed all the VLWs of the block not to show muster rolls of NREGS works to anyone without his permission. Since we had found massive financial bungling in many villages of Nandapur Block, we wanted to verify the muster rolls and job cards of the concerned panchayats which were lying with the respective VLWs. But, when we approached the VLW of Raisingh Gram Panchayat, Nagesh Choudhary, he gave us in writing that he needed the BDO's permission to show muster rolls to any body.

When we approached Mishra the next day, he bluntly refused to show any muster rolls to us unless we did get permission for the same from District Collector or some higher authority of Government of India. We then contacted the Secretary, Panchayati Raj, Orissa Government, Rabindra Nath Dash, and requested his intervention in the matter. Dash told us that he would immediately ask the BDO to show muster rolls to us. To our utter shock and disbelief, within half-an-hour we received a call from Dash's personal staff asking us whether we did have permission of the District Collector or any higher authority for meeting the concerned BDO.

When we asked why we needed this permission, he told us as how dare we go to the BDO's office without District Collector's permission. He asked us in stern voice to return from the block office and not to visit any village in the Block. We also got three telephone calls from APD (Additional Project Director, District Rural Development Agency-Koraput) asking us not to visit any village of Nandapur block. We had also sought intervention from the offices of District Collector (Koraput), Chief Secretary and Chief Minister of Orissa. Despite all these efforts, we did not succeed in seeing the muster rolls.

The experience in Nandapur block was highly demeaning and disgusting. The whole administrative machinery was pressed into service to cover up the financial bunglings in the block. If this could happen to a research team coming from Delhi, one shudders to imagine what could happen to a poor and illiterate Adivasi or Dalit of Orissa.

The sense of fear of bureaucracy among Orissa's Adivasis and Dalits is palpable, and also reminiscent of the British era's reign of terror unleashed by imperial bureaucracy.

There's more. Activists and NGOs spreading awareness about the NREGS among rural poor of the state are threatened with dire consequences and many have been terrorised into silence by BDOs and other executing officials. In Tentulikhunti block of Nabarangpur district, the BDO Gangaram Pradhan and other officials have threatened NGOs and activists. Some local activists who accompanied the CEFS research team during survey in Tentulikhunti block in last week of May are being threatened by the government officials and contractors who have misappropriated NREGS funds.

When CEFS sent some activists of Orissa to carry out field investigation in some villages of Khariar block (Nuapada district) during July 2007, many villagers refused to tell them as how many days of actual employment was given to them, because the BDO and other officials had threatened villagers to send them to jail if they told any one about their actual days of NREGS employment.

Unless transparency safeguards incorporated in the NREGS are implemented in letter and spirit, it appears that little can protect NREGS from the lust of Orissa's sarkari babus. If this radical scheme has to really achieve its stated objectives, it has to be liberated from the clutches of the self-serving bureaucracy and handed over into the custody of panchayat bodies themselves. This may warrant a few amendments in the law itself.

The author is director of Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security, and was a principal investigator in the survey.

The key to India’s prosperity lies not in the actions of its government, but in the enterprise of its people

Dear Rahul, Congratulations on your recent elevation as general secretary of the Congress party. Yes, I know, it was just a formality, and there’s more to come. Still, it’s a start, and one that you used to make a statement.

Shortly after getting this post, you took a delegation to Manmohan Singh and asked for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to be extended to all 593 districts of this country. A couple of days later, the Prime Minister announced that extension. With this, you demonstrated your clout in the party, and you also made a gesture of commitment towards the poor people of this country.

I have a question, though. Have you had a chance to look at the reports evaluating the NREGS that have been released recently? One of them, by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia, found that just 6% of the households registered under the scheme actually got 100 days of employment in 2006-07. Another, carried out by the Centre of Environment and Food Security (CEFS) a few months ago, is even more worrying.

“(A)bout 75% of the (NREGS) funds spent in Orissa have been siphoned and pocketed by the government officials,” it reports, “and this loot has been very participatory and organized.” The CEFS could not find “a single case where entries in the job cards are correct and match with the actual number of workdays physically verified with the villagers”. The report concludes: “(O)ut of Rs733 crore spent in Orissa during 2006-7, more than Rs500 crore has been siphoned and pocketed by the government officials of executing agencies.”

These figures are astonishing, for one-third of the money has not been reported as siphoned off. As your father, Rajiv Gandhi, once remarked, only about 15% of government spending on the poor reaches the intended beneficiary. India’s chief justice, K.G. Balakrishnan, recently spoke out against the Public Distribution System, saying that in some states, “not a single grain reaches the common man”.

A common reaction to these findings would be: “Oh, the programmes are OK, it’s the implementation that has been faulty. We just need to fix that, and all will be well.” But Rahul, surely you know that these are not aberrations that can be sorted out with a committee here and an inquiry panel there. This corruption is written into the system itself.

It is in the nature of government servants to want to increase their power, influence and budgets. This is exacerbated when government servants are unaccountable and tenured, as they effectively are in India. Government servants, like other rational human beings, look to their self-interest first. All their incentives are tailored towards misuse of power, with no safeguards built into the system against it.

Even if you could magically transform every bureaucrat in India into a paragon of honesty, a scheme like the NREGS would still be a mistake. That is because the scheme has a cost: The money spent on it doesn’t come from the heavens, but from your maidservant and your driver and millions of poor people in this country, who may never file returns, but are constantly assailed by hidden taxes.

Leave aside the many ways in which you could spend this money better: solving India’s power shortage, building roads to connect India’s hinterlands so that smaller urban centres can take the load off the big cities, and so on. If you just leave this money with the taxpayers to begin with, they will put it to more productive use than an unaccountable government spending someone else’s money. Also, individuals will have more incentives to work hard if they are taxed less, and businesses will have more resources available for expansion, all of which benefits the economy, raises productivity and creates jobs.

Indeed, if it’s employment you really want to provide, the best way to do so would be to remove the barriers to private enterprise that exist in this country. Put an end to the licence and inspection raj, reform our labour laws, abolish the laws that agricultural land can only be used for agricultural purposes, remove the restrictions on many goods being manufactured by anyone other than “small scale units”, and welcome foreign investment. All of these will provide far more employment than the well-intentioned but ill-conceived NREGS.

Rahul, in the same breath that the media acknowledges you as a future leader of this country, it mocks you for having nothing but your family name as your qualification. Prove us wrong. Reject received wisdom, learn from the lessons of the past 60 years, and convince your party that the key to India’s prosperity lies not in the actions of its government, but in the enterprise of its people. Set them free.

Amit Varma publishes the website India Uncut, at http://www.indiauncut.com. Your comments are welcome at thinkingitthrough@livemint.com

With electoral bells about to ring, populism is back with a vengeance. With a slew of populist schemes up its sleeve, the government is in no mood for any restraints. It is all for fiscal recklessness.

Consider the direct costs of these schemes announced and extended during the past one month. The flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was allocated Rs12,000 crore this financial year for 331 districts. Now it is to be extended to 600 districts and the cost is likely to gallop to Rs21,750 crore. After expansion, the national old age pension scheme will cost Rs4,000 crore, the common man insurance scheme another Rs1,000 crore, the national health insurance scheme Rs700 crore and the proposed loan facility to minorities approximately Rs1,000 crore per year. The bill comes to Rs28,450 crore per annum.

These schemes leave a host of unanswered questions. What right does a ruling party or coalition have to spend money for outright electoral appeasement or gain? Why must citizens be taxed for funding these schemes? If welfare of citizens is at the heart of these programmes, why should bureaucrats implement them? How much money will be siphoned off from these plans? To give a concrete example of in-built corruption and inefficiency, consider the NREGS in Orissa. A survey of 100 villages in some of the poorest districts of the country by the NGO, Centre for Environment and Food Security, found gigantic siphoning of funds and corruption in the programme. Of the Rs733 crore spent by the state in 2006-07, an estimated Rs 500 crore had been pocketed by government officials.

One can continue with the details, but that sheds no light on the structure of inefficiency built into these schemes. Economists call it an “agency problem.”

In simpler words, it’s a mismatch between the incentives faced by officials who implement the scheme and those whom it is meant to benefit. The implementers have few incentives to properly spend the money provided. The elaborate vigilance mechanism set up under the NREG Act only adds layers of officials whose incentives are aligned perfectly towards colluding with primary officials. Economics has yet to discover a solution to the problem.

That, however, has not deterred a powerful coalition of politicians, economists and social scientists demanding an extension of the NREG Act and a slew of other, similar plans. What is not considered in news is the pernicious effect of these schemes on the terms of democracy in India.

With such programmes being widespread, the costs incurred on them have become a major component of maintaining democracy. They are now part and parcel of electoral costs. Earlier, the latter included only the direct costs of conducting elections and costs incurred by candidates. Now, no ruling coalition has the courage to enter the electoral arena without announcing such programmes first.

Everyone gains from this arrangement, save those for whom these plans are meant in the first place. The ruse works. First, the alleged beneficiaries are spread across the country and, secondly, the symbolic value of such actions in a democracy is very high.

The plan to provide loan facilities to persons from minorities over the next five years can be seen in this light. It has an in-built agency problem: it will be implemented by an umbrella organization, the National Minorities Development Corporation.

There is no word on how inherent conflicts of interest will be resolved, if at all. Who will tame the errant officials? Politicians? The outcome is unlikely to be different from other such programmes. Yet, it would have served political purposes well. Disadvantaged people will feel something is being done and votes would have been cast.

BHUBANESWAR: The fact-finding teams of the State Government have reportedly detected a few minor irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) but debunked the charges of misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore.

After making a sample survey of the projects taken up under NREGS and talking to residents of several villages on the programme of Rayagada, Koraput, Nabaranagpur, Nuapada, Balangir and Koraput districts, six senior officers of the Panchayati Raj Department submitted their reports to the Government.

While the officers received allegations of delayed payment, there was hardly any complaint of nonpayment or less payment of wages, sources said.

But in several cases, job card holders admitted to have lent their cards to persons who are not registered job seekers. Migration of labourers from Balangir, Kalahandi and Nuapada is still rampant and the NREGS programme has failed to check it, admitted the senior officers.

While 100 days of work is guaranteed to each of the job card holders in a year, in some cases, the 100 days are exhausted within a month. Such cases are reported where a family has four or five members who are majors but received a single job card.

In some cases, works have been provided to people who are not job card holders, the sources said, adding, this is because of inadequate distribution of job cards. Initially, the Government agencies in charge of job card distribution were not very liberal apprehending misuse of the card.

These officers have reportedly recommended the Government to ensure distribution of job cards to all the eligible people including all the majors of a family.

Mismatch in online entry and musters rolls at panchayat-level and several irregularities in record maintenance were also detected. The State Government was in a spot following publication of a report by a New Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Environment and Food Security, alleging misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore during implementation of NREGS.

The State Government is in the process of preparing a final report which will be submitted to the Centre shortly.

Rayagada (Orissa), Oct 14 (IANS) Driving down to the Kashipur village block is almost an idyllic fantasy. But the picturesque landscape hides a dark truth - cholera is stalking the region, pushing it towards doom, reports Grassroots Features.

At least 52 people in this block in Rayagada district have died of cholera. It was in 1987 that Kashipur made headlines following reports of starvation deaths. Leaders including the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi rushed to the area.

Again in 2001, the death of 20 people due to consumption of poisonous food made headlines in all national and international newspapers, forcing the chief minister and a central team to visit Kashipur several times.

The fatal outbreak of cholera once again throws light on the poor health facilities and non-implementation of government programmes in the area.

The story of Singari Majhi of Bilamala village whose grandson is suffering from diarrhoea and has been admitted in a PHC (primary health centre) speaks the true story of their condition.

'My grandson had severe vomiting and loose motions since last two days. We took him to the Rayagada hospital, 70 km from here. I can't afford to take any chance with my grandson's health; I had already lost my husband, two sons and one daughter in 2001. He is the only hope for my old age,' she said.

Devjani Majhi of Kucheipadar village was not as fortunate as Singri. She lost her husband due to the cholera outbreak. 'There was no transportation facility. If he had been treated on time, we could have saved him. He has left me helpless with my three small children,' she cried.

In Panasguda, seven people had died within two days in 2001, after consuming mango kernels. Ram Majhi's brother was among them. 'We don't always have sufficient food to eat and we have to eat mango kernel paste, roots, mushrooms, etc. I got Rs. 10,000 compensation, 20 kg rice and a BPL (Below Poverty Line) card when he died. But with no work how long will that last,' he said.

'In our village nobody has job cards. So how can we survive? Every year during rains people suffer diarrhoea. When we tribals, die, it makes news for you people. We have lost faith in everybody, including the government,' he added.

In Panasguda and Gotiguda in the Kashipur block, villagers have not received any job cards, whereas in Bilamala, those who have been issued cards got work for only two or three days.

Although a number of tube wells were put up in the area to ensure the availability of safe drinking water, the tribals continued to fetch water from the open sources, which are now contaminated.

While diarrhoea and malaria have been regularly claiming lives, the large-scale deaths reported during the rains indicated a sharp fall in their resistance power.

In Kashipur only seven out of the 10 doctor's posts have been filled. Mandibisi, Sunger, Dongasil and Kucheipadar health centres are operating without doctors.

After the visit of Rajiv Gandhi here in 1987, a special grant of Rs. 600 million had been released under IFARD (Integrated Fund for Rural Development) for the development of the Koraput district and the Kashipur block in particular.

Since then, millions of rupees have been released for the area but the condition of the tribal is yet to change for reasons best known to the administration.

Reports of a fact-finding team drawn from various voluntary organisations as well as a survey by the New Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) have reinforced the belief that food insecurity, despite the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), has emerged as the main villain.

The CEFS report, which links cholera to the misappropriation of NREGS funds reported that out of Rs. 7 billion spent on the programme during 2006-07, about Rs. 5 billion was siphoned off.

With cholera taking a heavy toll, questions are being raised on the manner in which such a huge sum of money was utilised. During the last nine years, Rs.1.51 billion was spent for improvement of health services in the area while another Rs.27 billion was spent for generation of employment.

Are we getting carried away by the present numbers, blithely ignoring basic weaknesses and problems.

The fun and games, reception and speeches celebrating Incredible India@60 in New York have ended. The Sensex recently touched an all-time high, unaffected by political uncertainties. GDP will grow in the current year (if not forever) at 9% plus. The rupee is at a decade-high in nominal terms, and perhaps higher in real effective terms than at any time since 1993. Foreign investors seem more anxious than ever to invest in the country. The monetary tightening over the last 12 months has succeeded spectacularly and has halved the inflation rate. Vishwanathan Anand is the world chess champion; the Indian team has won the inaugural T20 World Cup; and even the hockey team is Asian champion.

In such a time of general euphoria, it would sound churlish to strike a discordant note. But, paraphrasing what Robert Samuel wrote recently about the US economy, “by taking (growth) for granted, people perversely subvert (growth). The more we — business managers, investors, consumers — think that economic growth is guaranteed and that risk and uncertainty are receding, the more we act in ways that raise risk, magnify uncertainty and threaten economic growth … the fact that the (Indian) economy grew in spite of so many daunting obstacles — (very high real interest rates; an uncompetitive exchange rate; a rapidly growing deficit on the current account; a crumbling infrastructure; az soft, inefficient state; a political class with few convictions, only too willing to change policies in response to a demonstration; a country ranking pretty low in Transparency International’s league table, etc.) — may have created a false sense of confidence that it could overcome almost anything. Sophisticated investors and (media commentators) alike seem to have fallen under the spell of this logic” (Newsweek, September 24).

Perhaps the weakest and most worrying part is the political economy and governance:

On balance, are we getting carried away by the present numbers, blithely ignoring basic weaknesses and problems, hoping that they will go away? Chances are they may not. Think also of the positive side: if we can overcome some of these, where will the growth rate go?

More than 24,000 people die of hunger every day, nearly 78 % of them women and children. More than 1.4 billion people in the world face chronic hunger and over 13 million die of hunger every year. They die of hunger not because world does not have enough food for the entire population of the world, but because of an insensitive and callous world where profit of market seems to be the final arbiter of human destiny. The number of people who fell prey to Hitler's insanity was 6 million and the "silent holocaust of hunger" is killing over 13 million people every year. Every year more than two genocides of Nazi scale. But unlike the victims of Nazi gas chambers, the victims of hunger die unnoticed, unmourned and in the backyards of vibrant democracies. If we believe in Gandhian dictum that poverty is the worst form of violence, then we are still inflicting this violence on over 1.4 billion poorest people of the world. While the U S can spend over $ 80 billion per year in Iraq alone, the entire wealth and generosity of the world can not generate just 13 billion dollors which is the only amount required to prevent the "invisible genocide by hunger".

More than 340 million of Indians still go to bed without food every night. Over 10,000 Indians die of hunger every day and about 40 lakh every year. In other words, every 18 months we are inflicting an “invisible genocide” of Nazi scale on our poor and hungry compatriots. Every third hungry person in the world is an Indian and every third Indian goes to bed without food. The number of hungry people in India is always more than the number of people below official poverty line. While around 37% of rural households were below the poverty line in 1993-94, 80% of households suffered undernutrition. Evidence on the consumption of food, on calorie-intake and on nutritional outcomes clearly prove that chronic hunger persists on a mass scale in India .

Shall we still call it hunger deaths or “ invisible genocide” of poor Indians ? This scale of hunger and abject poverty is unconscionable in a fast growing economy with rising number of dollor millionaires. What are the main reasons behind this dehumanizing level of poverty? After 15 years of my research and activism on the issue of hunger and poverty , I find the traditional explanation of poverty in terms of income poverty and poor economy becoming increasingly irrelevant . I find it difficult to disagree with Lord Meghnath Desai when he says that economic poverty in India in inextricably linked to the poverty of politics( read bad governance and corruption ).

I have done some back of the envelope calculations about the amount of money required to prevent any Indian going to bed without food .The required amount is not huge. In fact, no Indian should go to bed without food even at the current level of budgetary allocations made under heads of various anti-poverty programmes , if we could just ensure the leakage-proof delivery of the allocated funds to their targeted population.

There are currently four major schemes in operation that essentially aim at fighting hunger and food insecurity; namely,PDS(public distribution system),ICDS (integrated child development scheme), MDM ( mid-day meal scheme) and most importantly NREGS(national rural employment guarantee scheme).There would be very few Indians who would have to skip meals if we could just make these four schemes corruption- free. Therefore, now it is not the poor state of economy or lack of funds that is killing about 40 lakh Indians every year , it is the cancer of corruption that is killing and crippling millions of our compatriots every year. The colonial character of Indian bureaucracy is the single biggest factor behind the epidemic of poverty. The Indian bureaucracy is virtually accountable to none , especially when it comes to the implementation of anti-poverty programmes.

PDS and NREGS are two most important schemes to fight hunger and ensure food security. But , what is the actual performance of these schemes on the ground ? According to a recent report of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution , “In the last three years, Rs 31,585.98 crore worth of wheat and rice meant for the poorest of the poor was siphoned off from the public distribution system(PDS). Last year alone, Rs 11,336.98 crore worth of food grain that the government is supposed to distribute to the needy at subsidised prices found its way into the market illegally. Every year, India's poor are cheated out of 53.3% of wheat and 39% of rice meant for them...There is largescale diversion of PDS grain across India… Exceptions apart, the poor in India simply can’t trust the government to deliver them food supplies. ”(Times of India, Sept. 17, 2007)

During last two months, hundreds of poor Adivasis in Rayagada,Koraput and Kalahandi districts of Orissa have died due to “consumption of contaminated water and rotten food” and “hunger and severe food insecurity ”.On the basis of my research in 100 villages of Orissa, I firmly believe that it is not the epidemic of cholera but cancer of corruption that is killing hundreds of Adivasis in Orissa’s KBK(Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region.

Cholera is only a symptom and by-product, the root cause is the cancer of corruption which has colonized and crippled all the vital organs of Orissa administration. Abject poverty and chronic hunger manufactured by corrupt bureaucracy are the main reasons behind these tragic deaths of Adivasis. The PDS(public distribution system) is in a shambles and ICDS(integrated child development scheme) is virtually defunct in the KBK region. The PDS,ICDS and all other anti-poverty programmes have been hijacked and converted into money minting machines for Orissa’s sarkari babus.

Most of these Adivasis live a life of semi-starvation which cripples their immune system and their bodies become vulnerable to a host of diseases .In KBK region, for better part of the rainy season, majority of Adivasis have hardly any food to eat and they survive on mango kernel gruel, wild leaves and vegetables. This tragedy repeats every year. The historic anti-poverty programme NREGS(National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) was launched to stop precisely this kind of tragedy. Unfortunately, sarkari babus of Orissa have converted even this historic employment guarantee scheme into income guarantee scheme for themselves.

Delhi- based CEFS(Centre for Environment and Food Security) has carried out a survey in 100 villages of Orissa and found that of Rs 733 crore spent under NREGS during 2006-7, over Rs 500 crore has been siphoned off and misappropriated by the government officials of executing agencies. Moreover, as against the claims of Orissa Government that no needy household in 19 NREGS districts of the state was denied wage employment and each needy household was given an average 57 days of wage employment under NREGS, CEFS study has revealed that large number of needy households were denied not only jobs but even job cards, and not more than 5 days of average wage employment has been given to each needy family in these 19 NREGS districts. We have found that more than 75 per cent of the NREGS funds spent during last year have been siphoned off. However, we are absolutely certain that there are thousands of villages in Orissa where scale of misappropriation is 80-90 per cent. It is distressing to note that there has been open and participatory loot of NREGS funds in Orissa. We have reasons to believe that the entire state administration is party to this loot.

Is there any linkage between misappropriation of Rs 500 crore of NREGS funds and cholera deaths of hundreds of Adivasis in Orissa? On the surface, the link is tenuous. Scratch a little deeper and the linkage is direct.

To put Rs 500 crore of siphoned NREGS fund in perspective , this amount of money would have given about 90 days of wage employment to about 10 lakh poor families of Orissa. In other words, each of these 10 lakh poorest families would have got Rs 5000 as wages. This amount of Rs 5000 in the context of these poor and hungry families would have given 4-6 months of two subsistence meals or one meal for the whole year. Therefore, it is not just another financial scam , callous bureaucracy of Orissa has robbed 10 lakh hungry families of one meal for the whole year . Who is real killer of Orissa’s Adivasis ?

Consumption of contaminated water and rotten food by the people is suspected to have led to the epidemic,(BBC News, August 27, 2007).Life will never be the same for Chintamani Nayak of Naugaon village( Kashipur block). His dream of becoming a father was shattered when his pregnant wife died of diaorrhea. “I lost my pregnant wife because of food scarcity.Now I am helpless”, laments Chintamani. Chintamani is one of many villagers grappling with poverty, food scarcity and forced to drink contaminated water….With starvation deaths already on the rise and now this epidemic, the Orissa government has its task cut out.(CNN-IBN ,August 30, 2007)

The Current level of hunger, poverty and deprivation in Orissa’s KBK region is as deep, demeaning and dehumanising as ever despite the so- called successful implementation of the NREGS with the highest per capita allocation of funds anywhere in the country. The Rural Employment Scheme has made virtually zero impact on the livelihood security of Orissa’s rural poor.There is no let up in the level of distress migration of Adivasis and Dalits from Orissa’s KBK reason in search of livelihood in other parts of the country. On Human Development Index, many of the Sub-Saharan villages would fare better than most of the KBK villages. Hunger and abject poverty are widespread in all the 100 villages of KBK region we visited. Large numbers of children in these villages are suffering from severe malnutrition. Hunger and abject poverty are apparent and writ large on the hollowed cheeks, sunken eyes and distended bellies of emaciated children.

We had also visited Panasguda(Kasipur Gram Panchayat),Gottigudda(Kasipur Gram Panchayat) and Bilamal (Tikari Gram Panchayat) in Kasipur block of Rayagada district .Many starvation deaths were reported from these three villages during 2001 and the Chief Minister had personally visited these villages to offer relief. Most households in these villages are still living a life of semi-starvation and chronic hunger. For better part of the rainy season they still have to make a choice between starvation or eating mango kernel gruel. Panasgudda and Gottigudda villages have not received even job cards. Some households have been given job cards in Bilamal but even those households have got only 2-3 days of work under NREGS. The family in Bilamal which had lost 4 members to starvation in 2001 has not received job card as yet. More than 8 persons are reported to have died in Bilamal during last two months. Most of these deaths are essentially hunger-deaths, but it is convenient for bureaucrats to declare them as “cholera deaths.”

Where has Orissa Government spent Rs 733 crore of NREGS funds? These hungry Adivasis of Orissa deserve at least an answer in the Platinum Jubille year of India’s Independence.

The largest number of cholera deaths have been reported from Kashipur block of Rayagada district. We had surveyed 30 villages of this block and found that there had been proverbial open loot of NREGS funds in all the villages where this job scheme was executed. We had found similar loot of NREGS funds in Laxmipur and Nandpur blocks of Koraput district and Thuamulrampur block of Kalahandi district. All these blocks are now witness to a naked dance of death scripted and choreographed by callous and corrupt bureaucracy of Orissa.

The CEFS survey report was formally released on 17 th August 2007 in New Delhi and all the News Papers of Orissa carried news stories about the shocking findings of this survey, most of them on their front pages. However, the Government of Orissa has maintained studied silence on the damning findings of the CEFS survey. To neutralize the impact of bad publicity and to deflect public attention from the NREGS Scam ,on 20th August 2007 , the Chief Minister called a high level meeting and ordered survey of NREGS work in the state by Hyderabad-based NIRD( National Institute of Rural Development). I firmly believe that the objective of the NIRD survey is not to probe the irregularities or misappropriation of Rs 500 crore NREGS funds, but to cover up all this. It is a pure eye wash.

More shocking is the silence of the main opposition party of Orissa - Congress. Except Congress, all other opposition parties have demanded a special session of Orissa Assembly to discuss Rs 500 crore NREGS scam unearthed by CEFS survey . Even the BJP, a partner in the ruling coalition of Orissa, has said on record that there have been serious irregularities and the NREGS in Orissa had miserably failed. It defies all logic as how the main Opposition Party of Orissa (Congress) did not bother to utter a single word about the NREGS scam . It is bizarre to read in the Newspapers that the same Party is now busy counting dead bodies of Orissa’s Adivasis. Some one rightly said that we are a country of fire fighters. We begin digging well only after the fire has broken out. The silence about misappropriation of Rs 500 crore NREGS funds on the part of the oldest political Party of the largest democracy in the world is more shocking to me than Rs 500 crore NREGS scam as such .

The author is director of Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security(CEFS). He can be reached at : parshuramray@yahoo.com

Cholera’s not all that’s killing people in India’s hunger capital. Staggering corruption in the Orissa NREGS has done the poor enough harm too, says PARSHURAM RAI

OF THE 1.4 billion people who face chronic hunger world over, one in three is an Indian. Every third Indian goes to bed without food; more than 10,000 of our compatriots die of hunger each day. So massive a scale of abject poverty is unconscionable in a fast-growing economy with a rising number of dollar millionaires. When confronted with such disparity, the traditional explanation of poverty in terms of low incomes and a poor economy becomes increasingly irrelevant. It is difficult to disagree with Lord Meghnad Desai when he says that economic poverty in India is inextricably linked to the poverty of politics — bad governance and corruption. It is not the poor state of the economy or the lack of funds that is killing about 40 lakh Indians every year, it is the cancer of corruption and the colonial character of the Indian bureaucracy.

India currently has four major schemes in operation that aim at fighting hunger and food insecurity: the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDM) and, most importantly, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Very few Indians would ever have to go without food if we could just ensure that these schemes were corruption-free, in particular the PDS and the NREGS. But what is their actual performance on the ground? According to a recent report on the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, “Last year alone, Rs 11,336.98 crore worth of food grain that the government is supposed to distribute to the needy at subsidised prices found its way into the market illegally. Every year, India’s poor are cheated out of 53.3 percent of wheat and 39 percent of rice meant for them… There is largescale diversion of PDS grain across India… Exceptions apart, the poor in India simply can’t trust the government to deliver them food supplies.” (The Times of India, September 17, 2007)

One of the most horrifying examples of the governing class’ brutal theft of money meant for the poor is to be found in Orissa, which is among the poorest states in the country. A survey I headed conducted by the Delhibased Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) across 100 Orissa villages has found that of the Rs 733 crore spent under the NREGS during 2006-07, over Rs 500 crore, or around 70 percent, has been siphoned off and misappropriated by officials of the executing agencies. Moreover, as against the claims of the Orissa government that no needy household in the state’s 19 NREGS districts had been denied wage employment and that each such household had been given an average of 57 days of wage employment under the NREGS, the CEFS study has revealed that a large number of impoverished households had been denied not only jobs but even job cards, and that not more than five days’ wage employment on average had been given to any of these families in the 19 districts.

To put Rs 500 crore of siphoned NREGS funds in perspective, this amount of money would have given about 90 days of wage employment to about 10 lakh severely impoverished families. Each of these families would have got Rs 5,000 as wages. This amount would have given each family two subsistence meals a day for four to six months; it would have supplied each family one meal a day for an entire year. The scale of this callousness takes it beyond the level of just another financial scam — the Orissa bureaucracy has robbed 10 lakh chronically hungry families of a meal a day for a whole year.

DURING THE last two months, hundreds of adivasis in Rayagada, Koraput and Kalahandi districts have died due to “consumption of contaminated water and rotten food” and “hunger and severe food insecurity”. The CEFS study, however, leads one to believe that the cholera epidemic that is killing hundreds of adivasis in Orissa’s KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region is only a ymptom and a byproduct of the corruption which has colonised and crippled all the vital organs of the Orissa administration. When all anti-poverty programmes in the region have been hijacked and converted into money-minting machines for Orissa’s babus, who then is the real killer of Orissa’s adivasis?

Is there any connection between the misappropriation of Rs 500 crore and the hundreds of cholera deaths among Orissa’s adivasis? On the surface, the link is tenuous. Scratch a little deeper and it turns direct. Most of these adivasis live in semi-starvation, which cripples their immune system, making them vulnerable to a host of diseases. In the KBK region, for the better part of the rainy season, a majority of adivasis have hardly any food to eat and they survive on mango kernel gruel, wild leaves and vegetables.

The NREGS was launched precisely to end this kind of dehumanising poverty. Unfortunately, Orissa’s babus have converted even this historic employment guarantee scheme into nothing but an income guarantee scheme for themselves. The current level of hunger, poverty and deprivation in the KBK region is as deep and demeaning as it has ever been, despite its receiving the highest per capita allocation of funds under the NREGS anywhere in the country. On the Human Development Index, many sub- Saharan villages would fare better than most KBK villages.

In 2001, reports of starvation deaths from Panasguda, Gottigudda and Bilamal villages in Rayagada district’s Kashipur block impelled then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to visited them to offer relief. Six years later, most households in these villages are still living on the verge of starvation. For the better part of the rainy season, they still have to make a choice between starvation and eating mango kernel gruel. Panasguda and Gottigudda have not even received job cards. Some households have been given job cards in Bilamal, but even they got only two or three days of work under the NREGS. A Bilamal family which had lost four of its members to starvation in 2001 has not received a job card till date. At least eight people are reported to have died in Bilamal in the last two months. Most of these deaths are essentially hunger-deaths, but it is convenient for bureaucrats to declare them “cholera deaths”.

The largest number of cholera deaths have been reported from Kashipur. The CEFS study surveyed 30 villages in this block and found that there had been an open loot of NREGS funds in all the villages where the scheme was executed. A similar loot of NREGS funds was found in Laxmipur and Nandpur blocks of Koraput district and in Thuamulrampur block of Kalahandi. All these blocks are now witness to a naked dance of death scripted and choreographed by the callous and corrupt bureaucracy of Orissa.

ABJECT POVERTY and chronic hunger manufactured by a corrupt bureaucracy are the main reasons behind these tragic deaths. Where has the Orissa government spent the Rs 733 crore it claimed to have spent on the NREGS? These hungry adivasis deserve at least an answer in the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence.

The CEFS survey report was formally released on August 17, yet so far the Orissa government has maintained a studied silence on its findings, apart from ordering a National Institute of Rural Development survey of NREGS work. Most shocking, however, is the silence of Orissa’s main opposition party — the Congress. That the oldest political party of the world’s largest democracy could not be bothered to respond to so massive a theft of public money is perhaps the most shameful part of Orissa’s NREGS tragedy. All other opposition parties have demanded a special session of the Assembly to discuss the scam; even the BJP, a partner in the state’s ruling coalition, has said that the NREGS in Orissa had failed miserably. In the speeches of the politicians, adivasis and Dalits are routinely claimed to have the first charge on the country’s resources. In reality, that charge is owned by the babus, who are the main beneficiaries of every anti-poverty programme this country has ever devised.

Only a vigilant citizenry can shake up the corrupt bureaucracy by making it accountable for its acts of omission and commission. Unless public servants are afraid of being prosecuted, their corruption will continue to thrive, and adivasis and Dalits will continue to die like flies, unnoticed and unmourned by a “rising India”.

PALSIPADA IS A SMALL DUSTY VILLAGE in Talbelgaon Panchayat of Bhawanipatna block, Kalahandi district. A predominantly adivasi village, it would definitely be classed among the poorest villages of the country — Kalahandi itself is known as India’s hunger capital. This village should have the first charge on the jobs provided under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

Rupa Majhi (job card no-OR-10- 001-031-008/14364) worked for 21 days under the NREGS and was paid Rs 600. His job card states he had worked for 336 days; the NREGS website (http://nrega.nic.in) says he was given 102 days of employment and paid Rs 6,310. With only Rs 600 actually in his hands, the remaining Rs. 5,710, more than 90 percent of the payment made in his name, has been pocketed by the NREGS officials. Pokhari Ghat is another Kalahandi village where the NREGS has been implemented, but more than 95 percent of the funds were pocketed by the executing officials. Every document related to the NREGS here is fabricated. Not a single job card entry about jobs and wages matches with actual work days and payments. Even the job details written on the job cards are totally different from the job and payment details written in online job cards. Villagers were stunned when we told them that according to the entries in their job cards they had worked for over 2-3 months.

In reality, the Rural Employment Scheme has made virtually no impact on the livelihood security of Orissa’s rural poor. Unless transparency safeguards incorporated in the NREGS are implemented in letter and spirit, the scheme may just sound radical on paper, hijacked as it has been by petty officials.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is arguably the most progressive legislation in post-Independent India. Implemented in letter and spirit, this historic Act has the potential to transform Rural India. But corruption keeps the NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) from fulfilling its promise as it has in Orissa.

Rupa Majhi, a poor Adivasi of Palsipada village in Kalahandi district, was actually given 21 days of employment and paid Rs 600 as wages during 2006-07. He was given this wage employment on a road construction project executed under the high-profile anti-poverty programme NREGS. But, on his job card, it is falsely written that he had worked for 336 days. The online job card of Rupa Majhi posted on NREGS Web site has a third-version of work and payment details. As per the fake entries on the NREGS Web site, Rupa Majhi was given 102 days of wage employment and paid Rs 6,310 as wages. So, out of Rs 6,310, only Rs 600 actually came in the hands of Rupa Majhi. The remaining Rs 5,710 — which is more than 90 per cent of the total wage payment made in the name of Rupa Majhi — has been siphoned off and misappropriated by the government officials.

Chandra Majhi of Palsipada village has not received any employment under the rural job scheme. But, in his job card (hard copy), there is fake entry of 126 days. On the NREGS Web site, 108 days of employment and Rs 5,940 as wages have been falsely shown in the name of Chandra Majhi. In this case,100 per cent of the wages has been eaten up by the government officials. The stories of Rupa Majhi and Chandra Majhi are not isolated cases of financial bungling and misappropriation of NREGS funds in Orissa. This is the story of about 13 lakh poor households of Orissa who were given wage employment under the NREGS during 2006-07.

One of the poorest states with a very high percentage of rural population living in abject poverty and chronic hunger, Orissa was allocated Rs 890 crore under NREGS. In 2006-07, it was able to spend Rs 733 crore. The official records of the State government state that Orissa provided 7.99 crore person-days employment to 13,94,169 households in 2006-07. In other words, every needy and demanding family in the State was given an average 57 days of wage employment during the year. Not a single needy household was denied wage employment in 19 NREGS districts of the State. Orissa also claims that 1,54,118 families in the State completed 100 days of wage employment during 2006-7.

A random survey in 100 villages of Orissa reveals the hollowness of these claims. Conducted in the State’s six poorest districts of the KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region — Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada — the survey by the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) uncovered that of Rs 733 crore spent under NREGS, more than Rs 500 crore was unaccounted for, probably siphoned off and misappropriated by government officials.

Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that, on the ground, less than 2 crore person-days employment has been provided while more than 6 crore person-days employment has been provided on false job cards and fabricated muster rolls.

In fact, not more than five days of average employment has been given to each of the needy families in 19 NREGS districts of the State and large number of needy families were denied employment.

The research team did not find a single family in the 100 sample villages who had actually got 100 days of wage employment. Very few families got 20-40 days; the rest mostly between five-21 days, if at all.

Thirty-seven out of 100 sample villages received no wage employment whatsoever. More than 40 villages had job and wage entries, on an average four or five times the actual numbers.

Online job cards of most of these households, however, have false and fabricated job and wage entries for varying periods ranging between 111 and fifty-two days. This is the way Orissa has spent Rs 733 crore and provided about 8 crore person-days employment.

The unaccounted NREGA funds of Rs 500 crore would have given about 90 days of wage employment to about 10 lakh poor families of Orissa had things worked out the way they should have. In other words, each of these 10 lakh poorest families would have got Rs 5,000 per family as wages. In the context of poverty and hunger that plague these families, this amount would have given four-six months of two subsistence meals or one meal for the whole year.

Ten lakh families have been deprived even that one meal for the whole year. Small wonder that last month hundreds of Adivasis have died in Rayagada, Koraput and Kalahandi districts of Orissa due to ‘cholera’ ‘hunger’ ‘lack of food’ and ‘malnutrition’.

Current levels of hunger, poverty and deprivation in Orissa’s KBK region are deep, demeaning and dehumanising despite the apparently successful implementation of the NREGS with the highest per capita allocation of funds anywhere in the country. In reality, the Rural Employment Scheme has made virtually no impact on the livelihood security of Orissa’s rural poor with little let up in the level of distress migration of Adivasis and Dalits from the regions in search of livelihood elsewhere.

The provision of Social Audit included in the NREG Act is virtually non-existent. There has been no social audit whatsoever in any of the 100 villages visited by the research teams. There is no accountability and/or transparency in the administration of NREGS; in none of the 100 villages visited, did the team find a single Panchayat office open and functioning. Villagers held that these offices open only once or twice a month.

In reality, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have been completely sidelined in the implementation of NREGS with the village-level workers calling the shots; they get the sarpanches to sign on blank cheques and jealously guard muster rolls. The team could not meet a single person in these 100 villages who had ever seen muster rolls of the NREGS works in his village. Villagers who work in NREGS projects are made to sign on blank muster rolls.

Unless transparency safeguards incorporated in the NREGS are implemented in letter and spirit, the scheme may just sound radical on paper hijacked as it has been by petty officials. For it to succeed, the NREGS must be handed over to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). This may warrant a few amendments to the current Act, but if the scheme has to serve its purpose there may be no alternative.

(The author is director of Delhi-based Centre for Environment & Food Security. He can be reached at: parshuramray@yahoo.com.)

DH News Service,New Delhi:
Less than a week after extending National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in all rural districts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday admitted to loopholes and leakages in the implementation of the UPA’s flagship programme.

“If the scheme (NREGS) is implemented honestly and sincerely, it would increase the rural income and we will be able to soften very considerably, the harsh edges of extreme poverty…But there are leakages and administrative inadequacies,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a meeting organised by the Indian Language Newspapers Association (ILNA) in the Capital.

The Prime Minister said it was the duty of the media and civil society to highlight weaknesses in the implementation of a scheme such as NREGS.

The Prime Minister’s candid admission came close on the heels of the findings of an NGO survey last Saturday about poor execution and red-tapism in the implementation. The survey by Delhi based NGO-Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) has revealed that only six per cent of households registered for work under NREGS had got 100 days of employment in the first year of the scheme’s implementation.

As per a recent report compiled by the Union Rural Development Ministry, 16 major cases of embezzlement of funds, involving several crores of rupees have been unearthed in 14 states. The latest one refers to the alleged misuse of Rs 400 crore NREGS funds in Orissa. Maximum misuse of funds reported in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa, and the ministry is awaiting detailed report from states ascertain the factual position.

... A recent report of the Centre for Environment and Food Security (cefs), New Delhi, also underlines the poor drinking water and sanitary facilities in the state. “It is not the epidemic of cholera but cancer of corruption that is killing hundreds of poor adivasis...[in Orissa],” notes cefs.

Of the Rs 700 crore allotted for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Orissa, Rs 500 crore has been siphoned off by officials, says a survey by the Centre for Environment and Food Security (cefs), Delhi. The survey, covering 100 villages across six districts, reported glaring lack of transparency, job cards not being issued, and forgery. Parshuram Ray of cefs says his organisation chose Orissa because there were several positive reports but what they discovered was quite the opposite. Under the scheme, 40 per cent of the funds are allocated for materials and the rest for wages. Ray alleges that the material allocation in Orissa was 80 per cent. Another discrepancy was in the large number of road constructions that “have supposedly been carried out”.

The Centre has decided to send a Central team to oversee the mode of implementation of the ongoing National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Orissa.

Announcing this at a press conference at the State Secretariat in Bhubaneswar on Monday, Union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to probe into the allegations of irregularities of Rs 500 crore in different projects under the NREGS and submit a report in this connection by October-end this year.

Singh, who reviewed the NREGS of 10 states held at the State Secretariat, maintained that the scheme has become a success in the whole country, especially in the tribal-infested states of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the scheme has come out as a blessing.

Terming the scheme as a grand success, he said that the scheme has broken all previous records of other Centrally-sponsored programmes in terms of creating a record number of employment days.

Referring to the allegations on irregularities under different projects in NREGS in six districts of the undivided KBK made by a Delhi-based NGO that has has also referred the allegations to the state government to conduct a probe, said Singh said that after receiving reports of the two agencies, the Centre would take appropriate action.

He further said the ministry had also received similar allegations from 69 districts across the country under the NREGS. All the allegations have been forwarded to the CAG, he added.

He said that to make NREGS successful, the Centre had adopted a five-pronged strategy such as creating awareness about the programme, putting emphasis on people's participation, making officials more accountable, maintaining a high level of transparency and keeping strict monitoring and vigilance of the programme.

To a question on whether he was satisfied with the implementation of the NREGS implementation in Orissa, Singh said that it was not a question of satisfaction.

The state government had to achieve the target of providing minimum 100 days of employment to the people in rural sector. It has yet to achieve this goal, he pointed out.

He further said the state government had to make social audit of all these schemes under the NREGS within three months. It may be noted that the state government had yet to start a social audit of the scheme.

Singh further said by shifting responsibilities on sarpanchs and Zilla Parishad members, the district collector should disown their responsibilities.

They must try to enhance the capacity building of the panchayats, he said, adding that it was a crime if people do not get remuneration after completed their jobs under the NREGS.

Stating that 24 districts of the state had already been covered under the programme and the remaining six districts would be covered under the NREGS in the third phase.

The Centre has already allocated Rs 8,000 crore to implement NREGS in the entire country in 2006-07 while another Rs 8,000 crore is being released for 2007-08, he informed.

Earlier addressing a two-day performance review committee of the rural development department, he urged the states to record significant higher achievements in implementation of all the Centrally-sponsored schemes for rural development under operation and particularly NREGS.

Representatives of 10 states including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Jharkhand and Orissa attended the meeting.

Among others, Union ministers of state for rural development Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Suryakanta Patil, secretary and rural development, government of India Subas Pani were also present at the meeting.

The Centre has referred the allegation of irregularities of Rs 500 crore in different projects under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for inquiry, said Union Minister of Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh here on Monday.

Addressing a press conference here at the State Secretariat, prior to his meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Singh said the CAG had been asked to submit the inquiry report by the end of October.

He further said that the Centre had received the allegations that massive irregularities to the tune of Rs 500 crore occurred under different projects in NREG schemes in six districts of the undivided KBK A Delhi-based NGO has made these allegations. "It has also referred the allegations to the State Government to conduct a probe," said Singh, adding that after receiving reports of the two agencies, the Centre would take appropriate action.

He further said the Ministry had also received similar allegations from 69 districts across the country under the NREG scheme. "All the allegations have been forwarded to the CAG," Singh opined.

In order to make NREG schemes successful, Singh said the Centre had adopted a five-pronged strategy. Under the plan, the Centre has stressed on creating awareness about the programme, putting emphasis on people's participation, making officials more accountable, maintaining a high level of transparency and keeping strict monitoring and vigilance of the programme.

On being asked whether he was satisfied with the implementation of the NREG programme in Orissa, Singh tactfully avoided giving a specific answer to the question and said it was not a question of satisfaction. "The State Government had to achieve the target of providing minimum 100 days of employment to the people in rural sector. It has yet to achieve this goal," Singh said.

He further said the State Government had to make social audit of all these schemes under the NREG scheme within three months. It may be noted that the State Government had yet to start a social audit of the scheme.

Singh further said by shifting responsibilities on sarpanches and Zilla Parishad members, the District Collector should disown their responsibilities. "They must try to enhance the capacity building of the panchayats," he said, adding that it was a crime if people do not get remuneration after completed their jobs under the NREG scheme.

He further said 24 districts of the State had already been covered under the programme and the remaining six districts would be covered under the NREG scheme in the third phase. The Centre has already allocated Rs 8,000 to implement NREG projects in the entire country in 2006-07. Similarly another Rs 8,000 crore is being released for 2007-08, he said.

Earlier addressing a two-day performance review committee of the Rural Development Department, he urged the States to record significant higher achievements in implementation of all the Centrally sponsored schemes for rural development under operation and particularly NREG schemes.

Representatives of 10 States including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhanda, Kerala, Jharkhand and Orissa attended the review meeting. Union Ministers of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Suryakanta Patil, Secretary, Rural Development, Government of India Subas Pani attended the review meeting.

Union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has favoured a probe by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India to unravel the alleged pilferage of NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) funds. The 100-day job guarantee scheme for the rural households is a flagship programme of the UPA Government, which is being implemented in twenty-four districts of Orissa. The districts are Bolangir, Bargarh, Boudh, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Sundargarh, Anugul, Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur. For Orissa’s toiling millions, the NREGS can be the ideal panacea to earn their livelihoods by asserting their legally guaranteed rights to demand jobs. But the NREGS has been under a cloud because of the recent allegations made by a Delhi-based NGO. The union RD minister put the ball in the CAG’s court, as he had to cope with a barrage of queries on NREGS implementation in Orissa. But can the CAG findings really bring in transparency in the implementation of the NREGS in Orissa? Many CAG reports are already gathering dust and this may only be an addition to the existing heap.

Didn’t the CAG report forewarn the health authorities over the water-borne diseases before? But still cholera and other diseases like gastro-enteritis claimed more than 150 lives in the southern districts. The latest CAG report in a separate section on Orissa s rural water supply schemes had said, "As per report of State Disease Surveillance Cell, Directorate of Health Services, Orissa, 5.80 lakh rural population of the state were victims of water borne diseases like severe diarrhoea (5.53 lakh) and acute jaundice (0.27 lakh) between 2002 and 2005. This indicated non-availability of safe drinking water in the rural areas. The number of deaths caused by the diseases was 2103 during January 2002 to December 2005".

The CAG report added saying, "These (water testing laboratories) too were being managed by one Junior Laboratory Assistant each against the requirement of 13 staff for each laboratory as per norms. Despite instructions issued by the GOI (Government of India) from time to time for testing and monitoring of water quality, the position was that out of 2.44 lakh sources in 1.41 lakh habitations, only 1.28 lakh sources in 0.46 lakh habitations had been tested that too only once and the quality of water of 0.40 lakh water sources in 0.28 lakh habitations was found unsafe due to excess iron/fluoride content and other multiple quality problems. No alternative source of safe drinking water was, however, provided as of April 2006". Ordering a CAG probe is not enough. The authorities must act on the CAG’s findings too.

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: Union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh today admitted that allegations of irregularities in the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme have been received almost from all states.

“The scheme is implemented at gram panchayat level. So, it’s quite natural that there are allegations of irregularities in some panchayats or others,” Singh said here this evening.

An inquiry is being done by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India into the allegations of irregularities in 69 districts across the country, he added.

The Union minister, who was here to address the meeting of regional performance review committee relating to nine states, including Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Bengal, said he had directed the CAG to conduct a special probe into alleged irregularities in implementation of NREGS in six backward districts of Orissa.

“We have asked the CAG to inquire into the allegations and submit the report by the end of October,” he said.

Singh said he had written to the Orissa chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, requesting him to find the veracity of the alleged irregularities mentioned in a survey of New Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Environment and Food Security.

The chief minister had written back saying that the inquiry was already underway.

The survey, which had covered 100 villages in six districts belonging to most backward KBK region of Orissa, had alleged that wage employment was not being provided to job seekers and payment was not being made to labourers even after work was over.

“Non-payment of wages after the work is a crime and stringent action will be taken against the erring officials,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, the state government has requested the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Rural Development to conduct a survey to verify the veracity of allegation and study the impact of implementation of the scheme.

Union minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Monday announced that the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) will probe into the allegation of Rs 500 crore scam in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Orissa.

"The six districts in Orissa, where irregularities have been reported from, would be included within the purview of the CAG audit to the NREGS programme", Singh told the reporters. The CAG, which is currently conducting an audit of the NREGS programme in 69 districts of the country, is expected to submit its report in October.

Following revelation of the alleged Rs 500 crore scam in Orissa by a Delhi-based NGO, the state government has requested the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) of Hyderabad to probe into the matter.

The union minister, who was here on a two-day visit, reviewed the programme implementation in the state.

Singh said there is a need for further improvement of the NREGS implementations. Admitting that irregularities are being reported from the states, he said that actions are also being taken against erring officials and individuals.

Singh said the Centre had released Rs 8000 in 2006-07 and has sanctioned the equal amount this fiscal. Stating that the aim of the NREGS is to provide 100 days work to job seekers, he said on an average 57.3 days jobs are being provided.

The minister said that the remaining six districts of Orissa will be covered under the scheme in the third phase.

Bhubaneswar: The Centre on Monday asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to probe allegations of irregularities in the utilisation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) funds in Orissa's backward Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) region. "We have asked CAG to submit its inquiry report with the government by end of October," Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said in Bhubaneswar. The Centre's order came in the wake of a report by a Delhi-based NGO which alleged, that funds of Rs 500 crore were misutilised in the KBK region. The NGO claimed to have prepared this report after surveying 100 villages in six districts in the region.

Singh while reviewing implementation of the Centrally sponsored rural development schemes in Orissa, told reporters that he had asked the state government to expedite social audit, verification of muster rolls, strict monitoring and follow up actions.

He accused Orissa government of failing to conduct review of social auditing of the NREGS at least thrice in a year. "The state government has infact not done a single review of the social auditing." Describing the NREGS as a 'boon' to the tribal people in KBK region, Singh said that the state government had been asked to intensify execution of the scheme in order to check migration and avoid hunger problems. (PTI)

BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a performance audit of the National Rural Employment Gurantee Programme (NREGP) in six districts of the State following allegation of financial irregularities.

Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh informed this to mediapersons on Monday. He was here to review the performance of nine States on the implementation of the Centrally-sponsored schemes for rural development.

Responding to queries on the action taken by his ministry on the alleged financial irregularities in the implementation of NREGP in Orissa, the Minister said CAG is conducting the performance audit of Centrally-sponsored programme in 69 districts covering 200 blocks following similar complaints.

The CAG is expected to submit its report by October. Let the report come and action will follow, he added.

Singh said his ministry has asked the State Government for a report on the financial irregularities as alleged by the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), a New Delhi-based NGO.

Review of NREGS programme in the first quarter of the current year of the nine States, however, indicates that the performance needs to pick up. He attributed the low demands for works to lack of motivation in executing the programme.

States have been advised to gear up the implementing machinery, dispose of complaints and ensure strict monitoring for bringing transparency, he said.

Singh also admitted that reports are pouring in from different areas on malpractice in distribution of housing assistance under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY).

BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Monday said that Comptroller Auditor General of India would inquire into alleged irregularities under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in six districts of Orissa.

Reacting on revelation of irregularities by a non-government organisation, Mr. Singh said the CAG was conducting audit into irregularities in NREGS in 69 districts of the country and it had been asked to check the veracity of allegation in Orissa’s six districts.

“We are expected to receive the inquiry report by October. Moreover, we have asked the State government to conduct inquiry separately. Whosever found guilty, will be punished,” said the Union minister.

He said the ministry was working on five-point action programme to minimise corruption in NREGS.

“We are emphasising on awareness, people’s participation, strict vigilance and monitoring, transparency and accountability to prevent corruption. We have also adopted zero tolerance in our approach,” Mr. Singh said.

Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) conducted a survey in May-June 2007 to assess and evaluate the performance of NREGA in 100 villages spread over six districts of KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region -- Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

The CEFS found that out of Rs. 733 crores spent on NREGA during 2006-07, more than Rs. 500 crores had been siphoned and misappropriated by the government officials of implementing agencies.

Mr. Singh came here to attend a two-day performance review committee (PRC) meeting being held here.

He was accompanied by two Ministers of State --Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Smt Suryakanta Patil.

According to the Ministry, in 2006-07, as against demand of 14.07 lakh families, 13.94 lakh families were given jobs and Rs. 733.46 crores had been utilised against available funds to the tune of Rs. 890.01 crores.

Bhubaneswar, Sep 17 Union minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Monday announced that the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) will probe into the allegation of Rs 500 crore scam in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Orissa.

The union minister, who was here on a two-day visit, reviewed the programme implementation in the state.

The minister said that the remaining six districts of Orissa will be covered under the scheme in the third phase. Statesman News Servic

Bhubaneswar: Union minister of state for Rural Development Chandra Shekhar Sahu has said that Comptroller & Auditot General (CAG) has been assigned the responsibility to enquire into the alleged financial irregularity in National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (NREGS) in Orissa. It is alleged that there has been financial irregularity over Rs 500 crore in the scheme in Orissa. Meanwhile, Union Rural Development minister Raghubansh Prasad Singh has clarified that he has not given clean chit to anybody. Centre has received irregularity in Fund management in NREGS in 10 states, he said. Departmental secretaries of all the state have been asked to enquire, he added.

Refuting the allegations that there has been a rampant corruption in the ongoing National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Orissa being implemented in 24 districts of the state, Union minister of rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Sunday categorically maintained that the allegations on corruption to the tune of Rs 500 crore under NREGS is nothing but a white lie.

He, however, admitted that there have been instances of corruptions of minor nature for which the state government has already been informed to probe into these cases of minor irregularities.

Briefing newsmen at the Biju Patnaik airport in Bhubaneswar soon after his arrival, Singh, who is scheduled to attend a review meeting of the Centrally-sponsored programmes in 10 states scheduled at Hotel Crown in the city, said that the state government, acting on his letter, has already started a probe into these anomalies.

Appreciating the efficiency of the state government in successfully implementing NREGS in the state, the Union minister said that since Orissa is a tribal-infested state like that of the neighbouring Jharkhand, the Centre is ready to pump in more funds to the state for the overall development of the tribals.

He said that the NREGS was initially implemented in 19 Orissa districts in the first phase and later was extended to another five districts.

Apart from this, the Centre has decided to implement the programme in the rest six districts of the state by this year-end.

It may be mentioned here that a Delhi-based NGO has brought this allegation against the State Government and alleged that most of the works under the NREGS were not satisfactory.

Meanwhile, prior to his review meeting on Monday, chief secretary Ajit Tripathy on Sunday called a high-level review meeting of district collectors to review the NREGS. District Collectors of 24 districts where the NREGS programme is going on, attended the review meeting.

Most of the collectors alleged that the work under the NREGS have not progressed to the satisfactory level due to undue interference of the Zilla Parishad members and the callous attitude shown by the panchayat members.

They further alleged about the non-cooperation from the zilla parishad members in sanctioning the approval of funds required to execute the programme.

Similarly in the block level, the panchayat members are not cooperating with the block level officials for which the progress of the work under the NREGS has been hampered, they pointed out.

It may be mentioned here that sanctions of both the panchayat and Zilla Parishad are required to execute work under the NREGS.

However, the zilla parishad members while refuting the allegations, maintained that the works under the NREGS had not been progressed so far due to the non-cooperation from the bureaucrats.

Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Sept 17: The central government has asked the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to specifically examine allegations of misappropriation of NREGS funds in Orissa. It will also depute officers to probe into the charges.

It may be noted that a New Delhi based NGO Center for Environment and Food Security had conducted a survey of NREGS in 100 villages spread across six backward districts of Kalahandi, Bolangir, Koraput, Nuapada, Nawarangpur and Rayagada districts. It had described the findings as “shocking , scandalous and outrageous”. More than 75 per cent of the funds had been misappropriated. Among 100 villages, 18 had not received job cards and 37 did not have any job even after 16 months of the launch of the scheme said the survey. Mr Singh had referred the matter to chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik, who in turn had assured a thorough probe. Today, at a Press conference, he faced a volley of questions on the alleged scam and the fact that distressed people in Koraput and Rayagada district where a cholera epidemic had claimed hundreds of lives had alleged improper execution of NREGA.

The central minister said he has requested the CAG to probe into the matter. As such the CAG is undertaking an audit in 69 districts across the country and specific reference will be made to the KBK region of Orissa. The report is expected in October, he said. When enquired why Orissa, for instance has failed to conduct a social audit as mandated under the Act, he acknowledged that three social audits ought to have been completed but it had not been done. Mr Singh, however, rejected the contention that there was a need to amend the guidelines since most district magistrates had complained of the delay in execution due to holding up of proposals by the zilla parishad and in some cases the sarpanchs.

He announced the remaining six districts of Orissa will be covered under NREGS in the third phase. Mr Singh along with his ministers of state Mr CS Sahu and Mr Suryakanta Patil are to conduct a regional performance review of different schemes and their implementation in 10 states of AP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa , TN, WB and Pondicherry.

KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, Sep 17: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has been asked to inquire into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in six districts in the backward KBK region of Orissa.

The six tribal-dominated districts where the NREGS implementation will be verified by the CAG are Koraput, Rayagada, Nawarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Bolangir.

The CAG was asked to inquire into the matter after a Delhi-based organisation Centre for Environment and Food Security recently alleged that large-scale irregularities were committed in the implementation of the NREGS in Orissa.

The Central Government was likely to receive the CAG findings by October, Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said here on Monday evening.

Talking to presspersons after attending a meeting of his Ministry's Performance Review Committee meeting here, Singh said that Orissa government had also been asked to inquire into the allegations independently.

Union Ministers of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Suryakanta Patil were also present.

... The Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), a Delhi-based organisation that had conducted a survey of 100 villages to assess the implementation of the NREGS, said that it was not the epidemic of cholera but the cancer of corruption that was killing hundreds of poor tribal people and crippling millions of them.

Alleging that government officials had misappropriated Rs.500 crore of NREGS funds, the CEFS said this amount would have given about 90 days of employment to 10 lakh poor families in Orissa.“It is not just another financial scam. Callous officials of Orissa have robbed 10 lakh hungry families of one meal a day for a whole year or two meals for six months,” it said.

FRONTLINE
Volume 24 - Issue 18 :: Sep. 08-21, 2007
to read full article please click here

... That these are not isolated events, con- fined to a few pockets overlooked because of their remoteness has been underlined by a recent study by Parshuram Ray of Centre for Environment and Food Security, Delhi. This study has uncovered that irregularities are the norm. Some of the stark findings of the study are as follows: Number of Villages with complete and correct job card entries: zero out of hun- dred; Number of villages where 100 days employment has been provided: zero out of hundred; Number of villages where workers have been able to cross-check their muster rolles: zero out of hundred; Number of villages where no employment, and no job cards have been given: 11 out of hundred; Number of villages where no employment has been given: 37 out of hundred.

Empowering the Little People?
But more than this non-delivery is the connivance in corruption that appears to prevail from top to bottom. There is a complete disregard for any form of accountability, and people's complaints and appeals are ignored again and again. In Nuapada district, the CEFS report brings out the stark contradictions. Here one confronts padlocked houses as one enters Mahulkot village. Several families have migrated for work to Raipur, AP, etc. Forty children from different villages study in a residential care centre for the children of migrant parents run by a local NGO. The children look emaciated, and neglected, and say that their parents have been away for more than six months. They are reluctant to talk. Payments have been made in the month of May for a road work in the month of March. There are no entries in any of the job cards. A note, signed by the APD on January 28, 2007 in one of the job cards says "social audit has taken place, entries in the job cards do not match the muster rolls". This job card also does not have any entries. In Khamtarai village, people have worked for eight days to dig a pond, in the month of April. No payment has been made, nor are there any entries in the job card. As the CEFS team tries to probe further, Jati Majhi erupts in anger, "What has the government done for us? The contractor is far better, even if he makes us work too much, and pays little, he pays regularly once a week, atleast we are able to buy rice to eat. The government makes us run to them several times, and then does not even bother to pay."

Ray outlined the problems they had faced in the Nandapur block, when they tried to get information. The BDO refused to give information and shouted at them. When his team tried to get the necessary permis- sion from the PR department, they were advised to first get necessary orders, and then visit the block offices to check the NREGA records. This is the treatment meted out to those who can talk on equal terms, and are well informed about the rules and Acts. If a village youth tries to demand wages, or tries to appeal for proper implementation, one wonders, what she or he would have to face. According to the OREGS guidelines, the BDO is actually the programme officer (OREGS) for grievance redressal at the block level. His main functions are "scrutinising village plans, matching employment opportunities with the demand for work at the block level, and supervising the implementing agenies, safeguarding the entitlements of the OREGS workers, ensuring that social audits are conducted by the palli sabha/gram sabha, and responding to complaints. He is chiefly responsible to ensure that any one who applies for work, gets employment within 15 days. He will also assist the panchayat samiti in its functions, and will be answer- able to the district programme coordinator." Further, the guidelines also specify that a photocopy of the muster roll will be kept/ sent for public inspection in every gram panchayat, and in the office of the programme officer.The OREGS guideline further emphasises that the original muster roll will form part of the expenditure record of the executive agency, and that key documents related to the NREGA should be proactively disclosed to the public, without waiting for anyone to apply for them, as suggested by the state employment guarantee council. Nobody is perhaps concerned that each and every one of these provisions were being violated in Nandapur block, as also in most other blocks. What are the consequences for wilfully violating the NREGA? What did the chief minister mean, when he said in the first meeting for the NREGA, that district collectors are punishable for violating the Act? According to Section VI, of the National Act, whoever contravenes the provisions of this Act, shall on conviction be liable to a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees. This provision hardly seems to be much of a deterrent to the likes of the Nandapur BDO. Or perhaps, that was the source of his fear, and anger.

Allegations of largescale bunging of funds in the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) have rocked the government. Sources said Orissa government may hire the services of an expert body to look into the matter.

The move comes in the wake of Centre For Environment and Food Security (CEFS), a Delhi-based NGO, alleging that more than Rs.500 crore out of Rs.733 crore spent under the scheme in Orissa during 2006-07 was siphoned off by officials implementing the scheme. The NGO conducted a survey in 100 villages in the six-tribal dominated districts of KBK region which among the most backward in the country.

Conducted between May and June this year, the survey, which included villages from Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nowrangpur and Rayagada districts, revealed the existence of ghost job cards and what the NGO described as "participatory loot".

"The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Orissa has been virtually hijacked by officials responsible for the implementation of this scheme. Our survey findings have revealed that there is participatory loot, plunder and pillage in Orissa’s rural job scheme. There is open loot of taxpayers’ money, there is plunder of poors’ right to guaranteed wage employment for 100 days and there is pillage of every single norm of democratic governance and administrative accountability," CEFS said in a release.

The survey could not find a single case where entries in the job cards were correct and matched with the actual number of workdays given to the workers in the villages. Out of the 100 sample villages covered for the survey, 18 villages had not received any job card, 37 villages had not received any job under NREGS even after 16 months of launch of the scheme, 11 villages had received neither job cards nor any job and the job cards of 23 villages were lying with VLWs (Village Level Worker) and JEs (Junior Engineer) for more than 6 to 8 months against the will of card holders.

"In 25 villages, only half, one third or partial wage payments were made. In 20 villages, we found scandalous difference in the number of workdays recorded in the job cards and the number of actual workdays physically verified with the workers in these villages. There are 3 villages where no payments have been made even after 4-8 months of the work done. We found 6 villages in Kashipur block of Rayagada district where NREGS work was being done without any job cards being issued to the villagers," said the NGO’s release.

Mocking Orissa government’s claim of having provided 7.99 crore persondays of employment to 13,94,169 households spread over 19 districts of the state during 2006-7,the CEFS said "our back of the envelop calculations suggest that less than 2 crore persondays of employment has been provided on the ground and more than 6 crore persondays of employment has been provided only in the pages of false job cards and fabricated muster rolls."

The survey could not find a single family in the 100 sample villages which had actually got 100 days of wage employment and very few families which got 40 to 60 days of wage employment. "The rest of the families, if at all they have got any employment, it is mostly between 5 to 21 days. However, online job cards of most of these households have false and fabricated job and wage entries for 111 days, 108 days,104 days,102 days,100 days,96 days,90 days,84 days,72 days,65 days,60 days, 52 days and so on. This is the way Orissa Government has "successfully" spent Rs.733/ crore and provided about 8 crore persondays of employment," the CEFS said in its release.

PARSURAM Rai’s piece, ‘A job of looting’ (IE, August 29), on the NREGA in Orissa was well researched but incomplete. The corruption in Orissa’s administration preventing the genuine implementation of such a scheme is nothing new. I am from Orissa’s Jajpur district and have personally witnessed such corruption, in the Indira Awas Yojna, Pakki Sadak Yojna and so on. We Odiyas must wake up to the pathetic situation in our state and try to check corruption. We should follow the example of the Uttaranchal government, which has partnered local NGOs across the state to spread awareness about the NREGA through street plays and public speeches.
— Pranab Kumar Aich, New Delhi editor@expressindia.com
Posted on the Indian Express on 6th Setember, 2007.

BARGARH/BALANGIR: Large-scale irregularities in implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Bargarh and Balangir districts have been detected by New Delhi based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS).

The CEFS conducted a survey to assess the impact of implementation of the scheme all over Orissa. Although the programme was started in Bargarh district on April 1, 2006, job cards are yet to be distributed to all families below the poverty line (BPL).

Unfortunately, those who received the cards are running from pillar to post to get the promised employment. This has triggered migration to adjoining districts with the hope of getting engaged in farm lands since agricultural activities are on in full swing.

Official sources said of the 12 blocks in Bargarh district, works have been executed only in some GPs of Sohela and Padampur blocks. In Katharpali village under Dumerpali GP in Sohela block concrete road work was undertaken in the village at Rs 3.52 lakh. Work on the road was done for 13 days, from July 13 and 33 beneficiaries were engaged for Rs 33,040.

But the survey found that muster roll was prepared on August 6 and only Rs 30,160 was paid to 32 labourers. Moreover, of the 34 beneficiaries who had enrolled under the scheme, 21 are yet to receive their job cards.

The concrete road work which was also undertaken in Birjupali on July 28 was stopped abruptly a week back after the contractor was found executing substandard work.

The situation is similar is Balangir district where many villagers were forced to go without work contrary to the guidelines. NREGS provides guarantee of 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.

The CEFS found that many villagers are prepared to migrate to neighbouring states because of unemployment. Several people have already received advance from labour agents during the Rath Yatra to work in brick kilns and construction sites in other States.

Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Blaming corruption in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as the main cause of cholera deaths in Orissa, the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister in checking the disease that has now taken an epidemic proportion.

In a letter addressed to Manmohan Singh, the Centre pointed out that it was the “cancer of corruption” that was killing the adivasis in Orissa and not cholera. Cholera is only a symptom and a by-product, the root cause is the corruption, which has crippled all the vital organs of Orissa’s administration. Quoting a survey conducted in 100 villages of Orissa where the NREGS was being implemented, the Centre alleged that of the Rs. 733 crore spent under the programme in 2006-07, over Rs. 500 crore had been misappropriated by the officials involved in the execution of the scheme.

The current level of hunger, poverty and deprivation in Orissa’s Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region is as deep, demeaning and dehumanising as ever, despite the so-called successful implementation of the programme with the highest per capita allocation of funds. The study suggested that the scheme had had virtually zero impact.

Copies of the letter have also been sent to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition L.K.Advani and Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat.

BHUBANESWAR, Sept 3: The Centre has sought a detailed report from the Orissa Government over alleged misappropriation of funds provided under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The report is to be submitted within a fortnight.

The Centre’s directive came in the wake of the findings of the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), an independent organisation, which said more than Rs 500 crore out of the Rs 733 crore fund provided by the Centre was either siphoned off or misappropriated by officials during the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 2006-7.

Following the publication of the survey report by the CEFS, the Centre asked the state Government to inquire into the allegations made in the report. The survey report was published a month ago but the state Government is yet to submit its reply.

Recently, in a communique to Panchayati Raj Secretary R N Das, Joint Secretary of Rural Development Ministry Anita Sharma said, “In view of the seriousness of the matter, the report should be sent within a fortnight.”

The report sent should also clearly indicate the name and designation of the officers who probed the matter, she added.

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 3: The Centre has sought a detailed report from the Orissa government within a fortnight on the alleged misappropriation of funds provided under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The Centre’s directive came in the wake of the findings by the Centre for Environment and Food Security, an independent organisation, that more than Rs 500 crore out of Rs 733 crore provided by the Centre was either siphoned off or misappropriated by the government officials during the implementation of NREGS programme in 2006-07. Following the publication of the survey report by the CEFS, the Centre has asked the state government to inquire into specific allegations .

KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, Sept 3: As the tribal people continued to fall victim to cholera epidemic in Rayagada, Koraput and Kalahandi districts of Orissa, a Delhi based organisation on Monday said it was not the epidemic of cholera but cancer of corruption that was killing hundreds of poor Adivasis and crippling millions of them.

"Cholera is only a symptom and byproduct, the root cause is the cancer of corruption which has colonised and crippled all the vital organs of Orissa administration," Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) said in a press release from Delhi.

The organisation which earlier conducted a survey in 100 villages in the State to assess the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme said that `abject poverty and chronic hunger manufactured by the self-serving bureaucracy are the main reasons behind these tragic deaths of Adivasis'.

"Most of these Adivasis live a life of semi-starvation which cripples their immune system and their bodies become vulnerable to a host of diseases.

"In KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region, for better part of the rainy season, large numbers of Adivasis have hardly any food to eat and they survive on mango kernel gruel, wild leaves and vegetables," CEFS observed.

Although NREGS programme was launched to help people fight food insecurity, the CEFS survey uncovered that out of Rs 733 crore spent under NREGS during 2006-07, over Rs 500 crore had been siphoned off and misappropriated by the government officials of executing agencies.

The study revealed that large numbers of needy households were denied not only jobs but even job cards and not more than five days of average wage employment has been given to each needy family in these 19 NREGS districts of Orissa.

"The current level of hunger, poverty and deprivation in Orissa's KBK region is as deep, demeaning and dehumanising as ever despite the so- called successful implementation of the NREGS with the highest per capita allocation of funds anywhere in the country.

"The rural employment scheme has made virtually zero impact on the livelihood security of Orissa's rural poor. Hunger and abject poverty are widespread in all the 100 villages of KBK region we visited. Large numbers of children in these villages are suffering from severe malnutrition," Director of CEFS Parshuram Rai said in the press release.

Is there any linkage between misappropriation of Rs 500 crore of NREGS funds by government officials and cholera deaths of 500 Adivasis in Orissa? On the surface, the link is tenuous. Scratch a little deeper and the linkage is direct, the CEFS said in the release.

"To put Rs 500 crore of siphoned NREGS funds in perspective, this amount of money would have given about 90 days of wage employment to about 10 lakh poor families of Orissa. In other words, each of these 10 lakh poor families would have got Rs 5,000 as wages.

This amount of Rs 5,000 in the context of these poor and hungry families would have given them 4-6 months of two subsistence meals or one meal for the whole year. Therefore, it is not just another financial scam, callous officials of Orissa have robbed 10 lakh hungry families' one meal for the whole year or both meals for 4-6 months. Who is real killer of Orissa's Adivasis?"

CEFS has submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to visit at least a couple of villages to have a first hand knowledge of the modus operandi of the NREGA scam in Orissa, apart from finding out the real killers of Adivasis in the state.

Parshuram Rai
How the rural employment scheme in Orissa is rendered meaningless

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was enacted to enhance the security of households in rural areas by providing at least a hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household. Orissa is one of the poorest states with a very high percentage of rural population living in abject poverty and chronic hunger. It is only natural to accord top priority to this state in terms of fund allocation. Therefore Orissa was allocated Rs 890 crore under the NREGA and the state was able to spend Rs 733 crore during 2006-7.

So far so good. Now a survey conducted in Orissa’s six poorest districts has revealed that out of this Rs 733 crore spent under NREGA , more than Rs 500 crore has been siphoned and misappropriated by government officials. This survey was conducted by a centre I am associated with, the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security. It surveyed 100 villages in the six districts of Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region. They were Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

The Government of Orissa claims that it provided 7.99 crore man-days of employment to 13,94,169 households during 2006-7. Our back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that less than 2 crore man-days of employment has been provided on the ground and more than 6 crore man-days of employment has been accounted for only on the pages of false job cards and fabricated muster rolls. As per the claims of the Orissa government, every needy and demanding family in the state was given an average of 57 days of wage employment during 2006-7 and not a single needy and demanding household was denied wage employment in the 19 NREGA districts of Orissa. The CEFS survey, however, has revealed that actually not more than five days of average employment has been given to each of the needy families in 19 NREGA districts of the state and large number of such families were denied employment.

We found that the current level of hunger, poverty and deprivation in Orissa’s KBK region is as deep, demeaning and dehumanising as it ever was, despite the so-called successful implementation of NREGA. We could not find a single family in the 100 sample villages who had actually got 100 days of wage employment. We found very few families who had got 40-60 days of wage employment. The rest of the families managed mostly between 5 to 21 days, if at all. However, online job cards of most of these households have false wage entries. It was in this way that Orissa was shown to have “successfully” spent Rs.733 crore and provided about 8 crore man-days of employment.

It is impossible to believe that this open loot can be organised without the active connivance of the state machinery. The NREGA has various inbuilt vigilance mechanisms and it is not possible to perpetrate this enormous fiddle unless it is participatory and organised.

A large number of people, especially tribals and Dalits, are still dying in Kashipur block of Rayagada district in spite of the Government's tall claim of containing the so-called gastro deaths in the area.

The year 2001, saw a controversy when more than 100 people died due to starvation, but there was a stern denial of the fact by the district administration, which ascribed the deaths to health problems. The vicious cycle went like this: Rainy season -no work, no food or less food or stale or rotten food, gastro diseases, which results to death.

When Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik visited the area, he was greeted by angry people throwing porridge made out of mango kernel at him. The present so-called gastro death toll had already reached more than 100.

According to the visiting doctors (as there is a dearth of doctors in the area), the deaths have occurred due to eating of rotten meat and fermented food kept for days together.

Eyewitnesses, however, describe this to be the same old story being repeated. The vicious cycle referred to earlier has revisited the area.

Although the rainy season has begun yet, there is no work in spite of the much-boasted NREGA. State Agriculture Minister's visit is said to be just cosmetic in nature. Due to paucity of cash, people cannot buy food items and are eating mango kernel, wild roots, tubers and leaves. The porridge stored over days just fills the belly but leads to several gastro diseases.

"Jhodia Paraja tribals do not eat meat. Then, why this blame game," asks Dudheswar Jhodia, ex-sarpanch of Maikanch panchayat.

Nabin Nayak, a Dalit leader from Khurigaon, says, "The reasons of deaths are exactly the same as they were in 2001. If we have the opportunity of getting human food, why should we revert to wild food? There is no other choice. Then, you people once term it as hunger deaths; then the next moment you term it as gastro deaths. We are certainly perplexed."

Let us peep into the historic problems of the area. Kashipur was part of the erstwhile Kalahandi district known for perennial drought in spite of abundant rains as well as for sale of children by hungry parents.

Thousands of families migrate to the nearest towns in search of work and food. One can come across hundreds of colonised temporary huts in Rayagada town inhabited by Dalits and tribals from Kashipur.

Jhodia tribe people still struggle for a tribal status. The International Fund for Agriculture Development [IFAD], an offshoot of the Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO], dumped more than Rs 67 crore through ITDA for development of the area after a visit by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. There are three mega industrial conglomerates, UAIL, L&T and HINDALCO, which have started their operations for extractive bauxite mining.

As per the announcement of Panchayati Raj Minister Raghunath Mohanty, Rs 27 crore has come to the district under the OREGS, out of which a major chunk has gone to Kashipur. According to Sibaram Naik, a local social activist from Kashipur, most of the job card holders under NREGA are yet to be given jobs. His observation is synonymous with the findings of the Delhi-based NGO CEFS, which says that around Rs 500 crore has been siphoned off out of Rs 733 crore sanctioned for Orissa.

Interestingly, this time, the district administration has been quite successful in twisting the episode from starvation deaths to gastro deaths.

BHUBANESWAR: Three Opposition political parties on Tuesday demanded that a special Assembly session be convened and an all party House committee constituted to inquire into the ‘large-scale corruption’ in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

In a joint statement here, Orissa Gana Parishad president Bijay Mohapatra, CPI-M State Secretary Janadaran Pati and CPI State Secretary Nityananda Pradhan alleged that of the total Rs 733 crore spent in the State in 2006-07 under the scheme, Rs 500 crore did not reach the beneficiaries.

The Opposition leaders, quoting the Centre’s survey report for Food Security (CFC) said as against the claim of 7.99 crore man days made by the Government, only two crore man days were created under the scheme during the year.

The CFC report, they said, was based on a detailed survey of 100 villages in the Kalahandi- Balangir-Koraput (KBK) districts of the State.

Of the 100 villages surveyed by CFC, not a single job card was issued in 18 villages while no work had been executed in 37 villages and in 23 villages, the job card was kept with the village level worker (VLW) and junior engineer of the block.

In three villages, payment was not made even eight months after the completion of the work, they added and demanded that an all party House Committee should be constituted to inquire into the misutilisation of NREG fund.

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has decided to entrust the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) to study the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The decision followed allegations of funds bungling, in the name of providing wages to the eedy, from the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), a Delhi-based NGO. TheNGO had surveyed at least 100 villages in six tribal-dominated districts in the KBK region and came across the alleged misappropriation, barely a year after implementation of the programme.Parshuram Rai, director of CEFS,' said the "corruption is mind-boggling". "We suspect the involvement of several higher-ups in the administration, without which misappropriation of such huge quantity would not have been possible," he said.

The survey based on the sample evidence collected from the villages estimated that of the Rs 733 crore spent under the scheme during 2006-07, more than Rs 500 crore had been siphoned off and misappropriated by government officials of implementing agencies. "In other words, less than 25 per cent of the NREGS funds have reached the targeted population," it added.

The survey was conducted between May 22 and une5 in Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada districts. The survey came across scores of "ghost job cards" being issued and many job cards lying in the possession of village sarpanches and other influential persons. "It is participatory loot, plunder and pillage in Orissa's rural job scheme," Rai said quoting the report.

The NREGS among others guarantees wage employment for 100 days to every interested person annually. The CEFS has also prepared a list of about 5,000 villages from 19 NREGA districts of the state.

The report indicated that there has been "massive financial bungling in more than 95 per cent of these villages". Ray said preparations are afoot to take the matter to the Supreme Court through PIL. The survey report meanwhile has evoked share reaction among the Opposition parties. A joint press release issued by the Orissa Gana Parishad, CPIV and CPI has demanded convening of the Assembly session immediately and has the scandal probe by an all-party committee.

Bhubaneswar: The three non-Congress Opposition political parties on Monday demanded a comprehensive House panel probe into a series of recent scandals relating to female foeticide, fake drugs trade, manipulation of mark sheet of a minister’s son and gross irregularities in the misuse of NREGA funds.

In a joint release, issued after the meeting by Orissa Gana Parishad, CPI and CPM, demanded a special session of the State Assembly be summoned to discuss the NREGA scam that was recently brought to the fore by the Centre for Environment and Food Security a New Delhi-based NGO.

The NGO in a press briefing in New Delhi on Saturday had said that it had conducted a survey on implementation of NREGA in Orissa and found misappropriation of funds to the tune of at least Rs 500 crore.

Referring to the survey findings, the three Opposition parties said that the survey has exposed the corrupt practices adopted by the state government. They also observed that while the Opposition has been clamouring on issues of rampant corruption in the state, now the non-political organizations have also found the same.

Referring to the findings of the survey, they said that not a single person has got 100 days work in the state under the NREGA scheme and out of the 100 villages surveyed by the NGO, 18 had not received job cards, over 36 villages had not been provided with any work and in 23 villages the job cards were deposited with the junior engineer.

Besides, they also said that the report has also found instances of fake job cards and non payment for over 4 to 8 months.

Justifying their charges, they maintained that their facts has warranted for an immediate probe at the highest level and since the state government is involved, an all party committee of the State Assembly should probe into these scams.
They also pointed out that the Central team currently probing into the female foeticide issue should be followed by teams which would investigate the fake drugs trade and the NREGA scam as well.

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to evaluate the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) by Hyderabad-based National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD).

A decision to this effect was taken at a high level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Monday.

The State Government would launch a public awareness campaign for the programme and also involve Forest, Rural Development, Works and Water Resources Departments in its execution.

The decision comes in the wake of findings of a survey conducted by Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security which had detected largescale irregularities in the implementation of the scheme.

The Chief Minister underscored the need for creation of community property through NREGS. Officials claimed that the State Government has achieved 80 percent success in the implementation in two phases.

The survey had, however, found that out of Rs 733 crore spent under the scheme during the last financial year, Rs 500 crore did not reach the beneficiaries

Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Aug 20: The spate of scandals relating to foeticide, fake medicine, manipulation of mark sheet of a minister’s son and now the alleged misuse of NREGA funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore need to be probed by an all party committee of the assembly demanded the Opposition political parties here today.

The Orissa Gana Parishad, CPI, CPI(M), in their joint statement demanded that a special session of the assembly should be summoned to discuss the NREGA scam unearthed by a Delhi based NGO.

At a press conference held a couple of days ago in Delhi, the Centre for Environment and Food Security said it had conducted a survey on implementation of NREGA in Orissa and found that at least Rs 500 crore had been misused.

Referring to findings of the survey, the Opposition said it exposes the corrupt practices adopted by the Naveen Patnaik government. Till date the Opposition has been raising issues of rampant corruption in the state but now even non-political organizations are finding Orissa on top of the corruption list, they charged.

The survey says that not a single person has got 100 days work in the state under the NREGA scheme and of the 100 villages surveyed by the NGO , 18 had not received job cards, over 36 villages had not been provided with any work and in 23 villages the job cards were deposited with the junior engineer. It has also found instances of fake job cards and non payment for over 4 to 8 months.

Such shocking facts call for an immediate probe at the highest level and since the government is involved an all party committee of the assembly should conduct the inquiry said the Opposition leaders. The Opposition also pointed out that central teams probing into the foeticide issue should be followed by teams which would investigate the fake medicine and the NREGA scam.

CM review
Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik reviewed the progress in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and stressed on creation of permanent assets in rural areas.

The review, as per official sources, found that the implementation was successful to a great extent. It also noted that the rural development ministry had commended the efforts of the state and described it as a role-model for other states. The review pointed out that social audit regular verification of muster rolls made this scheme transparent and accountable..

BHUBANESWAR: A survey conducted in 100 villages of six districts has detected largescale irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

It was found that out of Rs 733 crore spent under the scheme in the State during the last financial year, more than 75 percent did not reach the beneficiaries. The six districts are Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

The survey conducted by the New Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) has exposed the fact that there was not a single case where entries in the job cards were correct and matched with the actual number of workdays given to the workers in the villages.

Out of the 100 villages, 18 villages did not receive any job card, 37 villages had not got any job under the scheme even after 16 months of its launch. As many as 11 villages had received neither jobs cards nor any job while job cards of 23 villages were with the village level workers (VLWs) and junior engineers.

Partial payment of wages was made in 25 villages. Six villages were found in Kashipur block of Rayagada district where NREGS work was being done without issue of job cards to the villagers. Not a single family was found in the villages who have got 100 days of assured employment under the scheme.

The State Government, however, claimed that 7.99 person days of employment was provided to 13,94,169 households in 19 districts of the State during 2006- 07. Each of the family was given 57 days of wage employment during the year.

The survey contested the claim of the State Government that about 26 lakh households were issued job cards and half of them demanded employment. It was found that more than one third households did not receive job cards. There were 39 lakh needy households in these villages.

Out of the 799 lakh person days of employment given in the official records, only 25 percent were given to the people. The remaining 75 percent person days of employment were in the fake muster roll registers, false job cards and forged official documents.

KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar: The findings of a survey conducted in 100 villages in six districts of Orissa have revealed that out of Rs 733 crore spent under NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) in Orissa during 2006-07, more than Rs 500 crore had been siphoned and misappropriated by the government officials of implementing agencies.

In other words, less than 25 per cent of the NREGS funds had reached the targeted population and more than 75 per cent had been eaten up by the Sarkari Babus. There were thousands of villages in Orissa where more than 80-90 percent of NREGS funds had been misappropriated by the executing officials.

The details of the survey conducted during May-June 2007 by Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) to assess and evaluate the performance of NREGS in the state of Orissa was released at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday.

The survey was carried out in 100 villages spread over six districts of the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region - Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

The full survey report has been posted on the website of CEFS - www.cefsindia.org. The report was formally released at the press conference by eminent social scientist Ashis Nandy.

According to Parshuram Rai, Director of CEFS, the NREGS in Orissa had been virtually hijacked by officials responsible for the implementation of this scheme.

"Our survey findings have revealed that there is participatory loot, plunder and pillage in Orissa's rural job scheme. There is open loot of taxpayers' money, there is plunder of poor's right to guaranteed wage employment for 100 days and there is pillage of every single norm of democratic governance and administrative accountability," Rai said.

"It is shocking to note that we could not find a single case where entries in the job cards are correct and match with the actual number of workdays given to the workers in the villages. Out of the 100 sample villages covered for this survey, 18 villages have not received any job card, 37 villages have not received any job under NREGS even after 16 months of launch of the scheme, 11 villages have received neither job cards nor any job, Job cards of 23 villages were lying with VLWs (Village Level Worker) and JEs (Junior Engineer) for more than 6-8 months against the will of card holders."

"The Government of Orissa claims that it provided 7.99 crore persondays of employment to 13,94,169 households spread over 19 districts of the state during 2006-07. Our back of the envelop calculations suggest that less than 2 crore persondays of employment has been provided on the ground and more than 6 crore persondays of employment has been provided only in the pages of false job cards and fabricated muster rolls.

"We could not find a single family in the 100 sample villages who had actually got 100 days of wage employment. We found very few families who had got 40- 60 days of wage employment. The rest of the families, if at all they have got any employment, it is mostly between 5 to 21 days. However, online job cards of most of these households have false and fabricated job and wage entries for 111 days, 108 days, 104 days, 102 days, 100 days, 96 days, 90 days, 84 days, 72 days, 65 days, 60 days, 52 days and so on. This is the way Orissa Government has "successfully" spent Rs733 crore and provided about 8 crore persondays of employment," Rai said in the statement issued to the media.

"According to the Government of Orissa, each of the needy households in 19 districts of the state was given on an average 57 days of wage employment under NREGA during 2006-07. Our calculations suggest that only about 5 days of average employment has been given to the needy families in the 19 districts of Orissa where NREGA was implemented during 2006-7. How have we arrived at the figure of 5 days of average employment? It is very simple.

"First, as per the government data, about 26 lakh households were issued job cards and only about half of them demanded jobs. It is a white lie. Our survey in 100 villages of Orissa revealed that more than one third needy households have not received job cards and over 90 per cent families in rural areas of Orissa are desperate for wage employment. To put it differently, there were about 39 lakh needy households in these 19 districts and all of them were in desperate need of wage employment. Therefore, if the total of 799 lakh persondays of employment is divided among 39 lakh needy households, the average days of employment per household comes to 20 days.

"Second, out of the total of 799 lakh persondays of employment given in the official records, only about 25 per cent has actually been given to the people, the remaining 75 per cent persondays of employment has been given only on fake muster roll registers, false job cards and forged official documents. Therefore, the actual average employment per needy household in 19 districts of Orissa comes not to 57 days or 20 days, but only 5 days. To put this in perspective, the NREGA promises 100 days of wage employment to every needy household, the Government of Orissa (with highest per capita allocation of NREGS funds in the country) has delivered on an average only 5 days of employment to every needy family. A terrific accomplishment in the 60th year of India's Independence!

"It is impossible to believe that this kind of open loot can be organised without active connivance of the entire state machinery. The NREGS has various inbuilt vigilance and monitoring mechanisms and it is not possible to perpetrate such an open loot of NREGS funds unless it is participatory and organised.

"CEFS has also prepared a list of about 5000 villages from 19 NREGA districts of Orissa and we are absolutely certain that there has been open loot and massive financial bungling in more than 95 per cent of these villages.

"Along with the survey report, we have also released names of 2461 villages from give NREGA districts of Orissa, namely Koraput, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Mayurbhanj and Gajapati. The names of villages from remaining 14 NREGA districts will be released within one month. On every alternate day, CEFS will release names of villages from one NREGA district of Orissa till all the 19 NREGA districts are completed.

"This list of villages has been prepared by using Corruption Detection Tool (CDT) devised by CEFS. We have devised this research tool of CDT based on our first hand experience in 100 villages of Orissa and secondary reports/inputs on the implementation of NREGS in 19 districts of Orissa .We also carried out field trial of CDT in many villages of Orissa. However, we do not claim that CDT has detected every village where financial bungling has been committed. Financial bungling has been committed in almost every village of Orissa where NREGA has been implemented. Our only claim is that there has been open loot and massive financial bungling of NREGA funds in more than 95 per cent of the villages selected by CDT. The names of villages selected by CDT can be downloaded from our website," Rai said in the statement.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) in Orissa is under a cloud after allegations that largescale tampering of figures led to misappropriation of Rs 500 crore meant for the scheme.

The allegations are being looked into by the Central Council on the NREGP in the rural development ministry and is reported to have been taken up during a review of the scheme by the prime minister last month.

The Centre for Environment and Food Security, a Delhi-based organisation, studied the data for five districts that were put on the website of the NREGP by the state government. It found the date at variance with the details of the workdays and the wages disbursed in the villages.

The survey by the NGO in 100 villages found that the administration officials at all levels misappropriated Rs 500 crore meant to pay wages under the programme.

“We are saying on the basis of what we found on the job cards of people in 100 of the 2,465 villages in the five districts that Rs 500 crore has been siphoned off,” said Parshuram Rai, the director of the Centre for Environment and Food Security.

Anne Raja, a member of the Central Council of the NREGP said they were aware of the allegations. “It is a massive scheme involving huge amount of money. Hence, while it can’t be expected to be perfect in its first year, the council members plan to visit the villages to verify records and match them with the details on the websites,” she said.

New Delhi, June 10 There are no smiles on the faces of the poverty-stricken tribals of the infamous KBK hunger belt of Orissa. The government's ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, being implement in the region, has turned out to be a mockery, largely benefiting the implementing authorities at the expense of poor tribals, according to a survey by Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), conducted under the Union government's social audit programme.

The erstwhile Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) has been divided into six districts, namely Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabrangpur and Rayagada. As the region was known for starvation deaths, it was declared as the region for special attention.

According to the survey, there are irregularities in entries in job cards, maintenance of muster rolls and disbursement of payments to the intended beneficiaries. CEFS conducted a survey of 100 villages in the six districts in the last two months.

Among the major findings of the CEFS report social audit has not been conducted in any of the 100 villages and the muster rolls have not been checked by the village people. In none of the villages under survey 100-day employment was given. No job cards are issued in 11 villages, no work was undertaken in 37 villages after issuance of job cards and after 16 months of the launch of the scheme. Job cards issued in 23 villages are not given to the workers, they are still in the custody of panchayat executive officers (PEOs) and junior officers.

In 25 villages under survey partial payments have been made to workers and in three village no payments have been made even after 4 to 8 months of work. In 6 villages in Kashipur block in Rayagada district work is being undertaken without issuance any job cards.

"Our findings reveal a nexus between a chain of officials, from state to village levels, responsible for implementation of the scheme. Benefits are not reaching the beneficiaries," CEFS director, Parashuram Ray told FE. He said the BDO of Nandur block in Koraput district, Jyoti Rajan Mishra had instructed the PEOs not to show any muster rolls to the visiting CEFS team.

The PEO of Raisingh gram panchayat, Nagesh Choudhary has given in writing that he would not show any muster roll without the permission of the BDO. The next day when the CEFS team contacted the BDO he said that the permission from the district collector was necessary. The CEFS team even contacted the state commissioner-cum-secretary of panchayati raj, Rabindranath Dash to resolve the issue, but failed.

Ray said despite such hindrances, the CEFS team could get some interesting accounts from the people. In Maagaral village card no 2401 was issued to Hari Sisa for 59 day-work, but actually he was offered work for only 20 days.

According to the study, there are six enteries in the muster rolls in the name of Hari Sisa. Similarly job card no 2335 was issued to Mini Budi Khilo for 36-day work while he was offered work for only 8 days with three entries in the muster rolls. Balaram Sisa was issued job card no 2397 for 30-day work, but was offered work for only 5 days. Hagu Hemendru was issued job card no 2360 for 58-day work, but was offered work for only 6 days.

SAMBALPUR: The biggest anti-poverty programme in the history of India has been hijacked by officials responsible for implementing it.

The Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) has found in a survey that there is a participatory loot, plunder and pillage in Orissa's Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (OREGS).

The Delhi-based institute, which conducted the survey to evaluate and assess the performance of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the State, found severe anomalies.

The survey was done in 100 villages spread over six districts of KBK - Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada in May-June. Based on its findings, CEFS is going to file a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking immediate intervention.

Some of the major findings of the survey are: None of the villages had proper and correct job card entries; none of the village has been provided with the mandatory 100 days employment; no social audit has been conducted in any of the 100 villages covered and nowhere workers/labourers/villagers have checked up their muster rolls.

The survey revealed that beneficiaries in 25 of the villages had either received half or partial payment and in 13 of the villages there was a huge difference in the job days entry in the cards and actual verification with the workers.

BHUBANESWAR: A New Delhi-based voluntary organisation, Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) on Wednesday alleged serious irregularities in the implementation of Orissa Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (OREGS).

Terming its preliminary findings `shocking, scandalous and outrageous,' CEFS Director Parshuram Ray said, "our survey findings have revealed that there is participatory loot, plunder and pillage in OREGS." The CFFS presented its survey findings at a press conference here. Out of 100 sample villages covered under the survey, 18 villages did not receive any job card and there was no job for 37 villages even after 16 months of launch of the scheme, he said.

"We found many villages where OREGS work is going on without any villager having received job card. Most of the villages where employment has been given, only half or one third of the wage payment was made and that too after four to six months of the work," Mr. Ray said. As many as 11 villages had received neither job cards nor any jobs, he said.

Bhubaneswar: A new Delhi-based voluntary organisation, Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), has alleged serious irregularities in the implementation of the Orissa Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (OREGS). Terming its preliminary findings as 'shocking, scandalous and outrageous,' CEFS Director Parshuram Ray told a news conference here, "Our survey revealed that there is participatory loot, plunder and pillage in OREGS." Out of 100 sample villages covered under the survey, 18 did not receive any job card and there was no job for 37 villages even after 16 months of the launch of the scheme, he said. "We found many villages where OREGS work is going on without any villager having received job card. Most of the villages, where employment has been given, only half or one-third of the wage payment was made and that too after four to six months of the work," he said, adding that as many as 11 villages had received neither job cards nor any jobs.

BHUBANESWAR, June 7: NREGS, the biggest ever anti-poverty programme launched in the country, has been hijacked by contractors and those in charge of implementing it, alleged Mr Parshuram Ray of Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), a Delhi-based organisation.

A rapid survey conducted during May and June across 100 villages spread over six backward KBK districts was shocking and outrageous, he alleged. The CEFS had touched upon villages in the most backward Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nawarangpur and Rayagada districts to evaluate the performance of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

The preliminary findings of this rapid survey were revealed at a Press conference held by Mr Ray and members of the Orissa Krushak Mahasangh. There is open and participatory loot and plunder, alleged Mr Ray as the survey team could not find a single case, where entries in the job cards were correct and match with the actual number of workdays physically verified with the villagers. Providing highlights of the survey findings, he said: Out of the 100 villages surveyed: EIghteen villages have not received any job card, 37 villages have not received any job under OREGS even after 16 months of launch of the scheme, 11 villages have neither job nor job cards, 23 villages have the job cards with the VLWs/JEs, 25 villages have received half/one-third payments, three villages have received no payment, six villages of "Kashipur block" in Rayagada district, work is being done without job cards being issued and not a single village has "100 days employment". Though NREGS promises 100 days' guaranteed employment to every needy family of rural India, there is not a single case of a family in these 100 villages has been given that 100 day's employment. Social audit is completely absent, there is "zero accountability and zero transparency".

While conducting the survey, the team wanted to see the muster rolls of Raisingh grama panchayat under Nandapur block of Koraput district. The BDO instructed all the VLWs not to show the muster rolls. Mr Nagesh Choudhary, the VLW, said that they should obtain the permission of the BDO to see the muster rolls (he even gave that statement in writing) and when contacted, the BDO said they need the permission of the district collector to see the muster rolls. A staff of the panchayat secretary virtually ordered the survey team to return and not to visit any villages.

Despite all efforts, the team could not have a look at the muster rolls, he stated. The age old practice of collecting mango kernels to avoid starvation during monsoon continues to take place in villages of Kashipur as they are yet to be covered by NREGS. Panasguda and Gottiguda villages, notorious for the starvation deaths in 2001, are among the six villages in the block awaiting job cards, said the survey. CEFS is planning to file a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking the immediate intervention of the Supreme Court, said mr Ray. Suggesting an alternative, Mr Bibhudhendra Pratap Das, president, OKM said that all those programmes should be scrapped and the amount may be distributed among all the beneficiaries equitably and fix deposited in nationalised banks.

The entire budgeted amount towards farm subsidy, particularly fertiliser subsidy, should be distributed in money terms to the farmers. It can be deposited in banks against their accounts. Farmers should be allowed to withdraw on the interest amount for purchasing inputs, he observed.

RIGHT TO FOOD: More than 320 million Indians go to bed without food. The majority are tribals. They are paying the price for a development model that the upper classes have designed for themselves. Deeptiman Tiwary reports

Miles To Go Before They Eat: it’s a long trek for water and food in the barren forests near Udaipur

Endemic hunger and chronic poverty is arguably the most serious challenge facing a country like India. More than 320 million Indians go to bed without food every night. This is a figure for years with good rainfall, says Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS).

The causes of food insecurity are deep-rooted. It is related to poverty, illiteracy, discrimination and neglect. But finally, it is a story of failed governance — global, national and local.

The proportion of people facing food insecurity in India is higher than the proportion defined as income-poor or below the poverty line. The worst affected in this republic of hunger are the adivasis (tribals) — forcibly divorced from their habitat in the name of ‘development’, and left to fend for themselves. The Delhi-based CEFS conducted extensive research on food security in the tribal areas of Rajasthan and Jharkhand over two years. The final report: ‘Political Economy of Hunger in Adivasi Areas’ was released by social scientist Ashis Nandy last week in Delhi.

According to the report, a staggering 99 percent of the families surveyed were facing chronic hunger. Over a quarter (25.2 percent) had faced semi-starvation during the previous week of the survey while 24.1 percent faced it for the entire month preceding the survey. This means, over 99 percent of the adivasi households in the two states survived with one or another level of endemic hunger and food insecurity during the entire previous year.

Out of 500 adivasi house- holds in Rajasthan, not one had secured two square meals a day in the previous year (2004). Overall, covering both Rajasthan and Jharkhand, a staggering 99.8 percent of adivasi households confirmed that they could not get two square meals even for a single month last year.

Tribals in India have been forced into a monetised western economy that they are just not able to cope with. They were poor, but we have made them destitutes. It’s time we gave them their environment back Social scientist Ashis Nandy

There is high dependence on jungle food in the absence of basic food, as starving adivasis are once again compelled to turn into food gatherers in depleting forests where they are not even allowed to enter. During the survey, 23.2 percent adivasis said that approximately one-fourth of their diet consisted of jungle food while 8.4 percent said that 75-100 percent of their previous year’s diet was food procured from the jungle.

Protein (pulses and animal products) consumption was found terribly low. Less than one percent of households in Rajasthan and Jharkhand were able to eat some pulses or animal products during the entire year of 2004 — a clear case of widespread and continuous malnutrition. A study of the monthly break-up of protein consumption among adivasis suggests that 86.7 percent of adivasi households in Rajasthan and Jharkhand either could not eat any pulse or meat product, or they found basic food for hardly three months.

This means that at least 86.7 percent of adivasi households were suffering from severe protein deficiency and were vulnerable to diseases. Severe protein deficiency among adivasi children leads to high infant mortality rate; this has now assumed alarming proportions in most remote, tribal areas of India.

The report slams the development policies of the government and holds its deliberate anti-people policies responsible for the current state of organised suffering: “While the benefits of economic growth and industrial development have substantially gone to the rich sections of the society living in cities and towns, the ecological price of that progress has been largely borne by vast swathes of rural India, specially the adivasi areas,” it says. Indeed, a quick review of the major stories on hunger in the media in the last 25 years suggests that almost all the ‘hunger hot-spots’ of India lie in the adivasi areas and almost every second starvation victim is an adivasi.

STARVATION STALKS TRIBAL HEARTLAND
•	99 percent tribal families surveyed in Rajasthan and Jharkhand face chronic hunger
•	Less than one percent are able to eat some pulses or animal products during the entire year in 2004
•	86.7 percent tribal households surveyed suffer from severe protein deficiency making them prone to disease and death

The government would like us to believe that hunger in tribal areas is because of droughts and the collapsed public distribution system (PDS). But the defunct PDS or drought is not even the tip of the ‘hunger iceberg’. The core of the problem lies in the structural changes in the adivasi economy in the last six years that have destroyed the traditional livelihoods and food systems of these communities. Says Ashis Nandy, “Just talking about PDS will be like escaping reality. Even the argument of destruction of livelihood is only a part of the reality. The problem is that the tribals have been forced into a western concept of ‘monetised’ economy that they are not able to cope with. They were poor, but we have made them destitutes. The Indian economy is slowl preparing to make them extinct. One third of the tribal population has already scattered. It’s time we gave them their environment back.”

A staggering 90.6 percent of the households said that their food security had weakened in comparison to what it was two to three decades ago. Also, 54.9 percent identified decline in availability of minor forest produce due to deforestation and degradation of forests as the most important factor for weakening their food security support systems.

The report is categorical: “Immediately after Independence, the Nehruvian development paradigm embarked on building “temples of modern India”. The social and ecological costs of development, fairly well documented by now, were largely borne by the country’s adivasi communities in terms of physical displacement, destruction of sustenance base and gradual alienation from natural resources... It is the same adivasis whose survival base has been sacrificed at the altar of ‘national interest’ and ‘greater common good’…

Adds Ashis Nandy, “We have not been able to address our problems because we are ready to overlook them in the garb of development. We no more want to call ourselves poor. We call ourselves developing. This is a distortion of development. Referring to sustenance, rural development etc has become fashionable. No one refers to development directly. I hope this fashion of development dies out soon, because the West, from where we borrow our concept, was developed much before the concept of ‘development’ came on earth.

Posted at Tehelka - CRUSADE dated October 22, 2005

With fresh reports of starvation deaths from rural Maharashtra, UP, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the globalised myths of top heavy development are rapidly crumbling, reports Deeptiman Tiwary

In a country that feeds much of its food grains to rats in its overflowing food godowns, 10,000 die of hunger every day, as a survey has claimed. Increasing poverty and a development model totally divorced from the needs of the poor has driven the rural mass to the brink of starvation. While the government keeps denying this, reports after reports from India’s hinterland show an increase in the number of starvation deaths every year.

Recently, there have been a series of reports on hunger deaths in various places, including Nandurbar (Maharashtra), Sonebhadra (UP), Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh), and Baran (Rajasthan), as it happened last year. In Nandurbar, a report Maranatach He Jag Jagate was recently prepared by Punarvasan Sangharsh Samiti (PSS). This report is based on information obtained under the Right to Information Act, and a survey conducted by PSS in 22 villages of the Akalkuwa Block of Nandurbar district.

A huge discrepancy was found between the situation on the ground, revealed by the PSS survey, and government records. Of the 1,148 children surveyed by PSS in June this year, 104 were found to be malnourished, but government records show only 17 cases of malnourishment. Almost 75 percent of the women surveyed were seriously underweight. The report proves the cycle of undernutrition, which gets transmitted from weak mothers to undernourished children.

Chirauji Devi of Sonebhadra, Uttar Pradesh, died of starvation as nothing had been cooked in her home for 14 days. Looking after a sick husband, a handicapped son and his wife and four grandchildren, Chirauji Devi worked under the Food For Work programme. But her wages were never paid. This and other cases of starvation deaths in UP were heard at the Indian People’s Tribunal (ipt) meeting held in Varanasi on September 30, 2005.

A recent report by historian Uma Chakravarti of Delhi University presents a grim account of the predicament of 160 Sahariya families in Majhera village, Shivpuri district, in Madhya Pradesh. Adult men in Majhera work in hazardous stone quarries, and there is high prevalence of tuberculosis in the village. Recently, the quarries were shut on the grounds that they destroy the environment. This forced the Sahariyas to retreat to the depleted forests for survival. Deaths were reported from eating poisonous herbs and leaves. The village has a large number of widows who are forced to resort to the liquor trade for a living. No widow pensions or maternity benefits were available to these women. The fair price shop has been distributing rice to the Antyodaya Anna Yojana cardholders at twice the stipulated price (Rs. 6 per kg).

A six-member team from the Institute of Development Studies, (IDSJ) Jaipur, and Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), recently visited Baran district in Rajasthan to investigate deaths reported in the local press due to hunger, undernutrition and illness. In August this year, 48 deaths were reported from 40 villages. Half of the victims were children. The team visited six villages and investigated various causes of these deaths: chronic undernutrition, inadequate vaccination, absence of emergency healthcare and poor hygiene, among others. The team, however, found some signs of positive change since last year. For instance, the pds was functional and employment programmes have protected some families from hunger. But chronic energy deficiency and lack of a balanced diet remain widespread.

As renowned political scientist Prof C. Douglas Lummis put it during his lecture in Delhi recently, at the unveiling of a report on the state of food security in adivasi areas of India by Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), the main reason behind increasing number of starvation deaths and the miserable state of food security among the poor is our skewed understanding of development. “The problem is we depend too much on this word called ‘development’ without understanding what it is. It is a very deceptive word. It is just a metaphor. It makes facts like poverty, starvation and forced labour forgettable.

“They say with development the poor will catch up. My question is when will this catching up begin. The gap between the rich and the poor is only getting wider and wider. Actual development is the non-violative progress of people where the one going through the process of development is grateful to have developed,” he said. He also critcised the Western outlook towards ‘underdeveloped’ countries and the policies of ‘liberalisation’ and ‘globalisation’. He said, “Another myth about development is that where there is poverty, people are underdeveloped and through the process of development it can be done away with. This is exactly what you call ‘Modernisation of Poverty’.”

RIGHT TO FOOD

Adivasis constitute eight percent (83,580,63 in Census 2001) of India’s population. There is a big tribal population in the interiors of Rajasthan and Jharkhand in particular, where, in 1911, 60 percent of the population constituted adivasis. This, however, reduced to 27.67 percent in 1991 as non-tribals increasingly dominated the forests and land of the indigenous people. Consequently, adivasis have been reduced to the margins. Their land has been snatched away, their access to forests has been obstructed and their villages have been displaced to make way for mega development projects.

According to the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), over 10 million adivasis, since Independence, have been displaced to make way for various development projects such as dams, mining, industries, roads etc. Though most of the dams (over 3,000) are located in adivasi areas, only 19.9 percent of adivasi land holdings are irrigated as compared to 45.9 percent of all holdings of the general population — a clear sign of them paying a heavy price for ‘development’. Now, with liberalisation and the domination of free market, hunger stalks the tribal areas with the collapse of the public distribution system (PDS).

In a survey report on ‘Food Security in Adivasi Areas in India’, recently released by cesf in Delhi, inaccessibility to the PDS was cited as one of the reasons behind chronic hunger among adivasis in Rajasthan and Jharkhand. While the two states had a combined proportion of 74 percent of sample households who possessed ration cards, a staggering 45.8 percent of Jharkhand adivasi households did not possess any ration card. Out of the total number of families holding bpl (below poverty line) cards, only 9.2 percent households said they were getting the regular quota of ration. The remaining 90.8 percent households either had an erratic access to ration shops, or no access at all.

Adivasis were denied the full quota of ration from PDS shops. Besides, in the recent past, their purchasing power has become so low that even if rice or kerosene is available, they simply can’t afford it. An overwhelming 80.9 percent of adivasi households were deeply dissatisfied with the functioning of PDS shops and the behaviour of PDS dealers, the survey reported. With 99 percent adivasis facing chronic hunger, the deliberate dismantling of the PDS has created a vicious circle which they just can’t escape; finally, this is the process that leads to destitution, hunger and starvation deaths.

Even during the severest drought in Rajasthan, people have not asked for a dole. They have asked for work, writes Aruna Roy

I Have titled this lecture, The Capital of Labour and the Cost of Deprivation. I don’t know if it sounds a bit vague to people today. But what I really wanted to say is that there is tremendous potential strength, energy and richness in the people whom we consider poor and deprived and on the margin. And the people whom we think are rich today are rich in what? Perhaps, it is a philosophical question. But it is something which we have to think of.

This lecture is also a response to the economists who have arrogated to themselves the burden of carrying the universe on their figures. Whenever you begin a debate, their figures decimate you. You might have logic on your side, justice on your side, but some figures are always brought in to kill us. Especially when it comes to the poor.

If everything in a democracy is for people, then why are they still hungry? Why are they still on the margins? And why today, in 2005, are we still talking about freedom from hunger? Why are we exporting foodgrains? Why don’t we have the space to store food? Even today if you look at the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) godowns, you will find foodgrains lying outside. They are rotting and rats are eating them.

Two of the major legislations that have been borne out of this massive campaign that has been going on in Rajasthan and in other parts of India are the Employment Guarantee Act and the Right to Information Act. So long as human beings are deprived of food, there will be a storm on this earth. We have said it over and over again that hunger, deprivation, poverty and unemployment are terrible things. And whenever I come to Delhi and talk to people, it is always the cost of ‘employment programme’ that is cited: “How can we give you 2 percent of the gdp, this is too much.” Whenever we talk about anything related to the poor, corruption becomes a big issue. Okay, so let us talk about corruption and let us find out why there is corruption. But let us not dismiss things because there might be corruption.

The Employment Guarantee Bill was one of the most discussed Bills in recent times. It was talked about in the newspapers, there were public discussions outside Parliament and inside Parliament. In states, there have been signature campaigns. Some people asked me, “Do you think the Finance Commission’s recommendations will not be implemented for civil servants if there is the Employment Guarantee Act?” Whenever there is an issue of money, even a small amount of money, or 2 percent of gdp going to the poor people, we get into a state of great unrest. Do we realise that in a democracy majority of the people who elect the government to power are not middle class people or the rich, but poor people? And when there is commitment by politicians accidentally or intentionally, they will have to keep their commitment. They might like it or not, there will have to be employment guarantee for the poor people of India.

There is huge amount of foodgrains lying in our godowns and yet nothing comes to the poor. So we have another slogan, “Deprived stomachs, godowns full of foodgrain, it is unjust and offensive.” It is a crime to have FCI godowns full of foodgrain when people are dying of hunger in Baran (Rajasthan) and Orissa. Foodgrain is not reaching the ration shops, so what is the meaning of democracy? What are we a free country for? And why do we have central and state governments? No, they will have to reformulate their policies and channels of procuring grains.

What stops the government from giving food to the people? Are we still slaves? Is there any division or demarcation between citizens and subjects in India? As former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University Prof. Upendra Baxi is fond of saying, there is one India which is full of citizens and one Bharat which is full of slaves. So what are we as members of the civil society doing? The civil society is not one big map. If you want to enter a five star hotel, and if you are not properly dressed, you won’t be allowed to enter the premises.

Empty stomachs and stockpiled godowns: this is a big rallying slogan for people all over the country. In Rajasthan it began with the five-year drought and we had no food. Every time we approached the state government and asked for food and employment, they said they had no money. We told them, forget about money, release foodgrains. They replied that they don’t have food stocks. We counter-questioned, how can they say this and so openly? At that time there was 60 million tonnes of foodgrains in FCI godowns. We questioned, “What about the FCI godowns which are bursting?”

The panchayat will say there is no employment. The panchayat samiti will say there are no sanctions. And the district collector or district magistrate will say there is no money. You go to the state capital and they will say, “We don’t have the money to buy foodgrains from Delhi”, or, “We belong to two different political parties (in the state and the Centre) and so we are not getting foodgrains”. Then we have to go to Delhi to lobby. But for the poor this is great democratic education: the micro and the macro are not divided. To get your micro benefits you have to be interested in macro issues.

And for purchasing these grains you need money many times over. I remember, in the first severe drought in 1987, before the birth of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS), Prof Hanumantha Rao, from the Planning Commission, came with a team of experts to visit Rajasthan. Around 400 people gathered to meet him on the highway. He asked them, what do you want? The half-starved people in people in India have great dignity and I felt so proud when they all said, “We don’t want your dole. We want to work. We want work because we want to live with dignity. We want to earn money and buy our own food.”

Even today, even during the severest drought in Rajasthan, people have not asked for a dole. They have asked for employment and work. They have asked for food for work. Because women want food. Or else, money is spent on intoxication; but foodgrain comes home and is used by the women to sustain the family. So this takes me to the third slogan that we have coined, “We demand our birthright, we are not begging for alms.”

In Rajasthan the scene has now changed where the villagers demand, “We want our rights and we are not begging for anything. We want our rights and this is an independent country with a secular fabric. So why can’t the establishment assure us employment, a livelihood with dignity?”

Excerpted from a lecture organised by Centre for Environment and Food Security, New Delhi

Suicides are the most ghastly manifestation of farmers’ desperation, but this should not distract us from hunger deaths all over India, says Jayati Ghosh

The unprecedented agrarian crisis in India has now been affecting farmers across the country for nearly a decade. Yet the public and media reactions, as well as the policy responses, have been so intermittent that even now, comprehensive measures to address the systemic problems are yet to be taken. In the previous two years, the desperate condition of farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka was evident in the spate of farmers’ suicides that dramatically highlighted the severity of the crisis. But the crisis was not, and still is not, local in scope or origin, but unfortunately national. The current travails of farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra are now finding some mention in the more enlightened press, as did the decline in viability of cultivation in parts of Kerala. But the desperation of farmers in the North — say in Punjab and Rajasthan, or the increasing difficulties in the eastern region, are still not recognised adequately by the government or other agencies.

While suicides are the most dramatic and ghastly expression of the desperation among the cultivating community, these should not distract from the other manifestations of what has become a deep rural depression. There have been growing reports of hunger deaths in many parts of India, and there is also evidence of very large-scale mass temporary migrations in search of work, on an unprecedented scale in rural India. The point is that all this has not simply happened on its own, or because of some inexorable workings of fate in the form of the working of global markets, but because of policies pursued in the past decade and more that have denied cultivators basic protection and exposed them to unfair competition as well as enhanced exploitation by private companies and traders in different ways.

Further, these processes and policies are not specific to any particular area (although the crisis has been most intense in states where the state governments have most actively pursued neo-liberal economic agendas) but are common to a significant extent across all the regions. The only good news in this is that since policies have largely created this mess, it can be hoped that different policies can also help to solve the problems to a substantial extent.

Last year, in response to the apparent crisis in cultivation and the political upheaval it had generated, the then newly elected government of ap appointed a Commission on Farmers’ Welfare to investigate the causes and suggest policies that could stop the deterioration in farmers’ conditions and reverse the situation. It started work in September and submitted its report in December, exactly a year ago. Since I was involved in that Commission, I will base some of my remarks on that experience and analysis, which I believe has important resonances for the country.

To begin with, however, let us consider the macroeconomic context and national level policies that have mattered. The policies of the Central government since the beginning of the 1990s have had direct and indirect effects on farmers’ welfare that have been generally adverse. The economic reforms did not include any specific package exclusively designed for agriculture. Rather, the presumption was that freeing agricultural markets and liberalising external trade in agricultural commodities would provide price incentives leading to enhanced investment and output in that sector, while broader trade liberalisation would shift inter-sectoral terms of trade in favour of agriculture. However, there were changes in patterns of government spending and financial measures which also necessarily affected the conditions of cultivation. In particular, fiscal policies of reducing expenditure on certain areas especially rural spending, trade liberalisation, financial liberalisation and privatisation of important areas of economic activity and service provision had adverse impact on cultivation and rural living conditions.

The neo-liberal economic reform strategy involved the following measures which affected the rural areas:

• Actual declines in Central government revenue expenditure on rural development, cuts in particular subsidies such as on fertiliser in real terms, and overall decline in per capita government expenditure on rural areas.
• Reduction in public investment in agriculture, in research and extension.
• Very substantial declines in public infrastructure and energy investments that affect the rural areas, including in irrigation.
• Reduced spread and rising prices of the public distribution system for food. This had an adverse effect on rural household food consumption in most parts of the country.
• Financial liberalisation measures, including redefining priority sector lending by banks, which effectively reduced the availability of rural credit, and thus made farm investment more expensive and more difficult, especially for smaller farmers.
• Liberalisation and removal of restrictions on internal trade in agricultural commodities, across states within India.
• Liberalisation of external trade, first through lifting restrictions on exports of agricultural goods, and then by shifting from quantitative restrictions to tariffs on imports of agricultural commodities. A range of primary imports was decanalised and thrown open to private agents. Import tariffs were substantially lowered over the decade. Exports of important cultivated items, including wheat and rice, were freed from controls and subsequent measures were directed towards promoting the exports of raw and processed agricultural goods.

In terms of fiscal policies, the reduced spending of the Central and state governments was the most significant feature. Due to tax reforms, the tax/gdp ratio declined at the Central level. Central transfers to state governments also declined. State governments were forced to borrow in the market and other (often international) sources at high interest rates. As a result, the levels of debt and debt servicing increased in most states.

To be continued ....

The writer is Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU.
Excerpted from the sixth Freedom from Hunger Lecture
organised by Centre for Environment and Food Security, Delhi

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Minister for Tribal Area Development, Kanakmal Katara, has strongly refuted the claim made by a New Delhi-based non-Government organisation that 99 per cent of the Adivasi households in southern parts of the State were facing chronic hunger. Mr. Katara said the claim, made on the basis of a purported survey, was "false and misleading''.

The Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) had reported in its survey research -- the report of which was released by the noted social scientist, Ashis Nandy, on October 14 -- that 99 per cent of the tribal households in Udaipur and Dungarpur districts were facing one or another level of hunger and food insecurity. Out of the 500 sample Adivasi households surveyed in the two districts, not a single had secured two square meals for the whole previous year.

Mr. Katara disputed the findings of the survey during his visit to Sagwara town in Dungarpur district over the week-end and affirmed that no situation of chronic hunger was prevailing in any part of the State with the Department of Women and Child Development regularly supplying nutritious food to the targeted population.

"Regular distribution of nutritious diet in all districts across the State is continuing and there is no question of hunger or starvation prevailing anywhere,'' said Mr. Katara. He termed the survey baseless and pointed out that the purported finding of not a single Adivasi household having secured two square meals during the previous year could not be justified by any measure.

The Minister said the tribal population in southern Rajasthan had faced no scarcity of food during the past few years with the good monsoon rains and the State Government launching regular drought relief works for them. "I spend at least a fortnight every month in the tribal-dominated areas and have never come across with the situation of chronic hunger,'' he said.

While the CEFS had carried out the field survey in Udaipur and Dungarpur during March to June 2004, nearly 48 persons had died of hunger and disease in 40 villages in Baran district during mid-July to mid-September this year. The Director of CEFS, Parshuram Rai, stated that 99 per cent of the Adivasi households had lived with one or another level of endemic hunger and food insecurity during the whole previous year.

The survey findings conformed to another recent investigation that had attributed the death of tribals in Baran district to the chronic energy deficiency leading to weakness of the body constitution and decline in the immunity levels of the local population. The probe was carried out by a team led by the State Advisor to the Commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court in right to food matter.

According to the survey research, an overwhelming 90.6 per cent of the tribal households felt that their food security had weakened during last 25 years.

Besides, 54.9 per cent of the respondents identified decline in availability of minor forest produce due to deforestation and degradation of forests as the biggest reason for weakening of their food security.

Survey reveals 99.8 p.c. households could not get two square meals even for one month

JAIPUR: A survey research on the situation of hunger in the tribal-dominated areas of Rajasthan has revealed that a shocking 99 per cent of the Adivasi households were facing chronic hunger. While the field survey was carried out in Udaipur and Dungarpur districts, nearly 48 persons had died of hunger and disease in 40 villages in Baran district during mid-July to mid-September this year.

The New Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) carried out the survey on "Hunger in Adivasi areas of Rajasthan and Jharkhand'' and its report was formally released in the national capital by noted social scientist, Ashis Nandy, on October 14.

The Director of CEFS, Parshuram Rai, said on Tuesday that while about 99 per cent of the Adivasi households had lived with one or another level of endemic hunger and food insecurity throughout 2004, at least 25.2 per cent of tribal households had faced semi-starvation during the previous week of survey and 24.1 per cent throughout the previous month.

The researchers surveyed 500 households in the two districts to find that only two respondents had eaten two square meals the previous day. Five per cent of the surveyed Adivasis could eat only jungle food to survive and 76.6 per cent tribal households said they had not eaten any pulse or animal product.

Mr. Rai said the survey data had suggested that 28.3 per cent of the sample Adivasi households had survived for the whole or significant part of the previous week by eating just one distress meal-a-day or one poor or partial meal-a-day. In other words, 28.3 per cent of sample households lived in semi-starvation condition.

The survey findings conform to another recent investigation that had attributed the death of tribals in Baran district to the chronic energy deficiency leading to weakness of the body constitution and decline in immunity levels of the local population. The probe was carried out by a team led by the State Advisor to the Commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court in right to food matter.

Mr. Rai pointed out that a staggering 99.8 per cent of Adivasi households had said that they could not get two square meals even for one month of the previous year. Therefore, it was clear that over 99 per cent of the surveyed households were facing one or another level of hunger and food insecurity throughout last year. Moreover, out of the 500 sample Adivasi households surveyed in the State, not a single one had secured two square meals for the whole previous year.

The survey report also revealed that 10 per cent of the sample tribal households had to survive only on distress food for 3 to 11 months of the previous year and 22.6 per cent only on one poor or partial meal for 4 to 12 months. In other words, 32.6 per cent of the sample Adivasi households had lived in semi-starvation condition throughout the previous year.

An overwhelming 90.6 per cent of the tribal households said their food security had weakened during last 25 years. The field survey, carried out during March to June in 2004, covered 10 villages each in Udaipur and Dungarpur districts. From every sample village, 25 Adivasi households were purposely selected for the household survey.

NEW DELHI, OCT 12: A recent study has found that about 99% of tribals in Rajasthan and Jharkhand don’t get enough food and are at a point of starvation. The situation has worsened for the last 25 years.

The main reasons for this state of affairs are the non-availability of adequate minor forest produces (MFPs) due to fast depletion of forest cover and the inefficient functioning of the public distribution system (PDS).

The study entitled, ‘The Political Economy of Hunger in Adivasi Areas of Rajasthan and Jharkhand’ was conducted by the Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS). “The study is slated to be formally released on October 14, this year,” said CEFS director Parshuram Rai.

The study found that out of the total 1000 sample of tribal households in 40 villages in Rajasthan and Jharkhand, 99% were facing chronic hunger. The study also found that 25.2% tribal households faced semi-starvation a week before the date of the survey. About 24.1% of tribal households were in semi-starvation throughout the previous month of the survey and over 99% of the tribal households lived in endemic hunger and food insecurity in the previous year. The survey was conducted in the period of March-June, 2004.

The study records inadequate food stocks in the homes of the tribals. Rajasthan seemed to have performed better than Jharkhand in issuing ration cards to tribals. In Rajasthan only 6.2% of tribal households did not have ration cards, in Jharkhand it was higher at 45.8%.

‘Give productive assets to the poor’
To overcome poverty, people need assets like land, livestock and capital

NEW DELHI, JUNE 12: Policymakers in the country believe that the cause of hunger is poverty and poverty persists because poor have little productive assets. Marginal benefits have reached the poor through the existing bureaucratic welfare schemes.

The Planning Commission member, Dr Kirit S Parikh said to abolish hunger the poor need more than just food. Hunger amid poor is abundant not just in India, but all over the world. To overcome poverty, people need assets like land, livestock, capital and to enlarge their share in the common property resources. There is also a need to create demand for their assets.

“If we create an economic environment where demand for their assets like labour goes up, poor get higher wages and better income. We also need to increase productivity of their assets like land or common property resource. We can transfer resources to them too,” Mr Parikh said.

Dr Parikh was delivering the “Third Freedom from Hunger” lecture in New Delhi organised by the Centre for Environment and Food Security.

He said “many solutions have been suggested to deal with hunger and poverty. But they do not seem to work. Because they rely on the market but poor are outside the market. And non-market solutions also have not worked well because of failure of governance at various levels. The world food system is resilient system for the rich but stubborn to the starving. No matter what you do, the burden of shocks to the world food system is always transferred to the poor and they always bear the shock.”

Outlining the solutions to overcome poverty and hunger in a sustainable manner, Dr Parikh said that skills, assets and opportunities for remunerative jobs and livelihoods can abolish poverty and hunger in a more sustainable way. But the most important thing is to create alternative job opportunities where more income are available and are sustainable. So, a well thought-out plan to eradicate poverty and thereby abolish hunger, can push economic growth in a way and direction where a lot of productive and not artificial jobs are created.

He alleged that the jobs created by the anti-poverty programmes are palliatives for short-term. But in the long run, we must provide remunerative jobs, and for that we must develop skills and abilities of the poor and create an economic environment where these abilities could be used effectively.

Dr Parikh said that according to the latest assessment Planning Commission assessments, the Targetted Public Distribution System (TPDS) has worked no better than earlier versions.

The level of leakages is high even in TDPS. He also revealed that recent evaluations of Planning Commission and National Sample Survey (NSS) data have corroborated late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s intuitive observation that out of every one rupee spent on anti-poverty programmes by government, only 15 paise reaches to the poor.

Elaborating on the comparative cost-inefficiency of reaching various anti-poverty schemes, Dr Parikh said that to reach out worth Re 1 of PDS, govt spends Rs 5.37 as its delivery cost, for every rupee of rice given under Andhra Rice Scheme delivery cost was Rs 6.377, for every single rupee given under Jawahar Rojgar Yojana (JRY) delivery cost was Rs 2.28, for Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in Maharashtra delivery cost is Re 1.85 and that for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) is Re 1.8.

A leading economist in the country has challenged the official estimates of hunger in India.

Prof Utsa Patnaik of Jawaharlal Nehru University has alleged that “the majority of academics and government officials, as well as the Planning Commission today make two claims, which I believe to be factually incorrect. These are claims which are underpinned by a wholly fallacious theoretical understanding of the current situation. They claim first, that there is oversupply of food grains relative to demand, (which they assume to be growing normally) and so food grains production should be cut back in favour of diversification.”

Delivering the second ’Freedom from Hunger Lecture’ in the capital organised jointly by the Centre for Environment and Food Security and India International Centre, she said that the second fallacy is that poverty is declining in India in the era of reforms and has declined in the last decade. “My contention as regards both propositions is that they are incorrect, and that the correct position on theoretical and factual grounds is precisely the opposite.”

Dr Patnaik further said: “first, there is no oversupply of foodgrains, but a drastic decline of effective demand for food grains especially in rural India, owing to an abnormally fast loss of purchasing power during the last six years. So, far from cutting back the foodgrains output, the correct policy is to raise purchasing power and restore effective demand as well as restore access to affordable food grains through a combination of a universal, and not targeted, employment guarantee scheme and through reverting to a universal, not targeted public distribution system.”

She further said: “far from the percentage of population in poverty declining as claimed, the factually correct position on the basis of current data is that poverty is very high, affecting at least three-quarters of rural and over two-fifths of the urban population. Moreover, data show that the depth of poverty has increased considerably during the fifteen years of reforms, with more people being pushed down into a poorer nutritional status than before in most of the Indian states and at the All-India level. The reason that many academics and the Planning Commission reach the conclusion that poverty is declining, is that they use an estimation procedure which has no basis in logic and is indefensible on academic grounds.”

Bringing issues of hunger and chronic poverty into mainstream intellectual discourse, the Centre for Environment and Food Security is hosting a bi-monthly public lecture series on "Freedom from Hunger'' on Tuesday at the India International Centre here.

The lecture would be delivered by well-known economist, Utsa Patnaik on "Theorising Food Security and Poverty in the era of Economic Reforms''. The session would be chaired by the former Commerce Secretary, S.P. Shukla.

The bi-monthly lecture is part of the "Freedom from Hunger'' campaign launched by CEFS to work towards banishing hunger and poverty. Statistics reveal that millions of Indians go to bed without food while thousands die of hunger everyday.

NEW DELHI, FEB 20: The Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) has launched a nationwide freedom from hunger campaign to mitigate the suffering of 340 million people in the country.

It has decided to observe year 2005 as the year of campaign for freedom from hunger. The CEFS has roped in celebrities like the Magasay award winner and activist Aruna Roy and Dr Susan George, the author of the landmark book on hunger - How the Other Half Dies.

Outlining the reason for launching the campaign Parashuram Ray, director, CEFS, told FE, “More than 24,000 people die of hunger every day and nearly 78% of them are women and children. More than 1.4 billion people in the world face chronic hunger and over 13 million die of hunger every year. They die of hungry not because the world does not have enough food for them, but due to an insensitive and callous world where profit of market economy seems to be the final arbitrator of human destiny.”

The number of people who fell prey to Adolf Hitler’s insanity was six million, while today the silent holoucast of hunger is killing over 13 million people every year, he said.

Mr Ray alleged, “Poverty is the worst form of violence inflicting pain over 1.4 billion people. While US can spend over $80 billion per year for satisfying their adventure in Iraq, the developed countries think that the so-called generous contribution of $13 billion can prevent the hidden genocide of hunger.” He said that even UNDP feels that $13 billion is enough to fight against global hunger.

Speaking about the level of hunger in India, Mr Ray said: “More than than 340 million people still go to bed without food every night and over 10,000 die of hunger every day.

Every third hungry person in the world is an Indian and every third Indian goes to bed without food. The number of hungry people in India is always more than the official estimate of people living below the poverty line.”

He said that while around 37% of rural households were below the poverty line in 1993-94, 80% of households suffered from undernutrition.

Data on the food consumption and calorie intake clearly prove that chronic hunger still persists on a mass scale in India. He said that the campaign will initiate a debate not for the sake of a debate, but for facilitating enabling legislation and public action to banish hunger.

Dr Susn George said: “The entire effort to introduce genetically modified (GM) crops in agriculture is driven by the greed of the multinational companies to reap more profits rather than to feed the hungry.

The problems associated with GM crops are not limited only to its debilitating impact on human health and environment, but with a calibrated design to displace small farmers and gain ultimate corporate control over agriculture.”

NEW DELHI, FEB. 12. With the objective to fight the two "most serious challenges" facing our country today -- poverty and hunger -- the Centre for Environment and Food Security recently launched a freedom from hunger campaign here in the Capital. As part of the campaign, the Centre will hold lectures, workshops, seminars, conferences and public hearings all over India. Apart from research and advocacy for a hunger-free India, the Centre will also bring out a series of "Citizens' Reports", especially from "hunger hot-spots" of the country. This campaign will conclude on 15th August 2007 to coincide with the platinum jubilee celebrations of our Independence. To mark the launch of this campaign, Magsaysay awardee and social activist, Aruna Roy delivered the first "Freedom from Hunger" lecture in the Capital this past Thursday. Organised in collaboration with India International Centre, the lecture was the first in a series of bi-monthly lectures that have been planned. According to director of the Centre, Parshuram Ray, all over the world, more than 24,000 people die of hunger everyday, nearly 78 per cent of them are women and children. He also added that more than 1.4 billion people in the world face chronic hunger and over 13 million die of hunger every year. Explaining the main aims and objectives of Freedom from Hunger Campaign, Mr. Ray said, "The Freedom from Hunger Campaign is a humble initiative to create awareness and understanding and to kick off a national debate on the political economy of hunger. Debate not for the sake of debate but to facilitate enabling legislation and public action to banish the scourge of hunger from our motherland. This campaign is a tiny effort to bring back the issue of hunger and poverty in mainstream intellectual discourse, at the centre of public policy and on the conscience radar of the nation. Such hunger is essentially a political condition, the key to banish hunger is to change the politics of hunger. And to change the politics of hunger, we need to bring the issue of hunger in mainstream electoral politics. Freedom from Hunger Campaign is a very modest attempt to politicise hunger in India." He added that the aim of the campaign was to ensure that every Indian should get at least one meal in a day.

Experts have pointed out the urgent need to preserve ecological balance in coastal areas with a view to prevent tsunami-like disasters in future.

They said the economic or industrial development should not be at the cost of ecology which is necessary to sustain life and livelihood of the millions. The deliberate destruction of mangroves in the coastal areas for facilitating the growth of industrial aquaculture is one of the prime reasons for failing to mitigate the tsunami disaster, they said. Initiating the discussion on the issue - ‘can economic growth and ecological security go together,’ director of Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) Parshuram Ray said, “More than 65% of the country’s population still depend on natural resources for their livelihood. Any economic process that undermines the health of natural resources is bound to affect the livelihood of the dependent people. Therefore, economic growth at the cost of destruction of ecological wealth would be suicidal.” Mr Ray said that mainstream economists unfortunately measures the wealth of a country by gross national product (GNP). GNP is the total value of all goods and services produced in the country. It does not take into account the “natural capital,” whose erosion can cause colossal loss, he said. Citing an example he said that forest is regarded as having no value by the mainstream economists until the trees are felled and sold out, he said. Noted economist Dr Ashok Desai said that the issue of farmers’ suicide is blown out of proportion by activists and media. “There is nothing unusual about farmers’ suicide.”