| NEWSPAPER Clippings about Survey Report on Hunger in Adivasi Areas of Rajasthan & Jharkhand - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rs 2,100 cr rural job scam in MP?
Vibha Sharma New
Delhi, July 25 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. Published in The Tribune, Chandigarh dated July 26, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Funds for rural jobs stolen in Bhopal 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.”.... Click here to view full report Posted at The Telegraph dated July 24, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - M.P. Government’s tall claims on jobs scheme challenged 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... Click here to view full report Posted at The Hindu dated July 19, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Job scheme: NGO survey finds huge scam in Madhya Pradesh 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.” Posted at The Indian Express dated July 18, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Corruption
in rural job scheme Vibha
Sharma New
Delhi, May 20 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. Tribune News Service, dated May 20, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Notice to Centre, states on NREGA implementation 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. Posted at The Times of India dated May 16, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SC asks states to explain delay in implementing NREGS 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. Posted at Indianexpress.com dated May 16, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SC issues notice to Centre and states on implementation of NREGA 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." Doordarshan News, dated May 15, 2008 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - National
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. 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." 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. Posted at Outlookindia.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rural employment
guarantee project missing its objectives ...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... Posted at Livemint.com, dated Februray 12, 2008 to read full article please click here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
India's $4.5 billion
poverty plan under fire By Raja M ... "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." ... Posted at Asia Times Online, dated Januray 16, 2008 to read full article please click here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NREGS:
CAG finds many irregularities 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... Posted at Newindiapress.com, dated Januray 12, 2008 to read full article please click here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NIRD to study NREGS wage employment 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. Posted at Newindiapress.com, dated December 18, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MPs
demand panel to plug holes in rural job plan By HT Friday December 7, 2007 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. The Hindustan Times, dated : 07 December 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
State Of Disgrace 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.... Tehelka - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Darkness Visible 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. The Hindustan Times, dated December 03, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NREGS: no let-up in graft charges
Staff Reporter 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. ‘PC’ system 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. Charges rejected 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. Posted at The The Hindu, dated November 23, 2007- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Study panel points out lacunae 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. Posted at The Pioneer News Service, dated November 23, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Govt asks NGO to cross-check facts 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. Posted at The New Indian Express, dated November 5, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rural employment: proposed integrated card system to check corruption By Anand Kumar 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. Posted at DAWN dated November 05, 2007. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Awards planned for creating awareness about job scheme 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. The incentives would be Rs. 1,000, Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 25,000 respectively. “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. Civil society groups are involved in social audit of the scheme. Posted at The Hindu dated October 27, 2007. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NREGA fails to curb exodus
Statesman News Service 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. Posted at The Statesman dated October 24, 2007. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rs 600 cr diverted from job scheme 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. Posted at The Hindustan Times dated October 18, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NREGA battling cancerous corruption in Orissa 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. In their names we partake 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. Sidelining the panchayat system to avoid local oversight 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. Parshuram Rai The author is director of Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security, and was a principal investigator in the survey. Posted at India Together dated October 18, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Rahul Gandhi 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. All the best. Amit Amit Varma publishes the website India Uncut, at http://www.indiauncut.com. Your comments are welcome at thinkingitthrough@livemint.com Posted at livemint.com dated October 17, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Reckless welfare schemes are now part and parcel of governance in India 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. Posted at livemint.com dated October 15, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NREGS: Teams detect minor irregularitie 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. Posted at New Indian Express dated October 14, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cholera stalks Orissa villages Sarada Lahangir 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. Posted at monstersandcritics.com dated October 14, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A V Rajwade: Incredible India@60 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? Posted at Business Standard dated October 12, 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Invisible Genocide Of The Poor By
Parshuram Rai 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 |