NREGA funds are used for natural resource management activities by generating wage employment for the poor as well as strengthening their livelihood resource base. I will ask readers to go through these two articles :[ Rural job scheme: Can we get it right? and NREGA social Audit: Myths and Reality ] on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) before going forward.
There is a social audit of MNREGS going on in Balangir district from 22-10-2013 to 26-10-2013. I attended three such meetings as an observer only. I attended social audit at Kutenpali, Jharmunda and Kandajuri Gram Panchayat of Loisingha Block. Loisingha Block consist of 18 G.Ps with 108 Villages and is 22 km away from district headquarter. The officers, Sarpanch and GRS were present for the meeting on time. Yet, there was lack of people attending the meeting held at Panchayat Bhavan. The registered person data is taken from NREGA website for the financial year 2013-2014. I have given distance from Block Office to show their remote locality.
| G.P. | Distance from Block Office | Registered | In Meeting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household | Persons | Male | Female | Total | Male | Female | ||
| Kutenpali | 7 Km | 674 | 1899 | 1076 | 823 | 40 | 40 | 0 |
| Jharmunda | 12 Km | 661 | 1686 | 983 | 703 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kandajuri | 15 Km | 457 | 1075 | 596 | 479 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
Key Findings -
1. People were keeping themselves busy in a game of cards, but were unaffected by any meeting. This attitude of the local people was fatal to their own development. Hence, all the blame for the failure of the government scheme can't be solely put on the state. The lack of participation of the local population was making the whole event a flop show.
2. GP with 40 people was considered a success by the lock office. It was later told that such low attendance of 5-10 people without any local NGO participation is prevalent in another block of Balangir district. With the support of a community-based organization, the number of participants can rise up to 80-100.
3. There was a notice attached to the Panchayat office, but no meetings were held on the importance of social audit. Adding to this limited communication, an effective strategy of rural communication through the voice was also utterly discarded by the government. Neither the NGO nor any community organization was used for mobilizing the public.
4. Land development through an individual project is an equally good option with a community project in a remote location. Due to hilly terrain and poor connectivity, there is greater participation in NREGS in backward GPs. Most of the people working as labour in NREGS are tribal and BPL cardholders.
5. The Gram Panchayat must own the data it collects; Information is a basic tool for planning. Information relevant to each area, like population, Infrastructure, and natural resources database, is rarely available for use. Even though NREGA data is available on the internet, it is not available to the common man in the village. Virtual transparency may give temporary relief to the government officials, whereas the reality is that villagers have to meander through a cobweb of data to search and find what they are looking for.
6. Surplus labor used in NREGS can generate productive assets that can be eco-friendly in nature. The asset base of the poor, both individual (for example, Land leveling, reclamation of soil, bunding, constructing small ponds) as well as collective assets (for example, regeneration of common lands, water harvesting structures, group irrigation facilities, etc) can be strengthened through this scheme. Migration of unskilled labor can't be stopped for virtually 30-40 days of work.
In NREGA, government officials and PRI members had used fraud measures like “creating fake muster rolls, inflated bills, exaggerated measurements, and non-existent works, all through bribes and cuts from wage seekers" to make money. What is needed of us is a social audit, the best tool we have for monitoring, using community participation to curb such fraud activities. Development from design is not primarily about selecting the right people for the job. It is about setting the right processes, standards, and procedures, followed by continuous adherence to them. I will end with the words of Omnia Marzouk, President, IofC International: 'Nothing lasting can be built without a desire by people to live differently and exemplify the changes they want to see in society.'