About Rs 71.5 million has gone in bribes
mostly to district and block level bureaucrats.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) launched in
2005 is the largest rural employment programme ever undertaken in India
with an investment of Rs 30,000 crore every year, unleashing wage
employment and livelihood opportunities for millions of rural poor in
the country. It guarantees the right to work for 100 days in a year for
below the poverty line (BPL) families although many poor families have
also taken advantage. If not employed the eligible person has to get an
unemployment allowance. Each village panchayat issues a job card
after the villager registers his or her name for the willingness
to work. After working the villager is supposed to get the cash
amount for the work done every week. Some states have made arrangements
to credit the amount in post offices or banks to minimise
misappropriation
The State has to give both men and women equal minimum wages and the
Gram Sabha has to select the type of rural work which help the village
economy by way of better watershed, rural roads, soil conservation
works etc. Wherever women are employed there have to be arrangements
for on-site child care facilities and health protection. Under the
NREGA 2005, panchayats at all the three levels — village, taluk and
districts have been specifically assigned tasks and responsibilities to
manage this programme. The funds under NREGP, the functionaries to
execute the rural works and the entire works progamme — have all to be
under the control of the panchayats.
When the news that thousands of panchayat members gathered in New Delhi
(October 14-15 ) on the problems faced by them in managing NREGP, one
got the feeling that this flagship programme has faced enormous
leadership and management problems right across the country. Thanks to
the initiative of the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi and the
support of the Swedish and Swiss Embassies in India this massive
gathering of panchayat members was made possible and the voice of
grassroots governance was heard in the political portals of the capital.
The biggest management problem of this NREGP starts with the three
Central Ministries: Ministries of Finance, Panchayati Raj and the
Rural Development. If the Panchayats have to manage this programme in
6,00,000 villages of India the first step is to provide funds to the
Ministry of Panchayats and not to the Ministry of Rural Development.
When the funds flow to the Rural Development Departments at the
state level the funds are either diverted or not passed on to the
Panchayats.
The buck stops at the Gram Panchayat level. The panchayat presidents
are confused with the idea of guaranteeing work for the village
elderly. There is no training given to the panchayat members and
their functionaries on how to manage this complex programme and under
the NREG Act the job card has to be issued by the Village Panchayats.
No job card means no work and the proof of work is the muster roll
attendance. The wages are paid based only on muster roll and the
biggest corruption is found at this stage. The Centre for Media
Studies (CMS) New Delhi and the Transparency International India (TII)
Report has revealed that the corruption in NREGP is alarming in
Karnataka, Assam MP and Orissa. High and moderate in Gujarat,
Maharsatra Tamil Nadu and others.
According to CMS-TII Report as much as Rs 71.5 million have been
cornered in bribes mostly by the district and block level bureaucrats
and the panchayats are held as scape goats by the state level
ministers, MLAs and MPs. A panchayat leader from Andhra Pradesh
lamented that the NREGP is “outsourced” to the contractors in Andhra
Pradesh who spin out good reports on the employment generated
with the help of the State Rural Development Directorates. The late
Rajiv Gandhi believed that out of ten rupees that the New Delhi
ministry remits to the state and the lower level agencies, only one
rupee reaches the final beneficiary. It was in the spirit of devolution
of power to the grassroots that the 73rd and 74th Constitutional
amendments were brought in to strengthen Village Panchayats and
Nagarpalikas.
NREGP is an important function which helps the rural poor, and if it is
properly managed by the Gram Panchayats by getting proper funds
under their control then the rural poor can hope to get
better life.
http://www.deccanherald.com/CONTENT/Nov52008/editpage2008110498841.asp
