The Hindu : Karnataka News : World Bank urged to review Phase III of Sujala Project

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

World Bank urged to review Phase III of Sujala Project

By M. Madan Mohan

HUBLI, JUNE 9. The World Bank has been urged to go in for a critical review of the third phase of the working of the Sujala Watershed Development Project with reference to the selection of non-government organisations and suspend all operations till the review is completed.

This request is contained in a communication to Grant Milne, Leader of the Mid-term Review Mission of the Watershed Development Project of Karnataka in the World Bank by the Federation of Voluntary Organisations for Rural Development Karnataka (FEVORD-K), which has been working in the State for more than three decades through its 142 member organisations in areas of environment, water, women's empowerment, sustainable agriculture and other allied areas.

The World Bank team, headed by Mr. Grant Milne, which is going around the State for a mid-term review, is expected to look into the matter.

It has invited FEVORD-K for discussion, according to sources.

FEVORD-K has contended that there have been irregularities in the selection of non-government organisations for work in the third phase of the project, and that the criteria for the selection have been violated resulting in the selection of ineligible non-government organisations.

Probe sought

Besides approaching the World Bank, FEVORD-K has, in a communication sent to K.K. Misra, Chief Secretary, in the last week of May, requested for the constitution of a high-level investigation committee to go into cases of irregularities and corruption noticed in the implementation of watershed development projects, including Sujala, funded by the World Bank.

The cost of the Sujala Watershed Development Project has been estimated at Rs. 676.96 crores, inclusive of the World Bank assistance of Rs. 523.45 crores. It is designed to increase the productive potential of watersheds through the involvement of communities in the implementation and management of select watersheds in the State.

It is being implemented (over five-and-a-half years) from September 2001 in the 77 sub watersheds covering 4.26 lakh hectares spread over 38 taluks across the districts of Dharwad, Haveri, Chitradurga, Kolar and Tumkur.

Blacklisted NGOs

According to FEVORD-K, the non-government organisations blacklisted in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts were selected as "Field NGOs" for Dharwad district, and while some of them were dropped on a complaint made by the Dharwad district unit of FEVORD-K, some others continued to work.

In Tumkur, some cancellations were made following an inquiry by the then Commissioner for Watershed Development Department, Vijay Bhaskar.

This was indicative of the fact that the lower level officials involved in the preliminary work of short-listing the non-government organisations did not do their job and even the district selection committee failed to check it.

Lack of transparency

What has been a matter of concern for FEVORD-K, as it has told the World Bank, has been the lack of transparency in the selection process. In Haveri, for example, the papers pertaining to the selection of the non-government organisations for carrying out income generation activities were not made available.

FEVORD-K has said that there have been not only irregularities and corruption in the selection of the "Field NGOs" for the third phase of the project but also there have been cases where landless, who should have been the beneficiaries, have become victims.

Even the government-appointed committee to go into the allegations made by FEVORD-K was found to be flawed in the sense that it consisted of only government officials from the Watershed Development Department to the exclusion of other partners, including the non-government organisations and the monitoring and evaluation and accounting agencies.

The request from FEVORD-K to the Chief Secretary for a high-level investigation pertains to the irregularities and alleged corruption involved in watershed development programmes in various parts of the State, particularly Chitradurga and Haveri and Mysore districts.

This was essentially based on the two reports given by the then Additional Director of Agriculture in January and February last, which said "public funds have been squandered without any sense of accountability by the officials of the department in Mysore and Chitradurga."

FEVORD-K has pointed out that while farmers had no money to pay their share of contributions, the officials did not show any concern and did not recommend to the Government to study the drought condition and provide credit facilities needed at a crucial hour.

As a result, labourers, in many instances, paid their share by raising loan at a high rate of interest, which is not only unfair but also improper, according to FEVORD-K.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka