Other States - Rajasthan   

Vasundhara Raje Government backs out of Banswara social audit

JAIPUR: The social activists campaigning for transparency and right to work could not repeat a Dungarpur in Banswara this past fortnight as the proposed social audit programme in the district, announced by Rozgar Evum Suchana Ka Adhikar Abhiyan for ten days from December 10, could not take place — thanks to a non-cooperative stand taken by the Rajasthan Government and resistance from a group of elected representatives of the citizens and district level government functionaries.

The State Government had received a lot of praise on the Dungarpur social audit, carried out in 2005 by the same group comprising activists, small farmers, labourers, students, lawyers and other individuals from all walks of life. Two years down the road now the Vasundhara Raje Government decided to do away with the exercise and opted for a Gram Sabha-based model, involving only local persons.

The Banswara experience proved a roller coaster ride for the Abhiyan members, who have conducted audits in five of the six districts under NREGA in the first phase in Rajasthan.

What started as a local resistance from sarpanches, pradhans and gram sachivs against “outsiders” doing a social audit quickly snowballed into vituperative opposition from all political parties and interest groups.

“The last straw came when the Rajasthan Government, which had invited the Abhiyan to do the social audit in Banswara as a model district, stepped aside,” said Nikhil Dey, the spokesperson of the Abhiyan, adding, “The Government’s credibility has certainly come under a cloud.”

The non-availability of records on NREGA works made the social audit impossible and the Abhiyan members had to sit on a four-day dharna to get information despite the two legislations – the Right to Information (RTI) Act and the NREGA -- guaranteeing this to any citizen.

“If Dungarpur in 2005 represented a step forward in the right direction and exemplified what cooperation among the people, civil society and government could do, Banswara 2007 erased all that, taking the Rajasthan Government’s position back to a time when neither right to information nor social audits existed,” Mr. Dey noted.

By December 17 it was evident that social audit would not be possible. Breaking its course, the Abhiyan decided to embark on a two-day “Samwad Yatra”.

On December 18 and 19, some of the 400-odd activists who had congregated in Banswara from different parts of the country travelled in three buses across the district to spread awareness about the NREGA and RTI Acts.

While the Samwad Yatra met with a resounding response from the local people, the resistance had far from subsided. At several places, small groups of anti-social elements tried to disrupt the meetings with threats of violence.

By then it was amply evident that audits of the kind the pioneers of the RTI and NREGA movement in the country such as Aruna Roy wanted would not be possible this time.

“The signals clearly establish that the State Government wants to restrict the social audit process of NREGA works,” Mr. Dey pointed out. The Government even issued advertisements referring to the constitution of social audit forums through gram sabhas as described in the Operational Guidelines and the social audit manual prepared by the State.

In fact, the activists do not contest that social audits should be done through gram sabhas. What they had objected to was the restricting of those from “outside” participating in it.

Apart from lending it more credibility, given that “outsiders” are bound to have little or no vested interest in the funds allotted to a panchayat, the educational aspect of an open social audit process could not be understated, they point out.

Moreover, they warn against restricting social audits to “social audit forums” twice a year, as this kind of practice, without ensuring transparency, has already proved a failure in Raj- asthan.

The selection of the members of such forums, when gram sabhas take place only in name, is highly questionable given the inherent social and political equations within a panchayat, they observe.

“If the State Government is truly committed to the spirit of NREGA and sincerely intends a transparent and honest implementation, it should facilitate and support, not fear or prevent, civil society groups or anyone entitled to accessing information and checking public accounts from doing so. This remains the Abhiyan’s expectation from the Government,” said Mr. Dey.

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

Stories in this Section

Vasundhara Raje Government backs out of Banswara social audit
Australians learn community-oriented works in Rajasthan
Ensuring justice for the poor

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu