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ISSUES

Silent but successful initiative

Photos: Ranjeet Kumar

Was it implemented properly?: Work in progress under the NREGA.

The Andhra Pradesh Government, quietly and unobtrusively, has achieved something quite remarkable: the conduct of the social audit for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) using the RTI Act; and thereby sown the seeds for a non-violent revolution in less than two years.

The government does not conduct the audit; rather, it facilitates it, but does so comprehensively and with an eye for detail. One round has been completed in all gram panchayats and the second round is in progress. There has been a tremendous impact because the government has taken on the responsibility; it has also gained credibility because of its transparency and is not seen as a stage-managed process.

At Kollampalli village, Thimmapur mandal, Karimnagar District, the Village Social Audit (VSA) was on its last leg; the day before the public meeting at the mandal (mandals have replaced Blocks in AP) headquarters. This meant that records had been obtained from the Mandal Parishad Development Officer (MPDO) and examined; door to door verification had been completed; the variations discussed with the Field and Technical Assistants and the Mate; and the findings were being consolidated. In several cases, the Field Assistant and the Mate had signed statements admitting misappropriation of amounts and given a commitment that they would recover them.

This was the first social audit in the village and all the works during 2006-07, 2007-08 and part of 2008-09 were verified. Kollampalli is a large village and had utilised almost Rs. 1 crore for works like desilting of irrigation tanks, construction of tanks, excavation of field channels, horticulture plantations, land development and irrigation wells on holdings of Scheduled Caste and other poor small farmers. Six village social auditors — all from agricultural labour families from the neighbouring villages — were trained for the social audit. All were young — four girls and two boys studying in college — selected by the DRP who also trained them.

The village sarpanch had a stranglehold and was also alleged to be in league with the MPDO to misappropriate funds. Many of his supporters checked the social audit team’s work and also tried to question them. But they did not obstruct the work nor did they try to disrupt the ward sabha meeting; for this exercise had the full support of government.

At one ward sabha meeting of about 100 people, the majority being women who had worked under the programme , the audience participated actively and often vigorously particularly when they discovered that the records showed wrong names and amounts. At the mandal meeting the Zilla Parishad Chairman from Karimnagar and other district officers were also present. About Rs. 20,000 was returned by the Field Assistants and the Mates. Commitments and deadlines to pay back other amounts misappropriated were also made public.

When misappropriation by the sarpanch was discussed, the Zilla Parishad chairman insisted not only on the return of the amount but also on a criminal case being filed against him! Political support could not have been expressed in clearer terms.

At the Mallapally mandal meeting, about 1500 people from 20 gram panchayats participated. The results of the social audit for each Gram Panchayat were read out in turn. This included not only discrepancies and irregularities but also the good work. The discussions were free, unrestrained, transparent and very animated.

For one village, several maintained that they had been paid only half the minimum wage. The Field Assistant agreed to this but said that only half the work was completed, and since wages were calculated after measurement of the work done, the payments were correct. But the women insisted that they had worked all day and should have been paid the full wage. The Project Director (PD), therefore, directed the MPDO to visit the village along with the engineer within three days to check the muster roll and verify the names. This would be reviewed at the follow up meeting. The villagers were satisfied with this assurance.

For certain villages, some stated that they had not been paid for the work done. When the PD wanted to compare the payments as per the pass-book with the payment as per the job card, it was discovered that the job card did not contain the inner pages that record the work done by each person; the job card itself was incomplete. This came as a surprise as it had not happened in any mandal so far but then this area had seen intensive PWG (Naxal) activity, and also resisted the initiative. The MPDO was asked to ensure that complete job cards were issued, investigate the lapse, fix responsibilities and send a report. Earlier, several officials, Field and Technical Assistants and Mates admitted to irregularities and about Rs. 50,000 was returned. From separate discussions with the sarpanches, it was evident that they were keen to ensure that there was no irregularity in their villages. Proper implementation was a matter of both pride and satisfaction.

The VSAs in Mallapally mandal — about half of them women and all in their late teens or early 20s — were from labourer families, mostly from the Scheduled Castes. They were smart, confident, well turned out and keen to do more work on the social audit. They had all benefited from their experience as VSAs and each had something perceptive to say about the audit and about those aspects that gave them satisfaction — securing additional payments where short wages had been given; recover misappropriated amounts and verify some useful and productive works. Clearly, this enthusiastic group can be a valuable resource not just for the government but also for the community. Based on their skills and aptitude, it may be possible to link suitable self-employment schemes for them or to engage them in efforts like the SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan) and ICDS.

Thimmapur mandal had been selected as a pilot project for the payment of wages through Smart Cards, which work like ATM cards and are given to each person registered under the NREGP. The bank concerned at the mandal headquarters appoints an agent to make payment for each village under the scheme. The Kollampalli village agent was a young lady who was also the President of a successful SHG. She operated a simple instrument connected on line with the bank, and after biometric identification each worker was paid the wage earned that had been deposited in the savings account. The families preferred this procedure to that of payments through the Post Office.

The most encouraging aspect is that it is all actually beginning to happen! Not perfectly, not painlessly and still evolving, but unmistakably so. An interesting feature is that the politicians have supported it, often vigorously. They have seen in this process an opportunity to enhance their own standing in a credible public forum. The second round has shown less corruption, better quality of work, more effective supervision; the social audit team is even being called in as consultants for other programmes.

None of this would have happened without the information received under the RTI Act; and that would not have come without government directives. It is time other States adopted a similar approach.

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