In the second phase of the PACS Programmes NREGS Campaign in Maharashtra, village-level meetings were organised from August 5 to 26, 2008, in 97 villages in 79 blocks of eight districts: Buldhana, Gadchiroli and Yavatmal in the Vidarbha region, and Latur, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Aurangabad and Nanded in Marathwada.

Around 100 civil society organisations (CSOs) were involved in the effort and 12,995 people participated in the meetings that were organised along the lines of public hearings, providing a platform for government officials, local policymakers and villagers to have their say.

Government officials like tehsildars and/or block development officers (BDOs) and lower-level officials were present as were peoples representatives such as village sarpanchs and elected members of block- and district-level panchayat bodies.

The meetings were held in public places such as schools, gram panchayat halls/offices, and community halls. Although they were organised to discuss (with case studies) implementation of the Maharashtra Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MREGS), issues related to water supply, crop loss and availability of fodder also came up frequently, due to poor rainfall in Vidarbha and Marathwada till August.

In all the villages in the three districts of Vidarbha where meetings were held, people pointed out the need for planned drinking water schemes and empowerment of water distribution committees at the village level. They complained that the government was not providing them crop insurance on time. While the monsoon crop had failed, the process of handing out compensation through crop insurance or any other scheme had not been initiated, it was alleged.

MREGS issues and case studies

While the first phase of the NREGS Campaign covered all districts of Marathwada, four of these districts, namely Beed, Parbhani, Jalna and Latur, were included in the third phase of the NREGS, from April 2008, and therefore had little progress to report.

Hence, discussions on the MREGS and the presentation of cases studies related mainly to districts covered in the first phase of the NREGS, and, to some extent, those in the second phase.

The following issues were brought up at the meetings and demands were made to resolve them:

• Non-payment of full wages.
• No work for 100 days per household yet, despite the need.
• No facilities at work sites.
• Work not given despite written demands.
• Payments not made in time after work is completed.
• Need for a second round of registration: all those eligible for job cards had not been issued one during the first round of registration as some poor families had migrated in search of work when the registration process took place. Some workers who had worked on employment guarantee scheme (EGS) works prior to the launch of the MREGS have not yet been paid.

Response from local government officials

In Buldhana district, officials present at the meetings promised to ensure proper implementation of the MREGS if they received a simple written demand from the people. In Yavatmal district, which has seen a number of cases of farmer suicides, government officials appeared disinterested in MREGS implementation -- many households have not even been given job cards.

In Latur district, the BDO, tehsildar and mandal officer were present in only one village. In another village, officials of the rank of talathi and gram sevak handled proceedings at the meetings. They gave assurances that they would bring the issues that were raised to the notice of the higher authorities.

Immediate impact of village meetings

The meetings had no large-scale, measurable impact. However, they did give people the much-needed platform and confidence to speak openly about the attitude of government officials and corruption within the system.

In some villages there was an immediate impact. In Unni, in Ahemadpur taluka, Latur district, pending payments were cleared immediately. In Ambanagar, Deoni taluka, Latur district, applicants got their job cards as soon as the meeting ended.

In many villages people resolved to hold follow-up meetings in October-November, when the monsoon crop was harvested and they required employment.

In some villages in Parbhani district, the process of participatory preparation of the MREGS plan has been initiated; in one village a work plan was prepared, presented in the gram sabha, approved by it and submitted for financial and technical sanction.

In Nanded district, dalit women were vocal about their problems. In Sugaon village, pending wages were immediately released. In Dongoan village, work orders were issued. In Parkhed, officials present promised to take up the demand to de-silt a local river and sanctioned the budget for construction of an earthen dam. In Dibhana, people demanded road construction work under the MREGS; this was approved without any questions or administrative delays.

In Chinchkhed, Ambad taluka, Jalna district, five workers decided to submit right to information (RTI) applications to know the status of MREGS implementation in their taluka.

Observations

CSOs made the following observations after the village meetings:

Fictitious demand for work

There is lack of awareness about MREGS work being a right. People believe that having a job card automatically entitles the household to 100 days of employment. The concept and process of demand for jobs is entirely fictitious, as people turn up for work as in any other government scheme and, while they work, officials fill up their applications for demand for work. The workers themselves are unaware of the nature of their work -- whether it is under the MREGS or another scheme. No systematic approach is adopted for the initiation of MREGS work.

Unavailability of technical staff

The unavailability of technical staff is a major hurdle, leading to delays in the measurement of MREGS work. On average, a civil engineer oversees more than 10 panchayats. This workload is considered excessive, causing delays or just plain neglect of duties.

Small role for gram panchayats

Gram panchayats share the important role and responsibility with the block-level programme officer of registering households, issuing job cards, receiving applications for work, forwarding the applications to the programme officer and informing applicants when work is available. However, many panchayats play only a small role. In exceptional cases, when a dedicated sarpanch does take up these matters, he is caught between people who demand work and block- and district-level officials who delay providing it.

Lack of communication

Job applicants must be informed, within 15 days of applying for work, when work will start. This information has to be given by means of a letter and a public notice displayed on the notice board of the gram panchayat and the office of the block-level programme officer. This practice is not being followed at all; none of the CSOs involved in the campaign reported seeing the notices.

Lack of clarity

There is lack of clarity on scheme implementation, as the process of planning and allotting work is elaborate. Even though guidelines have been circulated, there is confusion among many in the bureaucracy.

These and other key issues will be taken up at cluster-level advocacy workshops planned to be held in October 2008 in Nagpur (for the Vidarbha region) and Aurangabad (Marathwada region).

Among other issues that emerged during the first village-campaign phase of the NREGS Campaign are:

• Boycott by gram sevaks.
• MREGS works not being started despite orders from the state government to the concerned departments.
• Personnel not appointed as per the MREGS structure; for example there should be an accredited panel of engineers at the block and district level.
• Non-functional village vigilance committees.
• Micro plans of the previous year not yet approved by the district authorities.
• Under-utilisation of MREGS funds.

(This story is based on a report prepared by Constructive Catalyst, Sampark, AFARM and Gramin Samasya Mukti Trust )