Discrepancies in job cards and irregularities in payments to workers were some of the major issues raised at NREGS advocacy workshops held in Jharkhand, in October 2008, in the third phase of the PACS Programme's NREGS Campaign 2008.

The campaign covered 21 districts of the state, through 104 CSOs.

Advocacy workshops were held in two clusters, Hazaribag and Ranchi.

The Ranchi cluster workshop was held on October 25, 2008, at Rabindra Bhavan, Chaibasa. Participants included CSO representatives, selected job card holders, the media, and District Collector Sunil Kumar.

At the Hazaribag cluster workshop, held on October 23, 2008, at Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra (NBJK), Amritnagar, participants included Digambar Pandey of Markham College, Hazaribag; Girija Satish, Executive Director, NBJK; and Sudarshan Singh, Deputy Development Commissioner, Hazaribag.

Issues

Delays in wage payments, middlemen taking possession of job cards of workers, lack of redressal for applicants seeking jobs were the major issues that came up during the cluster workshops.

CSOs taking part in the Hazaribag cluster workshop pointed to the lack of proper facilities for women at worksites, non-participation of beneficiaries in the planning and designing of works under the NREGS, and complete absence of public display of information on person-days, costs, etc, as designated under the NREGA.

CSOs in the Ranchi cluster reported that there was minimal people's participation in the programme and a general lack of awareness about the NREGS among people.

For example, in Rutdih village, Govindpur panchayat, Rajnagar block, Saraikela-Kharsawan district, Dulali Mahato, member of a backward caste, was engaged to build a check-dam and drain in her village under the NREGS. She worked for 14 days but her job card shows 24 days of work. She received payment for only 10 days. Ignorant about what the job card says, she learnt of the discrepancy only during the PACS Programme's NREGS Campaign, in July 2008.

Dulali is clueless about how much she should have been paid and does not even know the name of the programme under which she was given work -- she calls it "job card work". The village panchayat sevaks and rojgar sevaks have not done enough to create awareness about the scheme.

Other cases presented at the workshop included that of Misri Lal Soy, who was employed for 30 days at a road construction site. His job card shows that he has worked for 50 days. Jano Kul's job card was with the contractor and shows that he has worked for 12 days although he was given just three days of forestry work.

Positive outcomes

Other case studies, however, showed that if properly implemented, the NREGS could be an important means of poverty alleviation, improving living standards, curbing migration and creating assets in the village.

Shankar Sardar, a scheduled caste labourer from Rutdih village, Seraikela-Kharsawan, in 2007-08 and earned Rs 17,500. His family of six has been able to buy enough food and he has even managed to save some money. He hopes to earn more when work on a check-dam in his village resumes after the monsoons.

Sumitra Mahato also got work for 100 days in Rutdih village. She said that if work continued in her village, or even in a nearby village, she would not have to neglect her family by going further afield in search of work and could then afford to educate her children.

Suggestions for improvement

At the Ranchi workshop, District Collector Sunil Kumar acknowledged the need for greater awareness-building to improve implementation of the NREGS. NGOs had adopted the right approach, he said, and should bring NREGS-related problems to the notice of rozgar sevaks and block programme officers.

In view of the number of delayed payments, Ramesh Saran, adviser, DFID, suggested that a case be filed against the government, claiming compensation for delayed payments.

A memorandum incorporating the experiences of NREGS implementation in the district was submitted to the district collector on behalf of CSOs. The memorandum included specific cases of malpractice in NREGS implementation in the districts covered, such as non-payment of wages, incorrect entries in job cards, and misuse of cards. It urged appropriate action.

At the Hazaribag cluster workshop, Digambar Pandey of Markham College, Hazaribag, stressed that the NREGS was not simply a welfare scheme but a legal right.

Girija Satish, Executive Director, NBJK, pointed out that the participation of the deputy development commissioner, Hazaribag, and other officials at the workshop was significant. He suggested that the deputy development commissioner should call NGOs for a coordination meeting every month so that programme-related discussions could be initiated and important decisions taken.

The deputy development commissioner replied that such a meeting could be arranged every month. He said all payments under the NREGS were being done through bank or post office accounts and claimed that the zero-balance directive of the government was being followed. Any irregularities or corruption in the scheme, he said, should be directly communicated to him or his office.

He acknowledged that to make the NREGS more effective, greater awareness must be created particularly among backward classes and women. He urged the media to be more actively involved in this area. He also emphasised the importance of the social audit, in which beneficiaries and NGOs must take part.

An attempt was made at both workshops to show that when the employment guarantee scheme was fairly implemented, it had helped alleviate poverty and reduce migration.