The PACS Programme's state-level NREGS advocacy workshop held in Ranchi, Jharkhand, on November 8, 2008, was witness to a dramatic development.

As the day drew to a close, Kanke's block development officer (BDO), who had been summoned by State Minister for Rural Development Enos Ekka, arrived with a cheque for Rs 25,000 which he handed over to Shankar Munda of Kokodoro village. The money was owed to Munda for a well dug under the NREGS on his land.

Present at the workshop, the minister made the phone call when he heard Munda's story.

However, as Ramesh Sharan, advisor to DFID-India, pointed out in his concluding speech at the workshop, there is still a very long struggle ahead for proper implementation of the scheme in Jharkhand. There is the need for an institutionalised form of accountability, like a 'janta durbar', he said, which should be attended by the district commissioner, MLAs and government officials.

The PACS Programme's NREGS Campaign 2008 began formally in Jharkhand on June 25, 2008. In the first phase, village awareness campaigns were conducted; these subsequently led to village-level meetings.

The campaign covered the districts of Ranchi, Khunti, West Singhbhum, Saraikela, Simdega, Gumla, Lohardega and Latehar. A total of 28 CSOs covered 58 panchayats in 158 villages, and took up 110 varied cases.

Their findings were recorded and will be placed before the authorities.

As PACS Programme officer from Development Alternatives, Poonam Mehta, stressed at the workshop, NREGS Campaign 2008 was conducted in a spirit of partnership, not confrontation. She urged Enos Ekka to heed suggestions and observations made during the proceedings.

Besides Ekka, others officials present at the workshop included A N Singh, Joint Secretary, Rural Department, Jharkhand; K N Tripathy, member of the state NREGA council; Balram, state advisor to the Supreme Court Commissioner in the Right to Food case; and Ramesh Sharan, advisor to the PACS Programme for the NREGS Campaign.

A brief powerpoint presentation on the findings of the Ranchi cluster was made, which noted that the NREGS had had several positive outcomes. In some villages, people had been able to get a fair amount of work and had increased their earnings appreciably. Increased incomes have translated to investments in food, health and education. Remote villages have become more easily accessible thanks to pucca roads being built under the scheme. Labour wage rates have risen, in tune with the higher wage rates offered under the NREGS.

However there are several bottlenecks, including poor awareness among communities about the scheme, and job card anomalies. There are also scores of instances of cards with no photographs or signatures, minors' names being included in the card, etc. Also, instances of non-acceptance of work and job card applications.

Work is not being provided on demand; it is given on the basis of availability of funds and sanction of works. This sends out the wrong message -- that the scheme is dependent on the administration's munificence and is not rights-based.

There were a number of cases where payments had been delayed or simply not given. This caused people to lose interest in doing work under the NREGS. In certain places, the right wage rates were not being offered. Very few households had completed 100 days of work, as guaranteed under the Act.

Social audits too have not been carried out properly. Communities have not participated in the planning process and plans are being imposed from the top. Many government officials have adopted an indifferent attitude towards implementation of the NREGS.

Summarising the findings, Ramesh Sharan outlined the key issues in a memorandum that was presented to the minister. The memorandum made the following demands and suggestions:

• While wage payments through bank accounts had been made mandatory, in a number of remote places people had to spend a considerable amount of money getting to the bank for their wages. The government must devise another method of making payments, in these areas.
• Demand for work was not being met and applications not accepted. There is the need for third-party monitoring to ensure that work applications and other grievances are properly recorded.
• There is no proper shelf of works, therefore lower-level officials are often reluctant to accept work applications. This needs to be addressed.
• There is an urgent need for a telephone helpline.
• People find it difficult accessing the muster rolls, and copies of project documents and the shelf of works. Since there are no regular panchayat offices in Jharkhand, rozgar karyalayas must be set up and rozgar sevaks made responsible for the maintenance of muster rolls and other documents.
• The findings of social audits must be made public and people must be told about action taken against errant officials, so that pressure can be built by the public.
• Single women and the physically challenged do not often get work under the scheme. Both government and civil society organisations have to think of ways these sections of society can receive their entitlements.
• There is still a huge dearth of information on the scheme; even some rozgar sevaks and block development officers are ignorant about all the details. The government must carry out an intensive one-month training and awareness-building programme, along the lines of the polio eradication drive or the 'school chalo' campaign recently undertaken in the state.

Minister Enos Ekka promised all help and cooperation. He said that in spite of the irregularities, the NREGS was having a positive impact on rural society. Contractors (thekedars), he said, were starting to worry as they were now forced to compete with the wages provided under the scheme.

The minister said BDOs had been given special instructions to involve women's groups. He admitted that there were definite lacunae in monitoring efforts, and sought the help of CSOs. He urged people not to turn the problems of the NREGS into a 'political issue' and said that all grievances must be given in writing so that action could be taken.

After the minister's address, representatives of the Hazaribagh and Deoghar clusters made their presentations.

Bissa Oraon from Khatarmali, Bero, Hazaribagh, explained the situation in his village where 60% of the population used to migrate every year. After NREGS work was taken up in the village, migration levels have dropped, he said. A pond built under the scheme now provides the villagers with clean water.

Naya Sawera, a CSO working in Koderma block, Hazaribagh, explained how a gram sevak had demanded a bribe from a beneficiary before a well was dug on his land, under the NREGS. A case was registered against the official although he managed to coerce the workers into signing a document stating that they were dropping all charges against him.

The main findings from the Hazaribagh cluster were that very few women were able to access NREG schemes, and that workers were often vulnerable to threats by contractors and middlemen.

Some of the issues/case studies marked for follow-up action from the Deogarh cluster were:

• In Bengabad block, Giridih, middlemen were involved in collecting forms and were demanding Rs 15 for each form.
• At almost all the worksites there was a complete lack of facilities like a crche for children, drinking water, a first-aid box, etc.
• A labourer in Aggey village, Mohanpur block, Deoghar district, was injured in an accident at the worksite. He has still not received compensation.
• There were wage-related issues like delayed or non-payment of minimum wages and disputes over the nature of work and the appropriate wage.

The concluding observations made by representatives of the Deoghar cluster were that NREGS works in Jharkhand were being hampered because panchayat bodies did not function properly. Micro plans had not been developed or implemented; in many villages work had not even begun. There is an urgent need to provide technical support for the drawing up of micro plans.

Joint secretary of the rural development department, A N Singh, remarked that the NREGS was being seen more as an employment scheme, not so much as a development programme. He admitted that workers had still not been properly informed about the scheme and disclosed that a booklet based on time and motion studies had been prepared and was being distributed in the districts from November 1. The revised wage rates had been announced in the newspapers.

According to K N Tripathy, state member of the NREGS council, one worrying factor is increasing instances of corruption at the ground level. He said that thus far Rs 1,200 crore had been sanctioned to the state for the NREGS, but that only Rs 400 crore had been spent. Works were not being discussed or proposed at gram sabhas.

Rozgar sevaks faced a major handicap as they did not enjoy financial powers. Tripathy recommended that they be financially empowered, with the BDO being given supervisory authority.

He added that he would ask the new state government to revamp the state council to bring in more grassroots workers.

Wrapping up the day's proceedings, Ramesh Sharan observed that the NREGS had, for the first time, affected the clout that contractors wield in development programmes. But, while the scheme had aroused a lot of hope, it had also caused a lot of disappointment.

Women, in particular, have been let down. They had expected the NREGS to curb migration by male members of the family. They had also expected to get adequate work under the scheme themselves. On both counts, the scheme has not delivered.

On a more positive note, Sharan noted that for the first time questions were being raised by workers about wages. In the past, workers would simply accept whatever was being offered to them by the line departments.

It was time, he said, to analyse the campaign's weaknesses and support it with well-documented evidence. He urged CSOs not to view the NREGS Campaign as just another event but as an ongoing struggle to ensure that the poor are able to realise their rights.