An audit by civil society of National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA) works in 11 Panchayats of Bhilwara district of Rajasthan is being conducted, followed by a review meeting in 381 panchayats and a summing up Public Meeting in Bhilwara on Oct 12 2009. This is the largest institutionalized Social Audit process of its kind in the country and the world where nearly 2000 people are being trained hands on across the 1740 villages.

Invitation to the Social Audit

Oct 7 Update:

The Social Audit padyatra (footmarch) in 381 panchayats of Bhilwara district in Rajasthan under the aegis of the Soochna Evum Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan (Right to Information and Employment Campaign) in collaboration with the district administration has taken off to a solid start with a lot of non-payment, non-compliance and corruption issues being resolved on the spot and some heartening success stories emerging from the ground. The exercise has created a lot of excitement (of varying kind) among ordinary citizens, the administration and elected representatives in the district and even as it indicates the amount of vigilance required for the effective implementation of the NREGA, it is also an indicator of the deepening processes of democratic functioning at its heart. We outline below some of the findings and effects of the Bhilwara Social Audit, 2009 thus far.

§ This is the biggest institutionalized Social Audit process in the country to date: 381 panchayats; 1740 villages; 1700 participants comprising 1000 representatives chosen by the state administration and the rest, Right to Information and Employment Campaign representatives from across the state, and representatives from 15 states.

§ The participants are divided into 135 teams with responsibility for 3 panchayats each.

§ All 135 teams are on foot, eating in ordinary people’s homes and mingling without care for caste or creed. They are also ensuring that they will not accept food or shelter from the representatives of the gram panchayat.

§ There will be 11 simultaneous and detailed official social audits for 11 panchayats on October 10 for which detailed scrutiny and preparation is underway.

§ Bhilwara is the constituency of the Central Rural Development ad Pachayati Raj Minister, C. P. Josh and hence politically extremely significant. To begin with, the 12-day Social Audit exercise began with an orientation for participants on October 1, and was attended by over 1700 people. On October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, the participants gave shramdaan of half a day at NREGA terms on work sites chosen specifically for this exercise to gain first hand experience of the work environment. A team of 20 disabled persons from 6 states also fully participated in this exercise. This was undertaken keeping in mind the future utility of this work in areas where NREGA was not already ongoing but that formed support work for the NREGA sites. October 3 was reserved for the details of the actual Social Audit process and 135 teams were given responsibility for 3 panchayats each. October 4 marked the start of the padyatra (footmarch) to the respective panchayats assigned to each team. By October 4 detailed accounts from the villages began:

§ Almost overnight, where NREGA work site boards were missing, they were being rapidly put up.

§ Pending payments of workers as well as compensation for injury or death, as in the case of Naru Lal of Paldi where death at worksite entitled his family to Rs. 25,000; were settled on the spot. In addition, a delayed payment worth Rs. 8,00,000 was made to workers in Suvana block.

§ Where work had been arbitrarily stopped, as in Badnaur panchayat for 3 months, applications were filed and receipts given to workers immediately.

§ In villages where the lists of works and families that had been given employment even were not ready like Khachrol, work on the listing began in earnest after the team arrived!

§ An FIR was lodged in Tasvariya panchayat against the Sarpanch, Secretary, JEN, Employment Assistant and Programme Officer for corruption in the NREGA works. October 6:

§ A heartening story that emerged was from Jindrass panchayat, where 35 bhil families that used to migrate in search of work each year had found being settled in their own village a happier option.

§ However, the saga of information boards at worksites and each continued with the result that a marked absence has led to a meeting with the Collector Manju Rajpal and CEO Bhilwara Mohanlal Sharma to resolve the issue.

§ Even where boards are in place, the information is missing! The administration has been given the details of these lacunae.

§ Delayed payments, fraudulent entries and job cards in panchayat cupboards instead of with the families were stories that painted a grim picture from the social audits. The teams continue with the process. The effort is aimed at making the administration and the elected representatives truly accountable. This massive exercise has only been made possible through the efforts of ordinary citizens relentlessly demanding accountability and seeing the potential for it. The state is being put under tremendous pressure to resolve anomalies and corruption by the strength of this massive collective effort aimed at making the state accountable, transparent and democratic. Abhi to yeh angadayi hai! Aage aur ladayi hai! Zindabad, Bhanwar Meghwanshi, Shankar Singh, Nikhil Dey, Bhanwar Singh Chandana, Kiran Shaheen, Kamal Tank and Preeti Sampat For Soochna Evum Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan