| Happenings in Araria |
 Workers of Araria (Bihar) along with Jan Jagaran Abhiyan activists and
supporters have been collectively demanding work uder the National
rural Employment Guarantee act (NREGA). Their demands were finally met
after a sustained struggle for work! Since March 17th works worth 18
lakhs were opened in 6 panchayats where intensive mobilisations were
carried out since November, 2008. Other issues raised by the Abhiyan
like non-opening of post office accounts, non-availability of job cards
etc have also been adddressed to some extent.
Kamayani and Ashish volunteered with the Milwaukee chapter of AID in the US and are now working in Araria Bihar as well as are inititiating chapters in Bihar. Here is their latest report. Contact: ashish.ranjanjha@gmail.com, kamayani02@yahoo.com. June 2009 Report It has been around three months since we updated you about the happenings in Araria. So here is another update from where we left last time [Past Report] We would like to start this update with some positive developments…. 1- Works were opened in all the six panchayats where workers had applied for work (around December 2008), our rough estimate is that works worth 18 lakhs were opened in these panchayats, after 16-17th March.
 2- Post Office accounts [2] were opened in places where they had been pending for a long time. For example in Jamua GP no NREGA accounts had been opened till the time of the visit, but over 400 accounts have been opened since, meaning payments to workers can be made in these GPs without glitches. 3- Pending payments were made for works in Sharanpur and Jamua GPs. These developments came at the end of a long journey, some of which you are already aware of and the rest follows… As you may recall, from the last update, in a public meeting held on 9th February, 2009 in Patna the Principal Secretary, Rural Development, Bihar Government in a public forum said that the Araria district administration had stated that workers who apply for work under NREGA are not interested in working and so when asked to come to work they do not report. The Principal Secretary at the same time had stated that he did not believe this claim of the district administration and planned to send a ‘jaanch’ team to Araria to find out the truth. Report from the District Administration Our first focus then became getting a copy of the district administration’s report to the Department of Rural development, Bihar Government. The report, which we got a couple of days later, was a clear attempt at maligning the JJA and rubbishing the whole demand for work under the NREGA as a manipulation by the JJA. The report sent by the District Magistrate (DM), based on the report of the Programme Officer (PO), NREGA of Araria block was sent a day after our collective protest at the Araria NREGA office on 29th January, 2009. Below is a table giving the claims made in the administration’s report and an attempt to give the true picture from the JJA’s end:
Given
the falsity of the report, we decided to take the report to the workers
of Araria block. We spent days in our panchayats sharing the details of
the reports. As an annexure to the report we found copies of two Gram
Panchayat (GP) Mukhiyas stating that supporters and karyakartas of the
Abhiyan like kamayani, ashish, Ranjit and
Mahesh ji were ‘asamajik tatva’, meaning anti-social elements, and we
shared these too with the workers and village residents. Sometimes the
workers just laughed ‘kaam nahin karna chahte to Punjab haryana kyun jaate’ (If
we did not want to work why would we go to Punjab-Haryana) but some
things made them angry, for example the allegation that JJA had paid
for their visits to the block, made many workers angry for visits to
the block meant expenses that had to be covered by workers with little
income, or long walks and cycle expeditions. After the sharing we would
inform everyone about the upcoming jaanch from Patna. An Unpardonable Shame During
one of our stays in Jamua Panchayat, we came to know of a sad episode
in which the PO, Araria block had used fraud to scare workers of the
panchayat to sign on some papers, supposedly stating that they did not
want unemployment allowance and had only applied for work on the
insistence of the JJA. On February 5th a
few workers from Jamua Panchayat went to an ongoing NREGA worksite.
They were amongst the 48 workers who had applied for work but had not
got work. They wanted to find out when they would be given work. The
NREGA PO was also present at the worksite. In response to the workers
queries the PO told them that JJA karyakartas, (Mahesh Kumer and
Ranjit) had been arrested. He then rang up someone and put his phone on
the speaker. Workers heard someone from the other side pleading for his
release. The PO claimed this was Mahesk Kumar, a JJA supporter who had
been active in mobilizing workers under the JJA banner. The voice said
“mujhe maaf kar dijiye, mein phir aisa nahin karoonga, meri betiyon ki
shaadi honi hai …”. The PO then said that a case had also been
registered against the 48 local workers but he would ensure that the
case was revoked provided the workers signed certain papers. Scared by
what they had heard on the phone and believing the PO, the workers
signed on papers provided to them by the PO. The PO then took one of
them on his motorcycle to his village and got some more of the 48
workers to sign these papers, till a local worker started questioning
the PO. Having got some 7-8 people to sign the PO then left the village. We
made the district administration aware of this episode, but did not
hear back from them. At the same time we had sent a copy of this letter
to the Principal Secretary wanting to be sure that the jaanch team
would have a clear idea of the ground reality when they came to Araria. Chandrama Singh, DDC Saharsa during Jaanch in G.P Kismat Khawaspur While
the talk about the jaanch started in early February, the jaanch team
would take longer to come to Araria than we thought. Around 9th March
a little jittery that while the jaanch team was not visiting Araria no
effort was being made by the block administration open NREGA works to
meet the local work demand, we decided to meet the Principal Secretary
again. We went to talk to him earnestly emphasizing that people wanted
work while the jaanch could happen at it’s own pace works needed to be
opened immediately so that workers could get some work before works for
the year 2007-08 were closed on 31st March. As
before the Principal Secretary's response was very positive and it was
arranged that a jaanch team was organized and sent to Araria
immediately. On 16th March
members of the jaanch team arrived in Araria. The jaanch was
transparent and JJA representatives were present during the jaanch
procedure. We are not completely satisfied by the jaanch report. Though
it pointed out the irregularities of the local administration, it
failed to make a case for people’s entitlement to unemployment
allowance and did not attempt to look into the intimidation used by the
PO. However as of now the state administration has asked the DM Araria
to identify those who are responsible for the irregularities found in
the jaanch and take action. The state office has also promised us
action against those responsible. We see the jaanch as a fruitful
exercise that has finally led to the opening of works in the GPs where
a clear demand for work was raised. This is a signal that people’s
demand will be heard provided there is a collective action and
perseverance, combined with administrative responsiveness. Future Actions: Mobilisation for work: The
JJA has planned to mobilize for the next round of work under the NREGA
for the year 2009-2010. The next padyatra is scheduled in the next few
days and will target to reach new tolas of GPs we already have a base
in. Observing worksites: We
have tried to keep a record of the works opened after the jaanch. When
we made a tally we found that none of the 14 worksites where works were
opened had muster rolls on the site, when JJA supporters and workers
visited, though attendance is to be taken only in the MR and the MR is
to be kept at the work site as per the Act. Boards which are mandated
in the Act, were found only on 5 worksites and facilities to be
provided under the Act, like drinking water, medicines, shade and
crčche for worker’s children below the age of 6, were found to be
missing at most worksites. These lacunas are discussed with local
workers and residents, making them aware of the gap between their
entitlements and the reality. Similarly the local administration is
also made aware of the situation. We plan to continue being the watchdog and will continue to pressurize the administration to take corrective measures. A Board in GP Sharanpur, with more information Accounts (From Dec-6 to May 15th) http://spreadsheets.google.com Incase you have problems viewing this account spreadsheet online, please request us for a pdf document. Lack
of awareness about NREGA entitlements amongst workers is very high and
so the survey was a good way to generate awareness to ensure that
people know that 100 days of work is a right. As part of checking the
transparency safeguards we also did some muster roll verification
exercises (kind of social audit) and found a leakage of about 50 % in
wages that have been paid. These
activities generated a lot of interest amongst local groups and people
who are genuinely interested in issues of social change. This interest
became the basis of the formation of the 'Jan Jagaran Abhiyan,
Araria' which is focusing on NREGA, Right to Information (RTI) and
issues of justice. The
Abhiyan does not take institutional funds. For more information and to volunteer or individually support please contact: Ashish and kamayani A-5, Siddharth Apartment, Jagdeo Path, Off bailey Road, Patna, Bihar- 14. ph: 9771950248, 9973363664 Kamayani02@yahoo.com, ashish. [1] http://ngos. [2] In
October 2008, it was made mandatory to make all NREGA payments for
worker’s wages through post office / bank accounts. This is the
Governent’s way to ensure that money reaches a worker’s account
directly nd chances of it’s being siphoned are reduced. However the
postal system and civil administration are simply not equipped to deal
with such large number of accounts. Also, vested interests who
benefited from seepage (corrupt officials and people’s representatives)
are not interested in wage transfers through accounts but want to
continue cash payments. Both these factors contribute to the slowness
in opening of accounts. But the Araria district administration blamed
workers for this tardiness, while most workers realizing the benefit of
accounts have been actively cooperating to get their accounts opened.
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