National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.UPA plans to involve citizens in tracking NREGA's progress.We can share details of tax evaders: Switzerland
Govt approves grading system in CBSE schools!Local apathy killing NREGS!
Rejigging NREGA, the wrong way
Brinda Karat Tags : brinda karat, NREGA, India
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is once again in the news, for the wrong reasons. Arbitrary changes in the guidelines by the rural development ministry, has turned a requirement into a controversial, self-defeating exercise. Former members of the National Advisory Council like Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze and their colleagues who have been working in a sustained way on NREGA, have opposed the new proposals. They have made a valid criticism on the lack of discussion. Recently, on the birth anniversary of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, it was declared that Lok Sewaks are to be appointed in every village to implement NREGA. Has any state government been consulted on this? And why should proposed panchayat bhavans in villages be mandatorily named after the late prime minister? Don't villages have heroes who merit recognition? Over-centralisation is one of the problems of an otherwise extremely important piece of social legislation.
However the contention of the critics of the new proposals, that there should be no changes in the Act till it is fully and properly implemented is not in tune with the experience of the last four years of the Act's implementation, particularly for workers. As far as the government proposals are concerned, they need to be modified and clarified rather than rejected.
From the workers' point of view, the main issue that requires change is to shift from piece-rated to time-rated work. Harsh conditions of work, the very nature of the work and the high productivity norms make it extremely difficult to earn a minimum wage even after a full day's work which has been unfairly extended to nine hours. When REGA started the standard norm was to dig at least 100 cubic feet a day and to lift out the mud. Rough calculations put that around 1000 to 1500 kilos of mud a day depending on the type of soil being dug. It is hardly a relief measure to expect a malnourished woman to carry that kind of load to earn a day's wage. Since the base level is so high even the decreased productivity norms subsequently made by many states hardly helps. It would be fair to adopt a time-rated system.
Loopholes make NREGA monitoring impossible
At the meeting of the Congress Working Committee here on Wednesday, the party endorsed the idea of making the NREGA a crucial piece of the drought relief efforts. However, it reiterated that for the NREGA to fulfil its aim of providing "critical minimum livelihood support" to drought-affected families, it was "imperative" to ensure that it is implemented "efficiently".
Giving voice to the concern on execution of the programme, the party's apex decision making body stressed on the need for better monitoring to ensure its effective implementation. At the meeting, CWC members expressed concern about the gaps in the programme's rollout on the ground. Corruption in the programme, including diversion of funds and beneficiaries not being paid their full due wages, were other causes of worry.
This was also reflected in Congress president Sonia Gandhi's letter to Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs as well. The letter written ahead of Wednesday's meeting, called on state units of the party to engage in active monitoring of the scheme. Ms Gandhi had asked states to provide regular feed back on its implementation to AICC general secretaries.
Rural development minister CP Joshi who was invited to the CWC briefed members on the programme and its role in mitigating the impact of drought. Mr Joshi stressed on the role that the programme plays in ensuring that people in affected areas are not displaced in their search for livelihood.
Concerned that poor implementation would hamper the effectiveness of the NREGA in offsetting the adverse impact of drought, some CWC members stressed on the need for improvement to the monitoring process. It was suggested that monitoring should be undertaken by local people. Members also drew attention to the unavailability of job cards, slow flow of funds, delays in payment of wages, and possible misappropriation of funds as cause for concern.
Taking into account these reservations, the CWC called on party workers to utilise the Right to Information Act to ensure that the programmes is being implemented properly. The resolution also calls on all party workers at all levels to be fully involved in the management and monitoring of the drought relief efforts including NREGA. The meeting, attended by 10 of the 12 Congress CMs, stressed on the responsibility of the state governments to ensure that the NREGA achieves the goal of providing critical minimum livelihood support.
The "frontline onus" for effective rollout of the programme was on the states. To this end state governments were asked to ensure that job cards are made available, appropriate public work activites are created, flow of funds to the grassroot level is done smoothly, wages are paid in a timely and transparent manner.
The party's concern is not misplaced. Launched in February 2006, NREGA initially covered only 200 districts. In 2007-08 it was another 130 and eventually extended to cover 593 districts. A drought situation in nearly one-third of the country will be the real test for this programme.
Only a small fraction of those covered by the programme have got 100 days of work. In 2008-09, only 14.48 per cent of a total of 4,49,40,870 rural households provided jobs under NREGA could get 100 days of employment.
In 2007-08, just 10.62 per cent of the total 3,38,89,122 registered rural households were given 100 days of employment while in 2006-07, only 10.29 per cent of 2,09,83,491 households got 100 days of employment. According to the ministry of rural development, the national average of the number of working days per household under NREGA was 48 in the last fiscal and it was 25 days till May this year.
Concerns have also been expressed by Jean Dreze and Aruna Roy, considered the original architects of the NREGA. They have suggested that the government consolidate on the programme before expanding its ambit. Issues of delays in the payment of wages, uneven implementation, malpractices such as the pledging of jobs cards for loans from the money lender are factors that are limiting the impact of the programme.
Despite these problems, the NREGA has proved to an effective tool in some areas. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has drawn attention to the benefits of convergence as evident in Gujarat, which focused on creation and restoration of water bodies.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development issued forecasts showing a broad return to economic expansion in the third quarter of 2009.
It also said that while authorities needed to map out a strategy for withdrawal of fiscal and monetary stimulus once recovery was surer, now was no time to economies off life support.
The recovery might prove a little stronger than previously predicted, OECD chief economist Jorgen Elmeskov told Reuters in an interview where he elaborated on the forecasts for several key economies.
"Compared with expectations a few months ago, we now have a recovery which ... may be coming a little earlier and it may be slightly stronger because financial conditions have improved more rapidly than we assumed a few months ago," Elmeskov said.
The OECD forecasts show a third-quarter return to annualized quarter-on-quarter growth in the United States of 1.6 percent, 1.1 percent in Japan, and 0.3 percent in the 16-country euro zone, led by its two largest economies, Germany and France.
The pickup that started with a "quite dramatic turnaround" in China and other Asian emerging market economies in the second quarter remained heavily dependent on government stimulus and ultra-low interest rates across the world, Elmeskov said.
| Also Read |
| → China to buy $50 billion of first IMF bonds |
| → G20 eyes bankers' pay amid warnings over recovery |
| → ECB keeps interest rate at historic low of 1.0 pc |
| → New US jobless claims fell last week |
TURNING POINT FOR G7
While it predicted continued third-quarter contractions in Britain and Italy, and a rise followed by a fourth-quarter dip for Japan, the OECD said the broad picture for the G7 group of industrialized powers was better.
The forecasts, including information up to Sept 2, show the euro area turning positive in both of the last two quarters of 2009 after five straight quarters of contraction.
Indeed, a monthly business survey on Thursday showed an index measuring activity in the euro zone manufacturing and services sectors combined now edging into expansion territory in August.
The OECD now expects 2 percent annualized growth in the euro zone in the fourth quarter, compared with its June prediction for a 0.5 percent contraction.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank raised its staff projections for euro zone GDP this year and next, predicting growth in 2010 of between -0.5 percent and +0.9 percent.
UID chairman Nandan Nilekani and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi will attend the workshop, which will unveil "the second phase of NREGA".
"This will be a gala event and will take NREGA to the next level as far as implementation is concerned," a source said.
According to sources in the ministry, UID numbers will be coupled with NREGA and urban development ministry-allocated employment cards as one of the first examples of its applicability.
"This will be a symbolic start to both the UID and the second phase of NREGA," a source in the rural development ministry said.
NREGA will be expanded to cover 27 projects. "So far, NREGA works were restricted to preservation of water bodies and other such prescribed activity, but now, NREGA activities will include farm labour and road building as well.
This has been done keeping in mind that we are in the midst of a drought-like situation," the source said.
Times of India reports!
The UPA brass is discussing a proposal to extend the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, the smart-card driven health insurance scheme for BPL section, to all NREGA workers. The beneficiaries of rural job scheme, who have worked for 15 or more days in an year, may be considered for it.
The throwing of RSBY cover to NREGA beneficiaries across the board will be significant. RSBY caters to the BPL section while the rural job scheme attracts people from both BPL and APL categories.
To calculate the "extra burden" which the proposal would bring on the Centre, sources said rural development ministry has been asked to identify the APL beneficiaries among NREGA workers.
It may be enormous, given that 75% of the costs of health insurance are borne by the Centre. NREGA, being dubbed as the panacea to all problems, drought or poverty, is attracting poor in big numbers. The possible cost implications of the proposal in future will be known only once it achieves saturation.
But with records showing 4.5 crore rural households getting employment in 2008-09 under NREGA, even the current levels of NREGA performance could mean big financial costs for the Centre.
A government readiness to mull the RSBY-NREGA proposal in times of fiscal hardship means a concerted Congress bid to bolster its 'aam aadmi' image. The supplementing of wage employment for BPL and APL segments with health cover shows a step to consolidate the Centre's imprimatur on welfare politics.
In operational terms, it poses a question about the fate of RSBY to NREGA workers in states like Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh which have refused to accept the central health scheme.
While both the Congress-ruled states have cited domestic health insurance schemes as reason for turning down the central one, the latter's linking with NREGA may result in pressure from people who would be deprived of RSBY.
According to observers, the move holds a big potential in plugging leakages in pro-poor schemes.
RSBY uses smart cards for identification which, if the proposal goes through, would cover all NREGA workers. It may raise the possibility of bringing NREGA under smart cards in place of `job cards' in future, thereby making it less prone to corruption by operational staff as is rampant.
In a meeting with the Central team, which came here to take stock of drought and famine situation in the state, Gehlot said more than 50 per cent Kharif crop has been damaged and most of the villages in 26 districts of the state have been declared scarcity-hit, an official said.
He told the nine-member team, headed by Upma Choudhary, joint secretary of Union Ministry for Agriculture and Cooperative, that the job days limit under NREGA should be increased by 100-day in the drought-hit areas, the official said.
"An additional agreement will be signed," Sergei Chemezov, head of Rostekhnologii, told a news conference in Moscow.
Under the original $1.5 billion 2004 contract between Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Indian Navy, which includes delivery of MiG-29K Fulcrum carrier-based fighters, the work on the aircraft carrier was to have been completed in 2008.
However, Russia later claimed it had underestimated the scale and the cost of the modernisation, and asked for an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi said was "exorbitant".
After long-running delays and disputes, India offered in February 2008 to raise the refit costs for the aircraft carrier, docked at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia for the past 12 years, by up to $600 million.
Russia said it was not satisfied with the proposed amount and the issue of the additional funding remains unresolved.
Talks on the additional funding agreement are currently underway. Russia has pledged to finish the Admiral Gorshkov's overhaul as soon as possible and deliver it to India in 2012 if the additional $1.2 billion funding is provided by New Delhi.
According to Russian media, India has no alternative but to allocate the required funds, despite recent objections from the government's accounting office, because the Indian Navy desperately needs to replace its INS Viraat, which, although currently operational, is now 50 years old.
After modernisation, the carrier will join the Indian Navy as INS Vikramaditya, and is expected to be seaworthy for 30 years.
Admiral Gorshkov is a modified Kiev class aircraft carrier, originally named Baku.
The ship was laid down in 1978 at the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned with the Soviet Navy in 1987.
It was renamed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In 1994, following a boiler room explosion, the Admiral Gorshkov sat in dock for a year for repairs. After a brief return to service in 1995, it was finally withdrawn from service in 1996 and put up for sale.
The ship's displacement is 45,000 tonnes. It has a maximum speed of 32 knots and an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots.
"We are open to renegotiation of the treaty to include tax evasion, which is a crime here. The first round of talks will take place soon," Leuthard told reporters here.
The Swiss minister said that the offer had been made by her country to other nations with which it has similar treaties.
"It means that if India has a case of tax evasion against a citizen who has an account in our banks, then India can apply through set procedures to know the details," she said.
As per the Swiss ambassador to India Philippe Welti, the bilateral discussions will take place before the end of this year.
Leuthard is here to take part in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial discussions.
Swiss banking secrecy had been in the news recently after India was refused permission to look through accounts of UBS AG. The US had, however, been allowed access to details of over 4,000 bank account holders.
It is expected that Switzerland would allow the sharing of bank account details of Indian citizens once the revised double taxation treaty is drawn up and signed.
The move is part of the follow-up action planned by the rural development ministry to ensure better implementation of the scheme, on which the government has spent Rs 1,67,824.18 crore since 2006, by focusing on transparency and public accountability. The government is working to improve the delivery of NREGA, which covers only 14% of households all over India and touches just 1.87% of those in the drought-hit areas, and to address the loopholes in the implementation process, which deprives real beneficiaries of its benefits.
The ministry discussed 12 such follow-up measures at a meeting on August 26, which include ensuring 100 days of wages as guaranteed by the scheme, addressing the issue of late and uneven wages, provision of technical support for the scheme and the setting up of ombudsman at the state-level.
One of the most interesting of these proposals is a plan to involve citizens in monitoring the scheme by getting 100 eminent persons, drawn from "judiciary academics, civil services and society", according to an internal ministry note, to report on the implementation of the scheme.
This group, according to top sources in the ministry, will not be encumbered by official goodies and perks and hence can be expected to present an "unbiased" view of the situation on ground. However, it is unclear how these "100 persons of eminence" will be selected to ensure that their views remain independent. However, the effort is a first by the ministry. Government sources said this information will be shared with the media.
The move is aimed at addressing the many lacunae in the effective implementation of NREGA, which has become a key instrument to address unemployment and other crises, such as the drought, and to ensure a modicum of food security.
Rural development minister C P Joshi had himself highlighted the problems with the scheme when he talked of the challenges in its implementation at a recent workshop on the issue in the Capital. With Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi emerging as one of the chief votaries of the scheme, effective implementation of NREGA is being accorded top priority in the government.
While rural development ministry is set to notify a wage-bar of Rs 100 under job guarantee scheme, minister C P Joshi said, "The manifesto promise of Rs 100 wage is for this government."
It means till 2014, a state hiking its minimum agricultural wage beyond Rs 100 will have to shoulder it itself.
A source called it a desperate bid to buffer NREGA funds from populism and cynicism among states on the lines of "why bother when Centre pays".
Facts bear out that NREGA has been the catalyst for states hiking minimum wages, a non-issue till then. The frequency and quantum of increase has been significant post-2005 when UPA announced a centrally-funded job scheme. The trend shows that most hikes have come ahead of elections, as sops.
This week, poll-bound Maharashtra removed any doubts about the political link to minimum wages by giving a steep rise from Rs 40 to Rs 120.
Punjab has hiked its wages four times since 2005. It stood at Rs 92 in 2005 before going up to Rs 100 in 2007 and Rs 129 in September 2008, and now Rs 133 in March 2009.
Gujarat is the best example of NREGA's impact on wage hikes. It stood at Rs 50 in 2002 before being doubled to Rs 100 in August 2008, in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls.
In Andhra Pradesh, the minimum wages were Rs 52 since 2002 before being hiked to Rs 80 in 2008, the long gap showing the hand of NREGA and politics behind it. It has since been increased further to Rs 119.
The wage hikes in West Bengal have followed the same schedule. While they stood at Rs 68 in 2004, the state increased them to Rs 75 in 2007 and to Rs 81 in 2008.
While observers see the hikes as a positive trend, with job scheme ensuring a labourer good returns for his hard work, many feel its impact on farm labour has to be watched. A labour exodus from farms in view of higher wages under job scheme is seen as dangerous.
As a result, sources said the Centre would only announce a cap of Rs 100 and not make it an across-the-board wage. "The states will have to tell us on the amount to be fixed for them because they will decide it keeping in mindNREGA's impact on agriculture," a source said.
State rural development and Panchayati Raj minister Jairam Thakur today said that the meetings were being organised with special emphasis to educate small and marginal farmers regarding land development, irrigation facility and horticulture activities besides other rural development activities under NREGA.
Earlier, only scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and BPL families were covered under the scheme, but now small and marginal farmers farmers have also been included irrespective of caste, Thakur said in a statement.
ÜSeveral tribals in Orissa have found an innovative way for raising a quick loan from the local moneylender: pledge their NREGA job cards to him and take an advance. They only have to sign occasionally on records to show they work on a project under the NREGA; most of the time they don't know what and where the work is. The moneylender, in league with the local junior engineer and other officials, claims payments against the fake muster rolls.
ÜIn some villages of northern Kerala's Wayanad district, workers are employed at private farms, mostly owned by rich farmers, but paid by the government under the NREGA.
The UPA government committed Rs39,100 crore to its flagship social sector programme, the NREGA, in this year's budget. But any expansion of the scheme must be preceded by strict remedial measures and institutional mechanisms to fix glaring loopholes of the first phase, say experts.
Case studies, such as those cited above, show that the NREGA is riddled with inefficiencies, corruption and lack of accountability, prompting experts to demand immediate action by the government to improve the Act. Failing this, they say, the rural employment scheme could end up like other government initiatives -- corrupt, mismanaged and failing in its explicit purpose of improving the lives of the poor. The scheme, launched in February 2006, initially covered 200 districts; by the end of 2008, it covered 593 districts. The financial outlay in 2006-07 was Rs11,000 crore.
"The implementation of the NREGA has been uneven across the country... The first priority of the government must be to ensure that the basic framework is in place... and that citizens in rural India can exercise their right to work on demand, minimum wages, timely payment, etc. Short of that, it is meaningless and distracting to talk of NREGA 2," a group of NGOs and experts said in a statement on August 5.
"I am a little nervous about this NREGA-2 talk. For one thing, there is still much groundwork to do for the success of NREGA-1, with its focus on core entitlements like work on demand, minimum wages and payment within 15 days," says professor Jean Dreze, economist and a leading expert on the NREGA.
Consider the current drought situation, where NREGA could be used as an effective tool against this crippling economic reality. Instead, the employment numbers have gone down in summer, across northern India.
The government's refusal to be held accountable is a key concern. To address this, experts suggest an independent grievance redressal system for NREGA. "The biggest challenge facing NREGA is the need for an effective grievance redressal system," says Dreze. "Most of the grievance provisions under the Act have been quietly sidelined, whether it is the unemployment allowance or the penalty clause or the compensation principle. The governments don't seem to be interested in making themselves accountable to the people."
Reetika Khera, an economist affiliated to the Delhi School of Economics and working on NREGA and other issues in Jharkhand, points out that "there is no one to hold state governments accountable" for their lapses, such as the refusal to give receipts for applications or work, and failure to provide an unemployment allowance. "The same is true as far as timely payment of wages is concerned. Under the NREGA, wages are to be paid within 15 days. Failing this, labourers are to be compensated as per the Payment of Wages Act, 1936. This norm on timely wage payments is being violated routinely in several states today...There is no accountability and state governments are being allowed to get away with this," says Khera who, along with Professor Dreze, forced the governmentto pay Rs2000 each to 265 NREGA workers in compensation for delayed wages in Khunti in Jharkhand in June 2009. It remains the only instance when the government relented to pay so many people for delayed wages under NREGA.
Says Joe Madiath, who head Gram Vikas, Orissa's biggest NGO with wide presence across tribal districts: "There is no doubt that no other government programme has worked so well in such a short time. But it is important to have a vigorous independent regulatory authority that is empowered to inspect anyone, anywhere."
While a recent study by the National Council of Applied Economic Research and Public Interest Foundation suggests that NREGA implementation has been varied across India, all is not lost. In states such as Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, the Act seems to be working far more efficiently than in most other states. These states comprise 46% of all accounts (in banks and post offices) opened for rural workers to receive NREGA wages. "This is a great innovation and when this process gets completed it would mean a lot for financial inclusion," the study says.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_warts-show-up-in-centre-s-flagship-nrega_1282949
| Pessimism about economy uncalled for: Prime Minister |
FOCUS ON DROUGHT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presides over the Planning Commission meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. He is flanked by the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia (left), and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the effects of the global meltdown had begun to wear out and asserted that UPA II was in a commanding position to tackle drought.
Terming the pessimism about the economy unwarranted, Dr. Singh, chairing the first full-fledged meeting of the Planning Commission in his second tenure here, said: "We are in a very strong position to manage the consequence of drought. Our food stocks in particular are very high. We should not be over-pessimistic." The country had a buffer stock of 50 million tonnes of foodgrains, enough to meet the requirements of the Public Distribution System for 13 months.
Underlying strengthsWhile the economy had to deal with the lingering effects of the global slowdown and the impact of drought, it also had underlying strengths built over the years. The government's focus now was on drought management including protecting the kharif crop and ensuring a normal rabi crop.
"The government is giving focussed attention to all aspects of drought management, including relief measures. The NREGA [National Rural Employment Guarantee Act] gives us a very important instrument for supporting incomes of those most in need. We must make all efforts to converge NREGA and other agricultural and rural schemes to minimise the impact of drought during 2009-10."
Indicating a recasting of public-private partnership norms, especially in infrastructure, to revive investment, Dr. Singh said: "The progress in the implementation of PPP projects has been less than what we would have wanted. We are taking steps to streamline the process so that PPP projects can move faster." He also underlined the need for expanding the scope of PPP to include projects in the social sectors such as health, education and urban development.
Dr. Singh suggested that the Planning Commission interact with the Ministries concerned to exploit the opportunity for PPP but, he cautioned, any initiative must not weaken the commitment to inclusiveness. "We have to ensure that the momentum of planned development is maintained in the next two years [of the 11th Plan] and that our flagship programmes are fully funded."
The global meltdown had constrained resource mobilisation and capital flows to developing economies, hitting investments — key to economic growth. As a result, India's economic growth slipped to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09 from about nine per cent the previous fiscal. The Commission expected that it would fall to 6.3 per cent in 2009-10. "We have been through a difficult year because of the global economic downturn which is only now coming to an end with a slow return to normalcy in the months that lie ahead," Dr. Singh said.
On the Integrated Energy Policy, the Prime Minister said rational energy policies were also critical for rational responses to the threat of climate change. "This is a new compulsion and we need to assess whether we are on track in critical aspects of our energy policies."
Lalit Mehta Sahadat Divas: A day of solidarity with NREGA activists and protest against state repression
On 14 May 2008, Lalit Mehta was brutally murdered in Palamau District, just as a social audit of NREGA was about to begin in the area. One year later, on 14 May 2009, a public meeting ("aam sabha") will be taking place in Daltonganj to remember Lalit and also to protest against state repression of NREGA activists in Jharkhand and elsewhere.
Ever since the Act came into force three years ago, NREGA activists have been a prime target of state repression. In Jharkhand, Lalit Mehta's tragic death was quickly followed by the murder of Kameshwar Yadav, the suicide of Tapas Soren, and a spate of other NREGA-related deaths. Similar incidents have occurred in Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and elsewhere. Hundreds of NREGA activists have also been jailed under false charges or beaten up. The time has come to raise our voice, together, against these human rights violations.
As it happens, 14 May 2009 will also be the second anniversary of Binayak Sen's arrest in Raipur. This abuse of power, too, needs to be opposed.
You are invited to join this solidarity day. The programme will start around 9.30 am and conclude in the evening with candlelight procession and cultural programme. Please stay for the full duration is possible (simple accommodation will be available in Daltonganj on 14th). Daltonganj can be reached by bus or train from Ranchi, Patna, Varanasi and Allahabad.
This event is an initiative of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Jharkhand. For further information please contact Vikas Sahyog Kendra (06566-285 483), James Herenj (09470396732), Jawahar (09430126909), Gurjeet (09431120534) or Mithilesh (09431193202).
Ayojan Samiti, Lalit Mehta Sahadat Divas
(Ajit, Birender, Gurjeet, James, Jawahar, Sunita)
Related posts
http://www.binayaksen.net/2009/04/lalit-mehta-sahadat-divas/
G20 eyes bankers' pay amid warnings over recovery
G20 finance ministers meet here tomorrow to chart the next steps out of the global economic crisis, with calls to curb bankers' bonuses as
rules topping the agenda.
But on the eve of the meeting their British host Alistair Darling warned against complacency due to emerging signs of recovery from the world's worst global slowdown in generations.
"The biggest single risk to recovery is that people think the job is done. There is a real risk that either governments or people generally think 'We have done that, we are on the path to recovery'," he told The Independent newspaper.
The ministers are facing European calls to crack down on bonuses, which many blame for encouraging excessive risk-taking, as they prepare for a full summit of Group of 20 leaders in Pittsburgh on September 24-25.
With Japan, France and Germany officially out of recession, minds are also turning to coordinating the withdrawal of stimulus packages and government bailouts for banks- although with caution.
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is an Indian job guarantee scheme, enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005. The NREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage. The Central government outlay for schemes under this act is Rs. 39,100 crores in FY 2009-10.
This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural people, primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living in rural India, whether or not they are below the poverty line. Roughly one-third of the stipulated work force must be women.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Political background
The act was brought about by the UPA coalition government under the pressure from left parties. The promise of this project was one of the major factors that gained UPA victory in the Indian general election, 2004.
Dr. Jean Drèze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School of Economics, has been a major influence on this project.
[edit] The plan
The NREGA is an act and can be amended only by Parliament. The act directs state governments to implement NREG "schemes". Under the NREGA the Central Government meets the cost towards the payment of wage, 3/4 of material cost and some percentage of administrative cost. State Governments meet the cost of unemployment allowance, 1/4 of material cost and administrative cost of State council. Since the State Governments pay the unemployment allowance, they are heavily incentivized to offer employment to workers. However, it is up to the State Government to decide the amount of unemployment allowance, subject to the stipulation that it not be less than 1/4th the minimum wage for the first 30 days, and not less than 1/2 the minimum wage thereafter. 100 days of employment (or unemployment allowance) per household must be provided to able and willing workers every financial year.
Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with photo to the Gram Panchayat. The Panchayat registers households after verification and issues a job card. The job card contains the details of the adult member enrolled and his/her photo. A registered person can submit an application for work in writing (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to the panchayat or to Programme Officer.
The panchayat/programme officer accepts the valid application and issue a dated receipt of application. A letter providing employment will be sent to the applicant and also displayed at the panchayat office. Employment will be provided if possible within a radius of 5 km; if it is above 5 km, transport allowance and 10% extra living allowance will be paid. New public works can be started when at least 50 workers become available who cannot be absorbed under existing schemes. If employment under the scheme is not provided within fifteen days of receipt of the application daily unemployment allowance will be paid to the applicant.
No discrimination between men and women is allowed under the act. Therefore, men and women must be paid the same wage. All adults can apply for employment, not just those below the poverty line.
[edit] History and Funding
The scheme started from February 2, 2006 in 200 districts, was expanded to cover another 130 districts in 2007-2008 and eventually covered all 593 districts in India in 2008. The outlay was Rs. 11,000 crores in 2006-2007, and has been rising steeply, to Rs. 39,100 crores in 2009-2010.
[edit] Implementation
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its performance audit of the implementation of NREGA has found "significant deficiencies" in the implementation of the act.The plan was launched in February 2006 in 200 districts and eventually extended to cover 593 districts. 4,49,40,870 rural households were provided jobs under NREGA during 2008-09, with an national average of 48 working days per household.[1]
[edit] Works/Activities
The NREGA achieves twin objectives of rural development and employment. The NREGA stipulates that works must be targeted towards a set of specific rural development activities such as: water conservation and harvesting, afforestation, rural connectivity, flood control and protection such as construction and repair of embankments, etc. Digging of new tanks/ponds, percolation tanks and construction of small check dams are also carried out under this scheme. Micro irrigation work such as construction of small canals is also carried out. The scheme provides irrigation facilities to land owned by people coming under SC/STs, beneficiaries of land reforms, Indra Awas Yojana, etc. Renovation of traditional water bodies is also carried out. This involves desilting of tanks/ponds, old canals, open wells, etc. Land development is also given importance. The employed are given work such as land leveling, tree plantation, etc.
[edit] IT implementation
NREGA is the first programme having been implemented with full IT support. TATA Consultancy Services, India's largest IT/ITES sector company has designed the software solution for the state of Andhra Pradesh. NIC, a government of India undertaking, developed solution has been implemented in other areas.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official web site of NREGA
- Official web site of NREGS, Andhra Pradesh
- Web site of the Right to Food Campaign, India (contains a wealth of material on the EGA)
- A primer to the NREGA
- Shovelling for their supper, Apr 24th 2008, The Economist
- Reality check of the Scheme -1
- Reality check of the Scheme -2
- Reality check of the Scheme -3
- Reality check of the Scheme -4
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| * Retaining Job Cards Of Laborers Is A Violation Of The NREGA Law |
| * Retaining Job Cards Of Laborers Is A Violation Of The NREGA Law By Dayamani Barla Published in Prabhat 23 April 2007 Why is it that no description of the work done by the laborers under the various projects ongoing in the village under the aegis of NREGA is being entered into their Job Cards? In reply to this the Chief of the village, James Kandulana says, "Previously too no details of any work done were ever noted. Hence it was decided that there is no need to enter the particulars on the Job Cards now."* Retaining Job Cards Of Laborers Is A Violation Of The NREGA Law
Translation of "majdooron ka job card rakhna narega kanoon ka ullanghan" By Dayamani Barla Published in Prabhat 23 April 2007 (Translation by Vidya Jonnalagadda) "You have a young child. How can you work?" The literate people were told, "You cannot do this work. That is why no Job Cards can be made in your name". "These were the reasons given and we were not able to get our Job Cards made" complained the rural folk of Romjaal village of Banki Panchayat in Bano Block (of Jharkand) during the village assembly on ninth March. They also added this: "For those who did get their Job Cards made, the Cards are being held by the Gram Sevak (Village Worker)." Why is it that no description of the work done by the laborers under the various projects ongoing in the village under the aegis of NREGA is being entered into their Job Cards? In reply to this the Chief of the village, James Kandulana says, "Previously too no details of any work done were ever noted. Hence it was decided that there is no need to enter the particulars on the Job Cards now." The villagers have no information about either where work is going on under the NREGA or what type of work is in progress. On the other hand, Village Chief James Kandulana says, "Works under NREGA have commenced in Banki Panchayat right from 2006. The Romjaal pond construction began in 2006 itself. Initiation of pond construction in Badlum and Kanaaronva also took place in 2006." According to him, the Job Cards for the laborers were made in January 2007. During the assembly, the people raised the question as to whether only the Village Chief has the right to have knowledge regarding the developmental schemes underway. (They insisted that) all villagers also have a right to this information. The grievance of the villagers is that when the Job Cards were being made, the leaders and those people who have always been in close contact with the officials at the Block Office prepared Cards only for those who they favored. In case of the people they disliked, the applicants were told that "your child is too young". In cases of a few youth who had some level of education, they were told, "you are not eligible for this work." This is the reason why all the people who could have received Job Cards in the village do not have them even today. The resentful villagers are raising this question, "When were the elections held in our village to choose the Village Chief and who held them? We have no information at all about this!" For the record, all the NREGA works here are under the stranglehold of the agents of Rural Development Minister Anos Ekka. According to the villagers, no benefit is accruing to the rural folk from any on the development schemes at all. Those who should have been allotted a BPL (Below Poverty Line) number have not received one. Similarly, the needy do not get any succor under the Annapoorna and Antyodaya schemes. According to the information obtained from the Block Office, under the NREGA, one pond has been constructed in each of the villages of Girijatoli, Banki Ganzootoli and Pado Badlud. For the readers' information, the Law states that under the NREGA program, each able-bodied person in the village can avail of employment in the village. This includes women who have young children. For such women, arrangements will be made for child-care at the place of employment and the person providing the child-care would also be paid wages. Under the Law, no contractor or official has the right to retain the workers' Job Cards in their own custody. It is stipulated that the work done each day by a worker has to be noted on their Job Card at the workplace (itself). |
NREGA: Breaking new ground
ARUNA ROY AND NIKHIL DEY
| The NREGA, the flagship programme of the UPA government, was revolutionary in its promise of inclusive growth, the right to work and the dignity of labour and a rational, participatory relationship with the State. And it has mostly delivered… |
An opportunity for rural renewal: An NREGA project site in Rajasthan.
Suddenly the NREGA has become a buzz word. It stands vindicated by the mandate of the people in its most basic evaluation in a democracy — the general elections. Basking in the glory and security of post-electoral analysis, it is actually the b est time for those who support the basic philosophy of the NREGA to focus on what it has done and what it has not, by its own parameters.
The first and the primary focus should be to examine its impact on the human resource base of rural India. Has it energised, mobilised, empowered, and delivered to India's poorest and most marginalised rural people? Secondly, has it provided those who were "not shining" a measure of dignity, tangible economic benefit, and a motivation to participate in local action? This is the crux, for, something as vast and ambitious as the NREGA can only succeed in bringing about change if millions of workers become its true advocates and monitors.
Let us begin with the most persistent charges of endemic corruption. Notwithstanding negative propaganda and the prominent reportage of corruption, NREGA stands apart from employment and poverty alleviation programmes in significant ways. It is the first national programme of consequence which has woven transparency and accountability into the mundane fabric of daily interaction of people with government. The cases of reported corruption have shocked the intelligentsia. The rural worker might often be the victim but will still offer critical support, not only because it has provided wage income, but also for facilitating disclosure, which helps identify and fight pilferage. In fact, in many cases, scams have been exposed by the workers themselves. NREGA gives an opportunity to break the feudally enforced silence of its victims. Through transparency and social audit measures, it allows anyone, anywhere to be part of the monitoring of the delivery system. The other programmes appear to be clean only because no one knows what goes on! The NREGA gives a further opportunity to realise the Constitutional sovereignty, the power of the people. What the political establishment would do well to understand is that the vote was not a blind endorsement, but the expression of a fragile hope of a rational participatory relationship with the government.
New claimsThe NREGA has opened up a unique legal space for the poor, with a consequent, legally-mandated obligation on the administration to deliver. In fact, implementation rests on the simple philosophy that ordinary people will go to great lengths to procure their entitlements, given the space to do so. Apart from systemic corruption, we are all aware of the chronic inefficiency, unwillingness and incapacities of the bureaucratic system to deliver entitlements for the poor. The persistent argument was that in this context implementation would be impossible. The NREGA sought to create real opportunities and legal spaces, with the belief that people will begin to push to overcome bureaucratic and political resistance. The electoral endorsement over, it is a good time to begin to examine this aspect of bottom-up implementation. Does the rights-based approach really work?
Total Transparency: The Janata Information System (JIS) in Vijaypura Gram Panchayat.
The Act has a number of "trigger mechanisms" designed to activate and establish people's entitlements. One such trigger is the right to have a Job Card. The Act mandates that anyone who applies at their Panchayat for a Job Card must be given one within 15 days. Without a Job Card, people cannot even apply for work, nor corroborate the records. It is a "license" and "pan card" of the wage worker's family, with a record of days of work and wages received during the year. There are many States where large numbers of people have demanded, but not received, Job Cards. In many Panchayats, the Job Cards are in the control of implementing agencies. Publicising the Job Card as a record of individual entitlements, to be updated by the authorities, and kept in possession of the workers, would ensure the NREGA is monitored by its workers.
Crucial accountabilityThe application for work and the dated receipt are crucial to trigger the demand for work. The receipt is also the basic record for claiming unemployment allowance if the work is not provided within 15 days. States like Rajasthan have fared well in providing Job Cards, and providing work within 15 days, but resistance to giving dated receipts has become a massive problem. No State has effectively activated this important mechanism. Nevertheless, it has worked when workers groups have got organised.
In the 30 years of existence of its precursor, the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, there is no recorded instance of payment of unemployment allowance. The NREGA has already recorded payment of unemployment allowance to large numbers of workers in chronically poorly-administered areas. The successful people's struggles for the payment of unemployment allowance — in Barwani District of Madhya Pradesh, Raichur of Karnataka, Bolangir, Navrangpur and Kalahandi of Orissa, Latehar in Jharkhand, Sitapur District of UP — has been a breakthrough in accountability, and an inspiration to other workers struggling for entitlements. The payment of unemployment allowance emanates from an administrative lapse, and is eventually deducted from the pocket of erring officials. It is not a freebie doled out of the government exchequer. Like the Right to Information Act, this has created an important mechanism for enforcing the right while holding the bureaucracy accountable.
The wage under NREGA has been another trigger and indicator of its success. The wage rate, the measurement system, and the timely payment of wages have all become part of the entitlement package. Thanks to NREGA, minimum wages have, for the first time, become a real factor in determining the lower limit for market wages. There are many ongoing struggles for the payment of minimum wages; and adopting a transparent measurement system for every work-site is a management challenge that has thrown up many grassroots solutions.
BottlenecksWage payments through NREGA have initiated the biggest "financial inclusion" drive, with the requirement that all wage payments be made through banks and post offices. The engineers, the accountants, and the post offices have been unable to cope, and late payments have begun to cripple the Act. Students and Academics, working together with workers' organisations in Khunti District in Jharkhand, have operationalised the entitlement in the NREGA to get Rs. 2,000/- per worker paid to over 300 workers as compensation for delayed payment under the provisions of the Payment of Wages Act. The Khunti payment, made last month, has once again demonstrated that the solution to the vexatious issue of late payments lies in the entitlement framework.
The uneven implementation in different States has shown that where people's struggles have gained political and administrative respect, the NREGA has shown tangible results on a massive scale. It is that battleground of struggle that could well determine the future of the political discourse in this country.
The Government of India has transferred adequate money to the States and Districts to make timely wage payments. Shri C.P. Joshi, the current Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, was reported to have talked about his party prospects in the polls being negatively affected because of late wage payments in Rajasthan. As Union Minister now, if he were to exercise his administrative and political will to ensure compensation is paid to those receiving delayed wage payments, the lethargic bureaucratic system will find a way to respond. Chronic delays in wage payments during the drought in Rajasthan became a political issue, and the delays were wiped out. Innovations and mechanisms respond to a bottom-up demand, but do so best when the political establishment puts pressure.
The NREGA also assures an adequate, realistic provision for administrative expenses. At the current six per cent of total costs which has been allowed for administrative costs, there is no legitimacy in citing a shortage of staff or resources for bureaucratic delay. In Rajasthan, for instance, the over 7,000 crores spent on NREGA last year amounts to a massive Rs. 450 crores available for administrative expenses per year. This kind of money and resources can, in fact, help gram Panchayats become properly resourced to better carry out their overall responsibilities. It can also help ensure that there is no excuse for the failure to carry out all transparency measures and put an effective grievance redressal mechanism in place.
Biggest contributionTransparency and accountability to the poorest and the weakest is in fact the biggest potential contribution of the NREGA to the entire governance system. The NREGA is an outstanding example of how the RTI Act can be woven into the fabric of the delivery system and the whole legal and governance paradigm. The entire expenditure on works and workers — 94 per cent of the total amount — is required to be put on the website of the NREGA, with every transaction revealed in detail. This can easily be increased to 100 per cent. Using this Management Information System (MIS), Vijaypura Gram Panchayat in Rajsamand District has begun to build a Janata Information System (JIS) painted on the walls of government buildings in the Gram Panchayat. The boards reveal the details of the number of days of work provided and payments made in the year to every Job Card holder in the Panchayat. Also painted on the walls are the list of works sanctioned, the expenditure on labour and material, and item-wise expenditure on material in each work in the Panchayat, including exactly how many bags of cement, sand and trolleys of stone were procured, and at what rate in the Gram Panchayat. This is like a web wall which reveals to every interested visitor all that they want to examine.
What can be done in one Panchayat can be carried out in the 9,189 Panchayats of Rajasthan, and the hundreds of thousands of Panchayats in India. The walls in Vijaypura Panchayat provide details of 976 families given employment in 2008-09, where two thirds have completed 100 days, with an expenditure of 91 lakhs. The Sarpanch is a Dalit youth from a poor family, elected in a general seat, and the Panchayat is proof of how well an Employment Guarantee programme can be implemented, in terms of people's entitlements, transparency measures, worksite management, and many other innovations.
Larger impactIf the millions of financial transactions of the NREGA can go on their web site, there can be no justification for not following the example and putting almost every financial transaction of government — receipt or expenditure — on the web sites of the relevant department or agency. Proactive disclosure is a requirement of the RTI Act, and is a good example of the larger potential impact of the NREGA on governance.
The NREGA is India's first law to codify development rights in a legal framework, and like the RTI, it has begun to set an example in a global context. Apart from the law, and a set of guidelines, there is a strong and immediate need to formulate rules to operationalise provisions in the Act; which includes guaranteeing grievance redressal in seven days, social audit twice a year, and mandatory transparency and proactive disclosure. Properly incorporated and enforced, a comprehensive set of operational rules could strengthen the entitlement framework, fixing responsibility at every level. Once again, it would enable bottom-up pressure for implementation, which should be matched by a strong political mandate. Today, the NREGA has millions of workers' unresolved and un-addressed grievances and problems to be dealt with. A response system could not only radically improve the NREGA, but can impact and transform the whole face of rural governance.
Interacting with government officials in Rajasthan.
Is the NREGA an administrator's nightmare or a redistribution of income and power? A social safety net or a step towards the right to work, to prevent migration, and even boost local market economies? For those who cannot think beyond the pale of the free market economy and the business model manager, it is indeed a nightmare. For years, simplistic management solutions to poverty, with the poor as an input to be managed, have failed. We cannot see ordinary people as active participants and empowered citizens. That is why there is difficulty in understanding the practice and logic of democracy and difficult, therefore, to understand the realistic detailing and complexity of an Employment Guarantee initiative.
Inclusive growthIndependent India has to acknowledge the critical role the NREGA has played in providing a measure of inclusive growth. It has given people a right to work, to re-establish the dignity of labour, to ensure people's economic and democratic rights and entitlements, to create labour intensive infrastructure and assets, and to build the human resource base of our country. For the first time, the power elite recognises the people's right to fight endemic hunger and poverty with dignity, accepting that their labour will be the foundation for infrastructure and economic growth. The entitlements paradigm is still to be established in many States in the country. Second generation issues like the expansion of the categories of permissible works needs to be taken up with labour and the deprived continuing to be the central focus. The improvements must be to strengthen, not divert from these basic tenets. In the midst of the current economic slowdown, there is enough evidence that this kind of commitment can work to help reduce the slowdown.
The political class would do well to understand that the most important solution is an assertion of its will to respond to people's voices. The many wise, creative, and innovative initiatives emerging from theory and practice have a future only if they are owned by the people and implemented with justice. The NREGA can give people an opportunity to make the entire system truly transparent and accountable. Properly supported, people's struggles for basic entitlements can, in turn, become the strongest political initiative to strengthen our democratic fabric.
Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey are activists with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). Email: arunaroy@gmail.com, nikhildey@gmail.com.
Corrections and ClarificationsIn the Sunday Magazine (June 21, 2009), the lead article "NREGA: Breaking new ground" was continued on page 4. The continuation indicator on page 1 was inadvertently omitted.
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Block of Gajapati District and facilitated NREGA work application form filing. Under NREGA, jobs must be provided within 15 days to applicants or else unemployment benefit must be granted.http://nrega.aidindia.org/
NREGA
List of Applicants for the post of Gram Rojgar Sewak 
Proposals from Gram Sabhas for plantation of trees 
List of NREGA Schemes(2006-07)(Blockwise)
Model Estimate for Microlift Irrigation Scheme
TREND OF LABOUR MIGRATION FROM RURAL TO URBAN AREAS
Mode of Extra payment to the labourers
Perspective Plan for Namkum Block
District Officers deputed as Sr. Incharge of blocks
List of Schemes Under NREGA(Blockwise)
Panchayat Wise Employment Days
Model Estimate for Well(20x35)
Model Estimate for Well(10x35)
Agenda for improvement in NREGA
Model Estimate for Pond(120x100x15)
Model Estimate for Pond(150x150x15)
Model Estimate for Pond(200x200x15)
Instruction for rationalisation of Technical Estimates in NREGA
Instruction for Site Verification before preparation of Estimates
Mode of Payment & Maintenance of Muster Rolls in NREGA
Notification regarding Revised Estimates in NREGA
Fequently Asked Questions about NREGA
http://ranchi.nic.in/nrega.htm
Govt approves grading system in CBSE schools
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Expressindia.com
Posted: Aug 31, 2009 at 2029 hrs IST
New Delhi The Government on Monday announced that it will introduce grading system in all Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools and make Class X board exams optional from coming academic year (2010-11).
Union Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal, during a press conference in the national capital, said: "Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) supports making Class X examination optional in CBSE system."
"There is a pan-India consensus over the issue. So we have decided to go ahead with this," Sibal said.
The Class X board exams will become optional in all CBSE schools from the coming academic year (2010-11).
As per sources, the CBSE has prepared the format of an aptitude exam which schools can use to test Class X students on their level of understanding in each subject. The emphasis, however, will be on continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) through the year instead of a single public exam at the end of Class X.
| Local apathy killing NREGS - Capital meet calls districts' bluff on fighting corruption |
| AMIT GUPTA |
| Ranchi, Aug. 31: District and block officials not taking action on specific complaints on various projects undertaken under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is emerging as the primary reason for Jharkhand faring dismally in the implementation of the Centre's flagship programme for rural uplift. At a daylong state-level meeting aimed at evaluating district social audits and public hearings of NREGS — conducted across Jharkhand between July 28 and August 25 — at Administrative Training Institute proved to be an eye-opener for authorities monitoring NREGS in the state. "The action-taken reports submitted by most districts are vague in nature. We need to be more specific before presenting a picture to the Centre," said NREGA commissioner Sunil Kumar Burnwal. The findings were telling. lIn extremist-infested Markachcho block of Koderma, one Prakash Singh hadn't worked for a single day in any NREGS project. Yet his name was included in the muster roll. The issue was raised at block and district-level social audits but the authorities did not take action. This prompted rural development secretary Santosh Kumar Satpathy to take up the case at the state level lIn Hazaribagh district, construction of 2,300 wells were taken up in 2006-07 and 2007-08 fiscals. Each village should have got 10 wells in private plots but a sizeable number was still incomplete. This, too, was taken up by Satpathy lAnother irregularity apparently rampant in Koderma district was revealed by an NGO representative of the local council — four schemes "were sanctioned simultaneously" in a private plot. The state authorities decided to look into the matter Today's meeting found that Chatra, Giridih and Simdega districts failed to submit action-taken reports on the various complaints on the scheme. They were asked to submit their reports by September 4 failing which all deputy commissioners would be summoned to the capital. Besides, action-taken reports of Gumla, Bokaro, Koderma and Hazaribagh weren't in proper format. Respective deputy development commissioners were asked to correct them by tomorrow. A number of complaints were voiced throughout the day. These included the case of a woman from Ramgarh who was charged Rs 530 for a job card and for opening an account either with a bank or post-office, panchayat sevaks asking for their cut in schemes et al. Moreover, exaggerated estimates of a scheme (like 2.18 lakh for a 20x30 well) and complaints that government authorities and contractors destroyed social audit reports also came up. These weren't new, but for the first time they were to be probed at the state level. Satpathy said the involvement of NGOs in social audit teams was proving to be effective. District representatives found themselves cornered when their tall claims were challenged by watchdogs of the rural scheme, prompting authorities to take immediate action at the state level. For instance, when the meeting was told that in Domchanch block of Koderma, no public hearing was conducted, Satpathy issued instructions to conduct one there soon. Based on the feedback from the districts and blocks, a state-level action-taken report would now be presented to the Centre by Burnwal. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090901/jsp/frontpage/story_11434301.jsp |
| Legislators to monitor schemes |
| CITHARA PAUL |
| New Delhi, Aug. 31: MPs and MLAs will now monitor development programmes in every district to ensure efficiency and check corruption, with even senior ministers like Pranab Mukherjee and Mamata Banerjee drafted in. The Centre has asked all states to set up "vigilance and monitoring committees" at the state and district levels to watch over programmes such as the job guarantee scheme and rural housing, road and sanitation projects. The Union rural development ministry has already chosen the chairpersons of the district-level committees and informed the states. In Bengal, they include Mamata, Pranab, Jaswant Singh, Basudev Acharya, Satabdi Ray, Sultan Ahmed, Sisir Adhikari, Dinesh Trivedi and Deepa Das Munshi. The central ministry has not yet decided which MPs would be on the state-level panels, which would be headed by the individual state's rural development minister. Sent on August 28, the directive says the ministry may consider withholding funds from districts whose committees fail to hold regular meetings. Every financial year, any state or district-level committee must hold its first meeting by June 30. A state-level committee will include four Lok Sabha members and one Rajya Sabha member chosen by the Centre, and five MLAs nominated by the state government, apart from officials. A district-level committee will include the Lok Sabha members and MLAs from the district as well as panchayati raj representatives and officials. The committees will watch over the allocation, release and utilisation of funds and keep track of the balance. They will ensure the schemes are run according to the guidelines and look into all complaints, including those of funds misuse or diversion, and recommend action. In the case of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the committee will help select the projects and the beneficiaries, and make sure the full wages are paid without delay. Among the other major programmes to be monitored are the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, Indira Awaas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, National Land Records Modernisation Programme and the Rural Sanitation Programme. A district-level committee will have the senior-most Lok Sabha member from the district as its chairperson if there is no minister among its MPs. If there is more than one MP of equal seniority, the member who has the largest slice of the district under his or her parliamentary constituency will be chairperson. All the other MPs would be designated co-chairpersons. Apart from the MPs and MLAs from the district, the zilla parishad chairman and the chairpersons of the district's panchayat samitis will be on the committee. The committees, which are to co-ordinate with the Union rural development ministry and their state governments, existed earlier too but did not include MPs or MLAs. These earlier panels were dissolved after the UPA government returned to power in May. |
| Sibal weaves consensus |
| OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT |
| New Delhi, Aug. 31: As ministers from state after state asked the Centre for greater funding, for an IIT or an IIM or polytechnics in a particular district, human resource development minister Kapil Sibal held up his hand to interrupt. "Please. Ask not what we can do for you. Ask what you can do for yourself. Let me assure you, that you alone will benefit from the returns of whatever you invest in your state. We don't want to share that," he smiled. "This is not about you or me. This is about us," he added. Armed with JFK-style oratory and lawyer-like arguments, Sibal today overcame his biggest political test to date as HRD minister, successfully steering state governments of all shades towards a broad consensus on education reforms. The Central Advisory Board of Education (Cabe), the apex education advisory body consisting of all state education ministers, independent educationists and key central ministers, today stamped its approval on the need for key reforms. Sudarshan Ray Chaudhury, Bengal's higher education minister, was the loudest among those who opposed some among the higher education reforms that Sibal has proposed. But by assuring that his concerns would be addressed, Sibal managed to hush even Chaudhury and emerged from the Cabe meeting with a resolution. Te resolution — approved by all Cabe members, including ministers from states ruled by the Left and the BJP — means that Sibal can now claim he has the country's political mandate to introduce his reforms. As states raised concerns about their inability to shell out much funds for implementing the right to education bill, Sibal played an understanding patron and a firm boss to pluck any sting from their arguments. Chaudhury told Cabe that Bengal was opposed to outsourcing the task of accrediting higher education institutions to private agencies, as is suggested under a plan for an independent accreditation regulatory body. Sibal said the plan to allow private accrediting bodies in higher education could be reconsidered, but managed to obtain Chaudhury's support on the need for an independent accreditation regulation body. In response to other queries from Chaudhury, Sibal clarified that the proposed national commission for higher education and research — an overarching higher education regulator — would segregate policy-making and regulation. Members of the commission will only outline a regulatory policy for different streams of higher education. The commission will have arms — each empowered to regulate a specific sector of higher education such as universities, technical education, teacher education or distance education. Partha De, Bengal's school education minister, and his counterparts from several other states expressed concern that they may not be able to significantly contribute financially to the implementation of the right to education bill. Sibal assured them that the Centre would approach the Planning Commission for more funds for states unable to provide their share of the finances. The HRD minister also managed to convince states on the need to make the Class X Central Board for Secondary Education examination optional. Cabe approved plans to start a central madarsa board to regulate standards of non-theological teaching at Islamic seminaries. The advisory panel cleared proposed laws against educational malpractices — misleading claims by institutes and capitation fees — and the creation of tribunals to resolve disputes between teachers or students and institute managements. |
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