Rural job scheme architect presses graft alarm - Too many worms wiggling, says Jean Drèze in Latehar

SANTOSH K. KIRO

Manika (Latehar), June 14: The powers-that-be behind the MGNREGS should be a worried lot. One of the main architects of its first draft — front-ranking development economist Jean Drèze — found the flagship scheme of the UPA governments one and two both flailing and failing in Jharkhand. Drèze, a Belgian-born naturalised Indian who speaks fluent Hindi, addressed villagers, bureaucrats and the media at an informal public hearing at Manika block, Latehar, on what was amiss. The apolitical economist — he has resigned from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's National Advisory Council — is studying on his own initiative the "the way MGNREGS is being implemented across the country". MGNREGS, conceived as a social security scheme, sounds great on paper. It guarantees at least 100 days of employment to every home in rural India. The panchayat is supposed to issue job cards. A job aspirant is supposed to get work within 15 days of applying. These apart, the worker is also ideally supposed to get paid within a fortnight. In Jharkhand, the wage per day is Rs 138. Sounds simple, but when played out in remote villages at the hands of countless mediators — contractors, agents, mid-level or low-rung state employees — the MGNREGS loses its steam. In Latehar, his 10-member student team from Delhi University and IIT-Delhi camped for a fortnight to study ground realities at Vishnubandh village in Manika block. Drèze came on Wednesday and stayed at the village. Poor implementation and lack of redress seem to be the two major gripes that Drèze discovered. "Delays in getting jobs, wage payments, fake job cards, fudged muster rolls and other irregularities are hitting the faith of villagers hard," he said. He added despite increasing use of technology — Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts, for instance — the situation wasn't improving. Drèze, his aides Ritika Khera and Balram, as well as Latehar deputy commissioner Aradhana Patnaik also listened intently to villagers who spoke about loopholes in the national job scheme, old age pension, midday meal, Antyodaya Anna Yojana and others. Villagers chuckled as anecdotes of graft piled up. A sample: a fake job card of Basudev Mahto (80), a resident of Purni Palheya, under Vishnubandh panchayat. On the muster roll, he has been shown to have worked for 60 days in 2012-13 and for 36 days in 2011-12. Not a single person said they received wages through bank accounts or post office. Villagers also complained they did not get 35kg of rice a month promised under Antyodaya scheme. "Let's not single out Jharkhand. The situation is bad in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh…actually across the country in varying levels," said Drèze. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130615/jsp/frontpage/story_17009441.jsp#.Ubx7RueBlA0