On the condition of confidentiality, a sarpanch of Sheragadablock in Odisha’s Ganjam district shared some secrets about the Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) works. He said over aperiod of two months ending in June 2012 he got a pond renovated under theemployment guarantee scheme which provided work to about 140 to 160 people.Most of those engaged for the job were from a neighbouring panchayat. But onpaper, all the names were from his own panchayat. In all, `2.40 lakh were paidto the workers on the spot, not by the government but by him. He drew moneyfrom the village fund (called ‘gaan kotha’) for the purpose. Not all the listedbeneficiaries have received their official payment. As and when they do, thevillage fund is replenished.
A villager said: “Payment comes after three months. How willI, a daily wager, and my family survive for so long? Besides, I get `150 a daydoing other work. Why will I take MNREGS work for `100?” (Though minimum wageunder MNREGS is `126 in Odisha, it is linked to the actual output and so couldbe less.)
The grama rozgar sevak (GRS), who supervises all MNREGS workin a panchayat, said he was forced to give `150, instead of the minimum wage of`126, because people were reluctant. “How do I adjust the difference except bymaking fake entries?” When asked how he could get away with it, he said thosewho received `150 suggested the names of the job card holders for fake listing.
A special social audit conducted in this panchayat in Junethis year by Omega “ a joint initiative between the state government and theUK-based funding agency, DFID “ confirmed that “people feel that MNREGS worksare low paid and un-remunerative”. It, however, failed to detect the fakeentries in the muster rolls.
There are no official statistics but the collector, DrKrishan Kumar, says anywhere between 2 lakh and 3 lakh people (of 37 lakh inthe district) move out in search of work. He concedes that MNREGS has not madesubstantial impact on migration, though the agriculture wage has tripled in amatter of a few years “ from about `50-60 in 2009 to `150 now.
The BDO Manoj Swain says that is because there were someglitches with the SBI’s business correspondent model, called Zero Mass, whichheld up payments. Now the state has banned Zero Mass and the SBI has beendirected to transfer the money directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts. WhenMNREGS work resumes, after the annual break for rains, he assures, payment willbe quick. That surely will be good news for those who would like to stay putand work in their villages but don’t because of delayed payment and otherissues. “MNREGS can provide work only for 100 days. Thereafter what will wedo?” That question remains unanswered for now.
*In association with Governance Now
