Evaluation of Implementation of NREGS in Orissa
Social Audit Report
Centre for Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation
National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad
August 2008
CONTENTS
Sl. No. / Topic / Page Nos.Contents / ii
List of Tables / iii
List of Annexures / iv
Acknowledgement / v
1. / Introduction / 1
2. / Objectives / 1
3. / Sample for Social Audit / 2
4. / Social Audit Process / 2
5. / Limitations of study / 3
6. / Period of the study / 4
7. / Finding of Social Audit / 5-19
8. / Major Conclusions / 20 - 22
Annexures / 23-36
LIST OF TABLES
Sl. No. / TopicTable 1 / Sample for Social audit
Table 2 / Registration and Issue of Job-card
Table 3 / Muster Roll Discrepancies – 1 (% Actual no. of beneficiaries v/s reported beneficiaries
Table 4 / Muster Roll Discrepancies – 2 (% Actual no. of man days v/s reported man days
Table 5 / Muster Roll Discrepancies – 3 (% Actual wages received v/s reported wages paid
Table 6 / Discrepancies by PIAs
Table 7 / Region-wise discrepancies
Table 8 / Significant Improvement in NREGS implementation in 2007-08
LIST OF ANNEXURES
Sl. No. / TopicAnnexure - 1 / District wise Implementing Agency of Audited Works
Annexure - 2 / District Wise year of Implementation of Audited Works
Annexure - 3 / District Wise Status of Audited Works
Annexure - 4 / Social Audit Details/ Volunteers
Annexure - 5 / Household Enumeration on NREGS Registration Details
Annexure - 6 / Household Enumeration on NREGS Job Card Details
Annexure - 7 / Number of Reported and Actual Beneficiaries
Annexure - 8 / GP Wise reported and Actual Beneficiaries
Annexure - 9 / GP Wise Reported and Actual Person Days
Annexure - 10 / GP Wise Reported and Actual Wage Payment
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is a matter of great privilege that the Govt. of Orissa has chosen NIRD to take up evaluation of the implementation of NREGS in the state. The Chief Secretary himself took keen interest to ensure that an independent and objective evaluation is done and accordingly given instructions to all concerned to cooperate with the evaluation team of NIRD. Shri R N Dash, Principal Secretary, Shri Baider Biswal, Addl. Secretary and more particularly Shri Saswat Mishra, Director (Spl. Projects) of Panchayat Raj Department extended whole hearted support and cooperation for the successful conduct of the Social Audit in 40 Gram Panchayats spread over 19 Phase-I districts. The District Collectors, Project Directors of DRDAs, Block Development Officers, Sarpanches, Panchayat Extension Officers and others provided the needed information and support.
The whole exercise was possible because of the dedicated leadership of Shri Raj Kishore Mishra of RUPAYAN and his committed team. More than 25 NGOs took the responsibility for 40 Social Audits and nearly 400 volunteers from NGO groups across the state sweated it out to conduct the Social Audit. The workers particularly women participated in large scale in the social audit to make it fully a people’s exercise. SIRD has assisted in the training of the volunteers and also hosted the Social Audit Findings Sharing Workshop.
There were several others who worked behind the scene to carryout this audit and also document the processes. I wish to thank all those directly and indirectly helped us in this evaluation.
Dr S. Rajakutty
Project Director
1
1. Introduction
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was launched in February 2005 to cover 200 districts in the country. In the second year, the scheme was extended to additional 150 districts. Since April 2008, the scheme stands extended to cover all the districts in the country. The NREGS is hailed as an historic achievement and therefore has attracted wide attention across the country and across a cross sections of society, particularly, the activists, NGOs, Civil society organization, academics, development worker/ thinkers etc. Certain provisions like Social Audit and Right to Information have enabled Civil Society sponsored scrutiny & monitoring of the implementation of the scheme across the states. Many such initiatives have brought to light several short comings/ discrepancies/ irregularities in the implementation of the scheme which primarily indicate that benefits are not reaching the intended beneficiaries, the guarantee component is missing and planning has been inadequate to provide succour to the poor. Orissa is one of the states which has been the focus of academics, media and others alike. In the light of this, the Government of Orissa requested National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) to carry out an independent concurrent evaluation of the implementation of the NREGS in Orissa and provide necessary feed back to effect appropriate corrective measures and put the scheme on right course. The evaluation comprised two parts; one, personal interview of 1600 workers (job card holders who worked in the scheme) and 400 non workers (job card holders but not worked) and a Social Audit. This report is based on the social audit; the social audit reports of 40 GPs have already been submitted to Government of Orissa.
2. Objectives
Keeping the above in the backdrop, the objectives of the study were set as below:
- Analyze the performance of implementation of NREGS
- Assess people’s awareness and participation level
- Study and evaluate the planning process and implementation arrangement including aspects of transparency
- Assess the benefits that accrued to workers under NREGS
b) Analyze the type of works taken up vis-à-vis guidelines
c) Carryout social audits to assess the ground realities and people’s perception on the outcomes of the schemes
d) To study the level of preparedness in the new 5 districts and the extent of incorporation of the lessons learnt from the earlier districts.
3. Sample for Social Audit
The study was restricted to the 19 districts of Phase – I of NREGS. A total of 40 blocks from the 19 districts were selected based on the highest physical and financial performance. In each block the Gram Panchayat (GP) that posted the highest physical and financial achievements was selected. Incidentally, most of these GPs turned out to be interior GPs. The full details of sample can be seen in Table -1. (See also Annexures 1-3 for more details of PIAs, year of work, number of works audited)
4. Social Audit Process
All NGOs who were doing some social audit and those who were trained under an earlier project of NIRD to build capacities for Social Audit were contacted from the districts in Orissa. Twelve NGOs and 40 trained volunteers were available through this search. RUPAYAN, an NGO was designated as the lead NGO to coordinate the networking and identify other NGOs who were willing to take up social audit. This wide ranging consultation indicated that this social audit process should also be utilized to build capacities among more NGOs and activists. Accordingly, in collaboration with SIRD, Bhubaneswar, a five day training programme was organized with 3 days orientation to social audit concepts and two days field exposure. After this, one or two NGOs were designated as lead NGO for a district and 6-10 member team was formed for each GP selected for Social audit. In each team 2-3 previously experienced volunteers were included. In each GP, 5-6 days of social audit exercise was planned. The activities included collection of data from block & GP, compilation and consolidation, field verification of works/ workers, preparation of report, culminating in a public hearing. In addition, complete household enumeration was also taken in these GPs to ascertain/ identify the households, registered, not registered, issued with job cards, worked with scheme, want to work in the scheme etc. (See Annexure – 4 for participating NGOs)
5. Limitations of study
B. The sample GP for Social Audit was kept secret till a couple of days before the initiation of Social Audit and the needed records and documents were procured/ obtained as per instructions from government in a short period thereby giving less scope to ‘adjust’ or ‘make-up’ the records. Nevertheless, in many villages the Social Audit teams faced the following problems.
- The records/ registers/ documents were not provided by the concerned officials till last date of social audit process leaving little time for verification
- The line departments brought the registers/ documents only on the day of public hearing and thereby making the Social Audit ineffective
- The elected representatives, labour leaders, un-official contractors disrupted the public hearing in many places. In fact, the officials and contractors have threatened or enticed the workers the night before the public hearing so as to not to talk or provide testimony in the public hearing
- Some instances of physical assault of whistle blowers and those offered testimonies (both men and women) have unnerved people in other villages to come out openly
- Recall/ memory bias of workers in giving correct details of the number of days of work and wages received.
In addition to the above, there were some shortcomings on the part of the Social Audit Team. The members were newly trained, and over-enthusiastic at times and therefore the Social Audit process in some places did not follow the desired standards. Besides, the over-exposure of the scheme both positively and more negatively in the media has made the SA and evaluation a very sensitive exercise. In order to overcome these limitations, efforts were made through a ‘triangulation’ process to arrive at reasonably reliable assessment of status of implementation of NREGS in Orissa.
6. Period of the Study
The Social Audit was done in four phases starting from Februry and completing it by the 10 June 2008. Since the Social Audit had a wide coverage, finding suitable persons, training them and organizing them into teams took quite a bit of time than anticipated. It was intended to form teams from within the block/ district so as to leave behind a capacity in every district. This was a time consuming process.
Table – 1 : Sample for Social audit
Sl.No. / District / Block / GP1. / Bolangir / Agalpur / Duduka
Belpara / Gambhari
Titlagarh / Bijepur
2. / Boudh / Kantamal / Similipadar
3. / Deogarh / Barkote / Saruali
4. / Dhenkanal / Hindol / Baunsa Pokhari
Kankadahad / Kantapal
5. / Gajapati / Kasinagar / Siali
Mohona / Chandiput
6. / Ganjam / Kukudakhandi / Sihala
Surada / Asurabandha
Sheragada / Mahupadar
7. / Jharsuguda / Lakhanpur / Panchagaon
8. / Kalahandi / Bhawanipatna / Artal
Karlamunda / Joradobra
9. / Kandhamal / Phiringia / Luisingi
Tikabali / Gutingia
10. / Kendujhar / Ghatgaon / Sarasa Pasi
Kendujhar Sadar / Raikala
Saharapada / Malarpada
11. / Koraput / Borigumma / Pondasguda
Nandapur / Khurji
Bandhugaon / Nilabadi
12. / Malkangiri / Korukonda / Nuaguda
Malkangiri / Gangala
13. / Mayurbhanj / Gopabandhunagar / Arapata
Badasahi / Chandanpur
Saraskana / Murunia
Rasgovindpur / Debasole
14. / Nabarangapur / Papadahandi / Papadahandi
Chandahandi / Gambariguda
15. / Nuapada / Sinapali / Ghatamal
16. / Rayagada / Rayagada / Gumma
Chandrapur / Piskapanga
17. / Sambalpur / Kuchinda / Hadipali
Rairakhol / Badbahal
18. / Subarnapur / Biramaharajpur / Mursundhi
19. / Sundargarh / Bargaon / Ekma
Kutra / Ambhagova
Bonaigarh / S.Balang
7. Finding of Social Audit
7.1 Positive signals on NREGS Implementation
The NREGS implementation during 2006-07, the first year of the scheme, faced several teething problem and studies by various agencies and organizations pointed out several shortcomings and deficiencies in implementation. It is natural to expect such inadequacies when a ‘change process’ was expected in the way a scheme is planned and implemented. The NREGS had upset several vested interests who benefited at the cost of intended beneficiaries. The vested interests included officials, non officials, contractors etc. who got used to a ‘system’ which was being dismantled and were resisting the change and continued with old practices. The ‘percentage system’ of making cuts in each work was a ‘lubricant’ which kept the vested interest happy and satisfied. During the period, with the orientation, sensitization and followup by state and district administration on the failings that surfaced/ identified have resulted in improved implementation. The ‘positive signals’ that had come up and noticed during the social audit are listed below:
i. Projects under NREGS
The number of works taken up in 2006-07 was 58200 and 65468 in 2007-08. Various studies noted that there were considerable leakage in funds and thereby implying that works were either not carried out or part works were shown as completed. The social audit has shown that close to 95% of the projects reported under NREGS are true and are either completed or in progress.
ii. Equity in wages
For the first time in the history, equal wages for men and women has became a reality in most of the districts, barring a few exceptions.
iii. Awareness on NREGS
Thanks to Social Audit process, publicity campaign etc. there is a widespread awareness on NREGS with reference to i) 100 days of guaranteed employment, ii) piece rate work – out turn based wages and iii) minimum wages
iv) Improved staff position
Severe staff shortage and inadequate orientation and training to existing staff was a major constraint in 2006-08. The initiative of the government to appoint Gram Rojgar Sevak and Gaon Saathi is a boon and eased the constraints to a large extent. Adequate orientation and training, however, is needed for them.
v) Improved Maintenance of Records
In the initial year, records/ registers were supplied late and most of the available staff were not fully trained with the new documents. Staff shortage at GP level added to the problem. In 2007-08 considerable improvement was seen in the maintenance of records in quite a few GPs
vi) Transparency Measures
It was quite refreshing to see that the details of NREGS related information displayed as wall writings in most GPs. Exemplary cases of display was seen in a few GPs. Though there were some information gaps in the display in many GPs, information of entitlement and rights were clear in most GPs.
vii) Welcome Response to Social Audit
It is an opt repeated statement across the state that the attendance in the Palli or Gram Sabha is poor. But, the public hearing Gram Sabhas in the sample villages witnessed a huge participation ranging from 200 – 500 people with substantial women participation. The faith of people in such Social Audit based gram sabha is quite high and there was a request in almost all the GPs that such meetings should be held frequently. In fact, there is a demand that the social audit should cover more schemes like PDS, IAY etc.
viii) Improved Village Economy
Thanks to the increased employment opportunities, higher wages and equal wages for women, the spending in the villages is high thereby giving a boost to rural economy. This is quite visible in those GPs where the programme was implemented fairly well.
ix) Accountability
The Social Audit processes forced the grass roots officials to face the ire of the people and the contractors also seen the fury. They were made to answer or give assurances for their omissions and commissions. This message has spread across the blocks by word of mouth and also by the media coverage. There is an ‘accountability fear’ clearly visible among all the concerned.
x) Best Practices
Works have been assigned to SHGs in some blocks/ GPS. In such cases it was found that discrepancies were few and execution was of high quality. It was very heartening to note that in the GPs with women Sarpanches, the transparency measures were exemplary.
xi) Neglected Areas Receiving Attention
NREGS has reached remotest areas in many blocks. In fact, there were jubilant response from many such remote and interior villages where development efforts eluded them for decades. The feeling of neglect has been erased, to an extent, by the implementation of NREGS
7.2 Registration and Issue of job cards
In order check if all the households in a village were given a chance to get registered under the scheme a complete household enumeration was done in the 40 sample GPs. The information thus obtained was verified with official records. Information of total number of households, the registration and issue of job cards was available only for 31 GPs and according to that figures nearly 82% of households have registered under NREGS. The household enumeration of 37715 households showed that only around 62% have registered and 55 percent of these households received the job card. However, more than 89% of those registered households received the job cards (Table – 2). Not having BPL ID number was cited to be a reason for this gap. Nevertheless almost all those families who want to register under NREGS (left out households) wanted to get work under NREGS. (See Annexure – 5 & 6)
Table 2 : Registration and Issue of Job-card
Sl.No. / Particulars / Data1. / No of GPs where info. available: / 31
2. / House hold registered as per GP: / 81.77%
3. / No of households surveyed (40 GP): / 37715
4. / Percentage of HHs registered: / 62.15
5. / Surveyed HHs having Job-card: / 55.41%
6. / Registered HHs having job card: / 89.16%
7.3 Major shortcomings in Implementation
i. Documentation and updating of Records
While non availability of records and registers at the GP is one lapse, these were kept by Panchayat Extension officer or somebody else. When available, the information was not up-to-date. Incomplete entries, entry mismatch, no entries etc. are some common shortcomings. Asset Register was not found in most GPs. Another important document that was invariably absent was job demand register. Application forms for work or registration were also not available in most GPs. In quite a few cases, the job cards were with the PO, PEO, Rojgar sevak or mostly with Village Labour Leader. Several instances of job cards not having numbers, date of issue, photo of the workers signature and seal of issuing officer etc. were also noticed.
ii. Registration and Application for work
While GP records indicate that around 82 percent of households have registered for job card, in some villages 85% of households have not registered themselves. Lack of awareness was found to be the reason. There are instances of job cards not issued even after two years of registration. The families not having BPL ID number was the stumbling block. Though the government had since clarified the position, things have not improved. The workers are not aware that they have to apply for work. For those who knew and wanted to apply, the GP offices are not open every day to get themselves registered. When application was given, the receipt was not issued without which no worker can legally demand compensation. Usually, when a work is taken up the Sarpanch, VLL or PEO or GRS calls people to come and work. In this process, many got missed out.