Author: Kimi Dangor
Publication: India Today
Date: September 12, 2005
Manisha Varma exposed what many had suspected
for long. In June this year, the district collector of Solapur, Maharashtra,
noticed that labour attendance at the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) works
had touched an unusually high figure of one lakh. But according to her books,
the projects she had approved of, the number of works being carried out-usually
construction on canals, tanks, bunds and roads-and the number of workers on
sites just didn't tally. Varma ordered an enquiry and found that in many cases
her signature had been forged and musters manipulated. She immediately lodged
a police complaint. Two days after the filing of the complaint, Varma found
herself rewarded with a transfer to Pune's Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development
Administration. Perhaps as an afterthought or due to the dynamics of the two-party
coalition, the Government stayed the transfer. On August 2, it issued directives
to carry out public reading of muster rolls; EGS schemes require muster rolls
to be maintained, listing beneficiaries and the works being carried out. But
on August 24, a day after Parliament passed the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Bill which is based on the EGS, the probe into Varma's complaint
was stopped by Pune's Divisional Commissioner, EGS branch, allegedly under
the chief minister's instructions. Soon, Right to Information (RTI) activists
swung into action, with some saying that Varma was being pressured by ministers
and secretaries. Unwilling to comment or even confirm the magnitude of the
scam, Varma says, "We need to look at systemic reforms like transparent
procedures with computerised databases. Effective planning, monitoring and
institutionalising concepts like social audits at the grassroots are needed."
She adds that she had pushed various departments to publish muster roles in
the villages and make payments in public, but her efforts had met with resistance.
However, the expose has paid off. Varma's enquiry has focused on the issue
and activists like Shailesh Gandhi of the National Campaign for People's Right
to Information have called for more transparency. "EGS muster rolls must
be open for scrutiny within a week," he says. The logic: civil society
can conduct public audits to confirm if the money is used to provide employment.
Gandhi, along with activists like Shankar Singh of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti
Sangathan and economist Bela Bhatia, is planning to file 50-100 RTI applications
for scrutiny every day. They believe that it will not only strengthen the
RTI movement but also "dispel the belief that any programme for the poor
is always corrupt". It is an initiative Union Rural Development Minister
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh may want to follow up on.
