Fwd: [Rozgar] NREGA: Surveys and Social Audits

[Right to Food]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: roz...@gmail.com <roz...@gmail.com >
Date: Apr 19, 2007 11:39 PM
Subject: [Rozgar] NREGA: Surveys and Social Audits
To: rozgar <roz...@googlegroups.com>


Dear friends,

The summer is likely to be a peak season as far as work under NREGA is
concerned. This update is concerned with recently concluded and
forthcoming surveys and social audits of the NREGA. Please send a line
to roz...@gmail.com if you are planning one in your area.

1.      Ranchi Social Audit Announcement (14-24 May, 2007)
2.      UP  NREGA Survey and MR Verification exercise
3.      MR Verification Guidelines
4.      New campaign material

1. Ranchi Social Audit Announcement (14-24 May, 2007)

A "social audit" of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(NREGA) will take place in Angara Block of Ranchi District, Jharkhand,
on 14-20 May 2007.

This social audit will be conducted mainly by local residents, but is
also expected to involve hundreds of activists from various states.
The programme is as follows:

14-15 May:      Training for social audit.

16-18 May:      Social audit of NREGA works in selected Panchayats.

19 May:                 "Social audit forums" in the selected
villages.

20 May:                 Public hearing in Angara.

This social audit will be followed by a delegation of the Central
Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) to Jharkhand, on 20-24 May.  On 20
May, the CEGC will be joining the concluding day of the social audit.
This will be followed by field visits and a state-level public hearing
in Ranchi.

Individuals and organizations committed to the right to work are
invited to participate in this social audit.  All participants are
requested to stay for the entire duration (14-20 May), if at all
possible.  If you wish to participate, please inform Balram
(09934320657), Gopi (09431760032), Gurjeet (09431120534) or send a
line to roz...@gmail.com.

This note is based on a preparatory meeting convened by "NREGA Watch"
in Ranchi on 19 April.  The next preparatory meeting will be held on
26 April from 10 am onwards (for further details, please contact one
of the above).


2. UP NREGA Survey and MR Verification exercise

A series of field surveys and social audits were recently conducted in
Uttar Pradesh, including a detailed survey covering 653 households
across 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Muster rolls were verified in 72
gram panchayats of 5 districts (Sitapur, Jaunpur, Chitrakoot, Hardoi,
and Kushinagar). The full report will be posted on the right to food
website as soon as it is available. For further details please contact
Arundhati Dhuru at arundha...@yahoo.co.uk.

Some highlights from the survey are presented below:

· 48 percent applied for job cards and only 29 percent families got
job cards.

· 70 percent of prospective workers were not aware of the fact that
they have to apply for work.

· Only 3 percent of the families who applied for work under NREGA got
receipts.

· In over 60 percent of the worksites covered, there was no drinking
water, first aid kit, or crèches.

· Out of Rs. 8.7 lakh for which muster rolls were verified, Rs. 7.1
lakh had been misappropriated.

· More than one-third of labourers were made after 2 months of
working.

· In 86 percent of cases covered, muster rolls were not kept at the
site nor did the workers sign on them.

· Out of 292 women labourers covered by the survey, only 8 percent got
jobs under NREGA. Nearly half the women who got work under NREGA were
given work for just two days.

3. Muster Roll Verification Guidelines in Oriya

"OREGS Watch" in Orissa has translated the MR Verification Guidelines
into Oriya. The Oriya translation is available online at
http://www.righttofoodindia.org/data/oregswatch07mrwatchguidelinesoriya.pdf .

You can also obtain printed copies by writing to Rajkishor Mishra at
rajkish...@gmail.com. Please feel free to translate these into
your local language as well if you find these useful.


4. New campaign material

The secretariat of the Right to Food Campaign has prepared "work
application forms" in Hindi and in English (see attachments). The
English version of the form is available online at www.righttodoodindia.org.
The Hindi translation will be posted on the same website soon. Please
do download, translate and use these forms as per your requirements.

The Campaign materials page of the NREGA section will be updated
regularly over the summer. Material developed by Mazdoor Kisan Shakt
Sangathan (MKSS) in the social audits conducted in Dungarpur and
Udaipur will also be posted in this section. Visit
http://www.righttofoodindia.org/rtowork/ega-campaign-materials.html
regularly over the next few weeks.



website: www.righttofoodindia.org
email: right...@gmail.com