Poverty Reduction & NREGS, District – North Bastar Kanker (Chhattisgarh)

Context- where we are ! Source: Chhattisgarh Human Development Report, 2005 CategoryValue Rank in state Human Development Index th Education Index Value.7587 th Health Index Value th Income index Value th

NREGS Significance Because of agriculture & forest produces based livelihood and in absence of major industries, NREGS has a great significance for the local community.

In year , Kanker district provided an avg. Rs 4192/- per household worked under NREGS (6 th in the state) NREGS contribution in household income Chhattisgarh (08-09) Effectively implemented, NREGA has the potential to transform the geography of poverty (source:- NREGS operational guideline 2008 )

Present study Covers Findings based on information from district NREGS cell & field visit The issues covered are : 1- Management aspects - Implementation process, Staffing, Fund Flow 2- The coverage aspects –  General Coverage  Fund Utilisation  Priority of the works  Inclusion of the disadvantaged group

Management Aspects

Background – NREGS, Kanker  NREGS started in the district in year  Perspective Plan Prepared  Annual plan prepared each year  In 4 th year of it’s progress

Human Resource: Staff gap not a major hindrance for the implementation, but can increase efficiency. DPC (Collector) Ad. DPC ( CEO, ZP) Project Officer in-Charge (Addi. CEO, ZP) Asst. Project Officer IEC Asst. (1), Asst. Grade II- (3), Comp. Ope. (2) Sarpanch, Secretary & Rojgar Sahayak Distric t Janpa d Gram Pan. Monitoring Officer (CEO) Program officer Tech. Asst-4 Accountant -1, Computer Operator -2Peon -1 Asst. Grade (II ) - 1 Program Officer – 1, Tech. Asst Gram Rojgar Sahayak - 9 Staff gap. Proposed

Implementation Process  Each Janpad/ department has a shelf of approved works, which can be taken as per the need/ requirement Janpad Office Proposals from the Gram Panchayat Zila Panchayat, CEO ZP Prep. Technical Estimates Administrative Sanction By DPC Janpad level Issue work order Line Dept. Issue work order Technical Sanction (depending on amount) Line Dept. CE, RES SE, RES Ex. En, RES AE, RES

Present Payment Structure Muster-roll/ Issue (Start of work) Muster-roll/ Bill submission (weekly) Running Measureme nt Order from Janapad/ Dept. to Bank/ Post Office Receiving of payment by labour (from a/c in Bank/ Post Office)

Monitoring LevelMainly by% of works (to be mon.) StateCommissioner/2% Asst. Commissioner/ Dy. Commissioner/ Joint Director/ Training Expert DivisionalDivisional Commissioner5% DistrictDPC, AD DPC, Line Department 10% PO, APO, PRO JanpadCEO, Program Officer, AE (RES), Tech. Asst., 100% PanchayatSarpanch,100% Surveillance Committee

Coverage Aspects

Coverage  No gap in Job demanded & provided (last 2 years)  % of household having job cards got job in = 63  % household completing 100 days (out of household provided job) = 11  Need to increase the % of households completing minimum 100 days

Coverage Cont. The Job cards are issued in the proportion of category population (as per census 2001). Census 2001 Population SC - Proportion56 % ST - Proportion4%

Coverage Cont.  Person days generated in , are 46% point lower than, in year  Other category (incl. OBC) is showing a sharp decrease over last 3 years  Projected person days for next year = lakhs

Social Inclusion Year  Disabled beneficiaries (person days/ nos) (nos.)  Gender participation in person days is in favor of the female, decreasing trend (need further disaggregated review)  Opportunity for involving more disabled beneficiaries NREGS goal: Strong social safety net for the vulnerable groups

Fund Utilization  An opportunity loss of utilizing of crores (in last three years)  Utilisation rate last year was among lowest in the state

Fund Utilization – Janapd Panchayat  Kanker, Narharpur & Durgkondal recorded higher exp. (in absolute num.)  Durg Kondal and Antagarh experienced the lowest utilization rate.

Fund Utilization – Line Department  Forest, Water Res., Agri., Hort. recorded higher expenditure. (in absolute num.)  Works not taken under agriculture and horticulture in year  Forest dept reflect a lower utilisation rate (NGO's/ Samiti/ SHG etc)

No. of works completed  Higher nos. of work were taken under land development activity.  Study on the impacts of the works is of significance

Expenditure  Major investment in  Rural Connectivity > Drought Proofing > Land Dev.  Proposed investment in  Rural Connectivity > Water cons.> Land Dev.

Transparency  Social audit being conducted in presence of deputed functionaries from line dept.  No persons received unemployment allowance  Approx > 2,00,000 persons with account (bank (64%)/ post office(36%)) – workers getting money in their a/c. (imply fair payment) Recent enhancement of administrative cost from 4 % to 6 %, has provided scope to further strengthen transparency & accountability

Utilisation issues Food req. for HH available at lower rate is good, it also influences demand Higher wages option from forest produce (tendu patta etc) Nexal disturbance (in blocks)- it affects quality too Lower Utilisation in NREGS (Work demand) Lower demand from the Gram Panchayat Drought relief works (get’s more priority) Payment through bank (no scope of margin) Need of intensive IEC for demand Challenges in utilisation are of complex in nature & need wider consultation. Priority of efficient utilisation is equally relevant along with increasing utilisation Low interest/ exp. from line depart

24 Review of findings  Greater thrust require in employment related programmes  Implementation mechanism in place (shelf of approved works available on demand)  Need of study on the impacts of the work taken  Challenges of generating demand (strong IEC measures)  Challenge of ensuring quality (in Naxel affected blocks)  Need of stakeholders consultation for increasing utilisation

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