After the CAG draft performance audit report criticised the Government for ‘deficient’ implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme early this year, the Government has planned to set up a toll-free national helpline in Delhi for the “proper implementation” and “protection” of entitlements of poor households benefiting from the scheme.In fact, the Government has already reserved a toll-free MTNL number (1800110707) for the national helpline. It is yet to award the contract to handle the national helpline center and will soon start publicising this toll-free number in NREG districts.The complaints that would be received on the helpline will be passed on to the local authorities for immediate action, which will be closely monitored by the Government using IT and Communication technology. The complaints would be recorded in an electronic format for easy retrieval and subsequent follow-up action.The helpline is expected to receive about 20,000 complaints per month from over 6,000 blocks from 614 rural districts, which works out to be over one complaint from each district every day. The helpline would be able to respond in all major languages and thus would be accessible to the rural population. The move comes amid reports of misappropriation of funds and improper implementation of the scheme at the ground level. Civil society organisations have been complaining that vested interests at the local level hinder the redressal of grievances.
