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Journalism of Courage
Tomorrow as the Prime Minister inaugurates the meeting of all state rural ministers on the Employment Guarantee Act, it’s clear that the Centre isn’t launching it in a hurry. It is likely to take another three months before the Centre is ready to notify it to set the ball rolling for the states to draw specific schemes under the Act in the 150 chosen districts.
‘‘The monitoring mechanism has to be so solid that there should be no scope for loopholes,’’ said Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh admitting that the groundwork is delayed. ‘‘It will take time as no law or rule has been discussed to this extent with the states as this one. After all, the success of this scheme depends on the states,’’ he said.
And it’s the wide disparities in states’ responses that are key to the delay. Consider these:
• North East states are not prepared to contribute their mandatory 20 per cent share arguing that they have no money.
• Tamil Nadu says it’s ready, has started deliberations with Panchayati Raj Institutions—the backbone of the scheme—but Jharkhand does not even have its PRIs in place.
• Several states have said they do not have the basic district-level manpower—schemes require a programme officer as well as technical experts or engineers to supervise jobs.
• So that states can recruit more personnel, the Centre is considering increasing the contingency fund for the states from the present 2% to 4% of the total outlay. No final decision yet.
• To guard against corruption, a four-stage ‘‘work-specific social audit’’ is still in the works.
• Before the launch, states need to identify families to prepare muster rolls.
• Centre is also waiting for states’ suggestions on the list of approved jobs under the scheme.
