ROZGAR EVUM SUCHNA KA ADHIKAR ABHIYAN

20,Narain Nagar,Badgaon,District Udaipur(Rajasthan),'+fax : 0294-2451391

Email contact: srabhiyan@gmail.com,

2nd Contact address for Truck yatra and Dharna:

RTI Manch, plot number S - 9 Rajshree Appartments Jyoti Nagar Extension
(behind Amroodo ka Baag) Jaipur- 300205
Email: rtiraj@gmail.com tel: 0141-2740019 and 9252489519

Invitation: Mazdoor Haq Yatra, Rajasthan

The SRAbhiyan is planning to organize a 15 day Mazdoor Haq Yatra in 4 Divisions (Ajmer,
Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur) starting on 15th September to 1st October.

The truck yatras will be used as a platform to place the people’s point of view before the government.
The yatra is to be used as the start of a campaign to establish the rights of rural labour through the
MGNREGA. Therefore, the demands include the right to minimum wages, the right to negotiate fair
wages and working conditions, the right to full implementation of the Act. The MGNREGA also
presents an opportunity to exercise the right to organise rural labour and demand transparency and
accountability from government in all areas of governance. There will be an effort to compel the State
and Central Governments to take more concrete and direct action to prevent any obstacle and hurdle,
being placed in the way of implementing MGNREGA.

As is usual with yatras organized by the Abhiyan songs, slogans, and theatre will be used to create
awareness about the 10 entitlements under MGNREGA, the relevance and importance of social
audits, to encourage public vigilance and mobilisation of the marginalised. Teams will also hold
meetings/discussions on important provisions of the law and implementation related to the
MGNREGA, and set up kiosks for RTI applications and job card applications.

The truck yatra will conclude in Jaipur with an indefinite dharna, which will begin on 2nd October
(Gandhi Jayanti). Amongst other important issues the The SR Abhiyan demands include:

• A direct and clear commitment from the government to implement and facilitate open and
inclusive social audits.
• An increase in minimum wages for workers; that minimum wages be matched to the CPI
especially in light of increasing cost and the phenomenal and regular increase in salaries,
allowances and other benefits for Members of Parliament, legislative assembly as well as
bureaucrats.

Until these two demands are addressed, the Abhiyan will continue the dharna.

We would like to know as soon as possible how many people would like to come from your
organization or group, so that we can plan the logistics. This is not to restrict the numbers who
might want to come from a particular organization or region, but to facilitate planning.
Looking forward to seeing you in Rajasthan.

The Abhiyan has also issued and appeal for funds to support the yatra and dharna. If
you are interested in contributing please do contact us on email or phone.

Aruna Roy, Bhanwar Meghwanshi, Hariom Soni, Moti Lal, Richa Odichya, Nikhil Dey, Shankar
Singh, Ram Karan and R D Vyas, Naveen Narayan, Renuka Pamecha, Rawata Ram.
(On behalf of the Rozgar Evum Suchna ke Adhikar ka Abhiyan, Rajasthan)

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Background

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 has
been in effect in rural districts across the country since April 2008. The Act guarantees every
rural household 100 days of manual work every financial year at minimum wages within a
five kilometre radius of the worker’s residence. It also guarantees apart from other
entitlements, the right to an unemployment allowance if there is a failure to provide work
within 15 days, as well as an entitlement to receive compensation for late payment of wages,
after the mandatory 15 days stipulated in the Act.

While the poor in the country have received the law with much enthusiasm and hope, many
questions have been raised about its actual implementation. It is widely acknowledged that
implementation has been uneven. Apart from questions and issues related to the
implementation of MGNREGA, which vary across states and regions of the country, there is
a consistent and pervasive concern about corruption, and the capacity of the State to deliver
on the acts basic requirements.

The experience of implementation of the law over the four years has shown that people’s
participation is crucial to the better implementation of the law and people’s ability to access
their entitlements. Social Audit has become an important means through which people can
exercise their responsibility to monitor the planning, and execution of various aspects of the
entitlements guaranteed by the legislation. Despite it becoming a buzz word, the experience
with social audit has been mixed. In some cases it has even been used by implementing
agencies and vested interests, as a means of certifying substandard work by only paying lip
service to social audit. In other cases however, people’s organizations have evolved
innovative approaches to social audit, making it an effective means of people’s
empowerment.

Andhra Pradesh is the only State government that has managed to institutionalise social
audits as a part of government’s regular business. It is the government’s responsibility to
ensure that social audits are carried out in all panchayats every six months. It is important to
ensure that social audit is institutionalised in all States, to ensure that people’s voices can be
given platforms for expression, to ensure monitoring of the programme.

In October 2009 there was a joint effort to give real shape to transparency and accountability
by government and citizens groups in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. The Bhilwara social
audit also provoked huge protests by the Gram Sewaks and the Sarpanches who were
opposed to the idea of transparency and accountability, basic to social audits. The audit
process was nevertheless undertaken and highlighted huge anomalies with regard to material
purchase under the MGNREGA. This led the State Government of Rajasthan to announce
special social audits, in all panchayats with highest material expenditure. In November 2009,
government of Rajasthan took the decision that Social Audits must take place in the identified
16 Panchayats in as many Districts in the State.

The Sarpanches protests and the strike of Gram Sewaks, continued the opposition to the
social audit process, preventing social audits with a stay from the High Court on a technical
issue. This forced the Government of Rajasthan to terminate the social audits that were
planned.

With this sudden termination in November 2009, the SR Abhiyan became aware that in
December 2008 a clause in first schedule of the law had been amended by the Central

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Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) at a time
when the non-government members of the Council were not part of the CEGC as their
membership was under annual review. The clause has allowed the argument that nobody
from outside the Gram Panchayat can participate in social audits. Before this amendment the
Act was silent on this issue. The SR Abhiyan has written to the Minister MoRD, GoI as well
as sent a detailed recommendation (in April 2010) through a Working Group on
Transparency and Accountability set up by the CEGC. However no detailed response has yet
been received. The only response is that the matter is still under discussion.

In January 2010 the matter was suspended as elections to the Panchayats intervened. This
election saw a steep rise in expenditure by the candidates as the stakes were seen to be very
high- the 1 crore (roughly) that each Panchayat was receiving under MGNREGA raising the
percentage for siphoning and deviation. For example a special government audit in Malaton
ki wer, a panchayat in Jawaja Block in Ajmer District, uncovered more than 1 crore 31 lakhs
of defalcation in only 20 out of 36 works in the Panchayat.

In August 2010 statutory 6 monthly Social Audits required under the MGNREGA were
announced and scheduled to begin from the 26th of the same month. Despite being
Government Servants, the Gram Sewaks joined the boycotting of the mandatory social audits
on the 26th of August. As a result in many gram panchayats social audits did not take place.
The boycott of social audits changed to direct action in dharnas and rallies, and on the 1st
September the Sarpanches tried to barge into the Assembly.

There are two main demands of the Gram Sewaks and Sarpanches –

1. The Government of Rajasthan, since March 2010 instituted a system, where material
purchase for MGNREGA works is done at the Block level, through a transparent
tender system. The Panchayat can only indent for the purchase of materials, so that
the implementing agency and the agency procuring material are different. The gram
sewaks and sarpanches argue that this is devolution of their powers under the 73rd CA
and they should be allowed to procure material at the panchayat level.

2. There is a strong objection to NGOs participating in the social audit process. Using
clause 13(b) of Schedule I of the MGNREGA, the Sarpanches are demanding that
only gram sabhas shall conduct social audits and no NGO or anybody from outside
the gram sabha should be allowed to participate in a social audit. This would mean,
even the government officials cannot participate!

In this context where elected representatives and officials are attempting to claim autonomy
without accountability, the SR Abhiyan has decided to begin organising rural labour across
the state on issues of peoples entitlements. This will include the refusal of the State
Government to register MGNREGA workers unions with the assertion that MGNREGA
workers are not workers! It is clear that everyone who is part of the "management structure of
MGNREGA wants to usurp control over the Act and its resources. This Yatra will mark a
new phase of labour assertion in Rajasthan.