Visits to South Dinajpur

On Monday. 16 Feb, Puthumai, Ms. Chelsea of Seattle University, Ms. Rekha Soren, Mr. John Hembrom and few other staff of Social Welfare Institute went to Kumarganj in South Dinajpur district 100 kms east of Raiganj to attend what is called a "GPDMC", which is actually a Rural Local Government body's Disaster Management Committee, that are being strengthened through the efforts of Social Welfare Institute with support from Catholic Relief Services. There were about 70 men and women being trained in the role of the Disaster Management Committees at the local level and how they can coordinate Community Based Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation measures in the villages. Ms. Chelsea also got an opportunity to interact with few women in the villages who have practically nothing in their families other than couple of livestock--goats or pigs--that have been given by SWI as part of economic development.  On 17 Feb, Mr. Sanjay Rozario, the Zonal Manager of Caritas India visited two villages near Kumarganj along with Fr. Herman Kindo and Puthumai A. Nazarene to review the Micro-Finance Program supported by Caritas India. He also took time to interact with the Staff overseeing the program and with the village women. 

Employment Scheme and Corruption in Bank Accounts

A team conducting Social Audit in Jharkhand has found that the Banks and local middle men are hand in glove with eachother using the illiteracy of the poor and inaccessibility of the Government officials to enjoy fruits of hard labour of the poor under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in five panchayats of Karon block, 45 kms from Deoghar. The District Adminsitration has initiated action against the Deoghar-Jamtara Central Cooperative Bank, for corruption and malpractices.

The recent drive by the government to introduce the NREGA wage payments through banks and post offices (PO) has to be understood against this backdrop. This policy was put forward as a necessary step to tackle corruption because it separates payment agencies from the implementing agencies. This was prioritised to such an extent that a Ministry of Rural Development circular (dated January 21st, 2008) instructed: "Opening of bank and post office accounts of all the NREGA beneficiaries must be done before April 1st, 2008", that is within a period of two months. The number of new bank accounts opened during this period became a yardstick for measuring the success of this initiative. It was hailed as a commendable effort, a reflection of a dynamic new India. However, somewhat inconveniently, a recent social audit in Deoghar and news from other states, like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa, revealed that this new policy was not faring as well as the ministry had expected. In fact, they indicated that instead of stamping out corruption, the policy was in danger of becoming a new breeding ground for corruption. This leaves us to wonder what went wrong with the policy which was passed off as another success story by our policy makers?

There are two distinct patterns of irregularities involving bank payments. In Karon, there are many laborers who claimed to have worked for various NREGA projects but were paid in cash while the official records showed that all wages had been paid through bank accounts. Bank ledgers also confirmed the official line, but revealed a curious pattern of transaction. It is not difficult to believe that a labourer would withdraw the entire sum deposited in his account a day before, but why should one withdraw Rs 100 on the 3rd and Rs 200 on the 4th, while exactly the same amounts were deposited on 1st and 2nd respectively? The reason became clear when the audit team spoke to the account holders — it appeared that they had not worked in the projects for which their accounts were debited, they had never signed any withdrawal slips and never been to the bank after opening an account. Little wonder their passbooks were completely blank and the relevant information was not recorded on their job cards. The jigsaw puzzle was now in place — contractors pay the labourers Rs 50-70 per day in cash, well below the stipulated minimum wage rate (Rs 86.40 per day), but the cheques are drawn (often with inflated number of working days) in favour of those, whose accounts are entirely operated by the contractors and bank officials. Sometime these 'phantom' labourers also become unsuspecting accomplices of the contractors, for a small sum of money they let the contractors operate their accounts. There was clear evidence of other irregularities as well, contractors or bank officials hoarding labourers passbooks, banks charging an extra fee for opening NREGA accounts (it is supposed to be free in banks and to cost Rs 60 in post offices). It is evident that in Jharkhand, or at least in Karon, a cartel of contractors and bank officials (in Badiya Panchayat, it was found that the contractor is none other than the son of the local postmaster) has defeated the very purpose of separation of responsibilities. Introduction of bank payment has only added a new claimant of kickbacks from the NREGA funds.

Even in places where banks are not directly involved, a new layer of bureaucratic/ administrative procedures has made the labourers increasingly dependent on the middlemen. Bank payments are regularly delayed: We found that in Jharkhand, a two -month delay in clearing a cheque is quite normal, although the NREGA Operational Guidelines stipulate that payments have to be made within fifteen days. In some cases, labourers and the cheque-issuing authority have accounts in different banks, leading to an obvious hold-up. However all the bank officials  were unanimous in pointing to the shortage of staff as the main culprit (just to give an idea, the average number of employees per office in the State Bank of India has decreased by almost 25 per cent in the last five years). Ignoring these ground realities, the NREGA guidelines advised banks to undertake special awareness activities to familiarise workers with banking procedures — this at a time when they were finding it difficult to cope up with even their regular work. In such a scenario, it should not come as a surprise that some middlemen took full advantage of this situation.

One wonders why bank payment was introduced in such a hurry, without proper planning, proper safeguards and proper guidelines. This is particularly perplexing because the system of bank payments was not introduced in a vacuum — it was replacing the existing practice of cash payments. Moreover, even a quick look at the NREGA guidelines on bank payments will reveal a complete lack of safeguards, unlike those involving cash payments: In case of the latter, muster rolls to be read aloud, wages have to be paid in public, etc. Why did our planners in the Ministry of Rural Development start chanting the magic mantra of separation of responsibilities while completely ignoring the logic of checks and safeguards? For us casual observers it could be a mystery-drama but we should not forget that the victims here are rural labourers, for most of whom the NREGA is a vital lifeline. As for the planners, let's give them their due credit: This is the age of showbiz, why should policies be any different?

(With inputs from other friends.)

 

Looking Beyond

The lost weeks have been quite eventful, with the interim audit, the Governing Body meeting on the 15 Jan, and number of trips to Delhi, Kolkata, and a pleasure trip to Hazaarduari (Place of Thousand Gates) with Chelsea, and knocking at my University to check on the update on my marksheet as the University has failed to update my marksheet etc. It has also been quite a different experience for me to deal with things as I have tranfered financial responsibilities to Fr. Herman, and so that leaves a lot of space for me, and a bit of time to get hold on pending things. But I have not sat down to work much, as I begin to feel how much my body needs some rest. So, I am letting my body and mind relax, to let them understand that I do care for them.

Trainings in Sphere Standards

Under one of its new activities of the year, Sphere India has undergone an agreement with Concern Worldwide and Save the Children. The purpose of this understanding is to conduct 4 trainings on “Sphere Minimum Standards and Humanitarian Laws” in each state (West Bengal, Assam, Orissa & Bihar).Each training would be a 4 days residential training. The intended participantsof these trainings are government functionaries, non-government professionalsand humanitarian practitioners in the state that are involved in disaster response and other phases of DRR. The expected number of participants in these trainings is 25.

Sphere India proposesto transfer the complete training budget to West Bengal State IAG. The West Bengal State IAG shall plan the training as per the convenience and suggestions of West Bengal IAG members.

 

Initial discussions in the state IAG will take place for planning the trainings, taking into consideration the following points :

• * Finalize training dates (4 days in March or April 2009) in consultation with the IAG members
• * Identify and book venue (please suggest venue details to Sphere India, New Delhi to get it booked in advance to avoid last hour problems)
• * Ensure participation from relevant Govt. depts.
• * Initiate participants registration (A quality profile of participants would be appreciated. We also encourage women participation.)
• * Discuss and finalize training schedule and contextualized training materials
• * Any other important thing that the IAG may feel necessary at this time...
• WATCH OUT THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFORMATION.... You may download the tentative Training Schedule by clicking here.

Cases of HIV Infections Increasing

This morning, 28 Jan 2009, when I visited the home of the Missionaries of Charity the Sisters who follow the order of Mother Teresa were narrating about the pathetic condition of a little girl, aged about 6, who has been abandoned by her parents as both of them have died of AIDS, leaving her and her parents alive. And the girl is sick with severe malnutrition, and is now admitted at the sister's place. She, luckily, is not infected by the deadly virus. The sisters were telling me that she wants to go back to her home soon. When I enquired about the reason, you just cannot imagine the reply of the girl. "I have to take care of my grand parents!". She is clearly heading towards unsafe survival strategies. She can, as she grows up, end up as a victim of human trafficking and sex-trade. I can feel that. I am not sure if I will be able to help her; and I am not even sure if I will ever meet her again.  It raises fundamental questions about human intentions to help one another. To be with the poor. It also makes me reflect on the present situation of the three districts and I serve along with Social Welfare Institute.

The cases of HIV positives in the North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda districts is increasing at an alarming rate. Last year North Dinajpur district was declared as the district with highest number of HIV cases for any district in India. One of the rural government bodies (Panchayat - a cluster of villages with about a population of 30,000) in South Dinajpur, named Chokbrighu alone has over 100 HIV infected cases !

New Arrivals !

We are pleased to Welcome Chelsea Krema of Seattle University who has come as part of the International Internship Development Program of the Seattle Univ., WA., and she has already began helping Social Welfare Institute (SWI)  since 14 Jan 2009.  Chelsea arrived in India on 10 Jan. She will stay at SWI till the end of March 2009. Chelsea is a friend of two of our past students, Scott Ochs and Andrea Smith. Welcome Chelsea !!!

Ms. Hannah Munch of Germany is in Social Welfare Institute to understand and learn on Organizational Management and how development projects are managed on the field. Welcome to Hannah ! She arrived on 27 Jan 2009, and is expected to be in Raiganj till the first week of March 2009.

Guiding Disaster Preparedness

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has organized a Workshop in order to prepare a "How to Guide" for Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) Programs supported by CRS across the Indian sub-continent. The "How to Guide" is to be designed for use by CRS and its Partner organizations for effective implementation of CBDP so that the Guide could set benchmarks and identify best practices that can be used for replication at other places as well.

The sessions have been very heavy... after a long journey that I had from Raiganj to Delhi via Kolkata, reaching at the midnight of 20 Jan. Ms. Amy Hilleboe, Senior Technical Advisior on Disaster Risk Reduction at CRS Headquarters in Baltimore is the main facilitator, and the whole lot of interactive sessions were extremely tiring for the first day, and very useful personally, as I had a lot of opportunities to convey my opinions.

Cellular Silence Day - Keep Your Cell Phones Off on 30 Jan - the Day of Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi

In Support of Cellluar Silence All Over the World.... Let us Unite !

Click on the link and sign :  http://www.petitiononline.com/30JAN09/petition.html

Cut off Cellular Noise at least for a day....

Transfers and Appointments

Sr. Naveena who served the poor, especially through Health Programs, from 15 Jan 2008 has been transfered by her Provincial. She will leave for Kolkata by the 15 Jan 2009. Social Welfare Institute and all its partners wholeheartedly thank Sr. Naveena for her wonderful and dedicated service in Raiganj.

Mr. Mathias Hembrom,  a driver of Social Welfare Institute, has joined our Regional Forum Association of Bengal Collaboraors for Development (ABCD) as driver, in Kolkata. We wish him all the best !

Ms. Jonaki Kujur, who was in-charge of taking care of the micro-insurance program has left Social Welfare Institute, and has joined the Community Care Centre run by SWI, at Malda as an outreach worker. Thank you Ms. Jonaki !

Needs Assessment Workshop

SPHERE India in collaboration with the West Bengal State Inter-Agency Group, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and several other partners organized a workshop on Needs Assessment in Emergencies so that all Non-Profit organization level stakeholders may learn to assess needs and requirements of various communities in times of emergency situations, specially during disasters. Mr. John Hembrom and Ms. Bimala Baru represented Social Welfare Institute in the workshop which took place from 5-7 Jan 2008 at Baruipur, South 24-Parganas District, West Bengal. Puthumai A. Nazarene, joined the workshop on the last day for summarizing exercises. He also conducted a training to the senior staff of all Caritas India and CRS supported partners on MIS for the Community Based Disaster Preparedness program in West Bengal.