People’s Empowerment
Through
Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act (MGNREGA)
Partner: Rural Development Service Society
(RDSS)
Gaurav Vohra
Venkata Paruchuri
Varuna Mohan
Rajasekhar Jammalamadaka
AID Boston MIT CSH- Dec2011
Where?
Visakhapatnam District
Population
4,288,113
Males
2,140,872
Females
2,147,241
Growth(1991–
2001)
15.36%
Rural
1,301,437
Urban
3,530,899
Scheduled Caste
Population
291,219 (7.6%)
Scheduled Tribe
Population
557,572 (14.55%)
Where?
Vishakhapatnam - Kasimkota, Makavarapalem, Buchiyyapeta,
Ravikamatham, Chodavaram Mandals
Srikakulam – Santhakaviti, Ponduru, Kothuru, Bhamini,
Seethampeta, Palakonda, Heeramandalam Mandals
Other Chapters Reviewing
• Amherst
– Reviewed and approved Rs. 1.25 lakhs
– Their first project
• College Park
– Review in progress
• Tempe
– Will be reviewing once students are back in Jan
What is NREGA?
• http://nrega.nic.in/guidelines.htm
- 100 days of guaranteed work @ Rs. 121/day
- Adult members of rural household- Mostly non
skilled manual work
- Rs 40,000 crore by Government for FY11-12
- Peak period (April-June & Jan-March)
- People must file an application with receipt and will
receive work within 15 days
RDSS
• Rural Development Service Society (RDSS) facilitates
NREGA implementation in several mandals in Visakha
and Srikakulam districts and brought the landmark
ruling public interest litigation restoring the
minimum wage in the sate.
• AID has been supporting this work since the
inception (2008-09). However, this is the first time
Boston chapter has been requested for funding
• Led by P.S. Ajay Kumar
Different Initiatives Undertaken by RDSS
Applications/Job cards/Awareness
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Train uneducated people (SC/ST/BC)
File applications : where/when/how
Get receipt : no receipt - no work
Conducting Grama-Sabhas
So far 74 Grama-Sabhas spread across 3 Mandals
were conducted with each being attended by more
than 20 people
Gram-Sabhas->Need
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Progress of work
Payments of wages
Detailing rights as per the act
File applications
Kind of work/facilities/muster rolls
Gram-Sabhas in blocks till now:
34 Sabhas
April –March 2011
Ravikamatam
26 Sabhas
Bucchiyyapeta
April 2, 2010
Ramajogipalen
14 Sabhas
Chodavaram
April 4, 2011
Gauripatnem
Other Issues
• Job cards were first issued in 2008
- People who got married after that - not a separate
family – no job card
- People who are > 18 years old as of 2011
• Issues discussed in staff meting on April 17-18,2010
and conclusions:
- Go to village / get details and file new applications
 Two new applications: Madugula / Lakkulu
village
- Apply to register the new people who are now
majors
18 new people added in Adichaverlu village
Grievance settlement
• Toll free phone
- Dial 155321
- Free of cost from cell/land line/coin phone
Impact : After officials refused to listen to complaints, villagers called
this number and then slowly, officials began to accept complaints
• Ombudsman – in every district (Appointed by State Govt)
• District Vigilance Officer (DVO) and Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO)
- 12 cases so far before DVO
- 1 case before CVO
Impact: 1) Irregularities were found, 5 field assistants removed 2) People
saw results and are motivated to do more.
Dharnas / Demonstrations/Rally
To demand / protest against
• Late payments
• Non-Implementation of min. wage legislation
• Demand 100 days of work they are entitled to
• Spread awareness about NREGA
- Ravikamatam : 7July 2010, 16Sept 2010, 22 Feb. 2011
- Bucchiyyapeta: 9 July 2010 (70 people), 26 Oct 2010
(150 people), 13 Mar 2011 (20 youth did Cycle Yatra in
8 interior adivasi villages)
Foot march in Adivasi Villages
• Objective of foot march:
- Spread awareness/act/provisions of NREGA
- Note down other issues faced by adivasis
- Reports submitted to project director
• In adivasi regions of Vishakapatnam
• 7 day march started from Jan 22, 2011
• 80 volunteers participated from Chintapalli
medical center
• Covered 20Kms per day, walking through interior
villages
SR Sankaran Memorial March
• In honor of Retired IAS officer SR Sankaran
• 10 day Yatra in 2010 from Oct 20-30.
• Issues raised
- Food Security Act in Parliament
- Welfare of Agriculture
- Methods of Sustainable Agriculture
• Build up and encouraged people to join Kisan
Swaraj Yatra’s pitstop in Vishakapatnam in 10
Nov. 2010.
Kisan Swaraj Yatra
• Attended by 150 adivasis and poor agricultural
workers from RDSS on Nov. 10, 2010.
• Nation wide awareness Yatra to protect agriculture
• RDSS discussed agricultural issues of adivasis.
Block
# of People
Madugula
110
Rolugunta
90
Ravi kamatam
130
Buchhiyyapeta
30
Chodavaram
20
Natavaram
30
Srikakulam (Dist)
30
Total:
440
State meeting
• State level public meeting at Paderu center in
Visakha agency area
• Theme was “Adivasis and NREGA”
• Various organizations were present
• Other attendees:
- IAS officer Mr. R Subramaniam, social audit Director
Ms. Soumya, Vishaka Project Director etc.
- From Rajasthan, Mazdoor Kisan Sangramam Samithi
(MKSS), Nikhil Dey was chief guest
- From AID, Ravi and Aravinda were present and pledged
support
Social Audit
• Audits are conducted regularly to tackle violations &
other issues
• RDSS staff ->Madugula mandal (Feb 2011)-> Villagers
gather and file cases with DVO and Ombudsman->5 field
assistants removed
• Authorities invited these officers to other villages for
audits
• Three people among the staff elected as District Report
Persons (DRP) for social audit department
• Among the three, one is an adivasi and the other, a
dalit.
Public Interest Initiatives
• Cyclone Jal (Sept - Oct 2010 )
 Loss details submitted to government officials
 Result: 450 new applications were filed from 8 panchayats
of Madugula
• School surveys at alternative schools (pratyamnaya
pathshaala)
- Complaint: schools not running properly
- Asked Mandal Education Officer for details of school,
teachers and students
- No initial response but after 3 requests to district collector,
details of 60 schools were received
- Incorrect ration reports were noticed from these surveys
- Report was compiled and submitted (?) to National
Committee for Protection of Child Right
Training programs
• Monthly training to the staff
• Examples: Training in agriculture, NREGA, work
measurement from 3-7 Nov. 2010
- 7 Nov in Natavaram
- 21 July in Madugula
- 4 Mar in Ravikamatam, Rolugunta
- 13 Mar in Buchhiyyapeta, Chodavaram
• On request of village development office, 2 day training in
Vishakapatnam from March 24-25. Village social auditor
and vigilance social auditors were trained
• On request of ASDS in Khammam, training provided to staff
on NREGS on Mar 3, 2011
High court- PIL
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What for ? To raise the minimum wages.
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Before filing the case, wage was Rs 80 but in May 2011, state govt. issued orders to
raise the wage to Rs 100 (Minimum wage act is supposed to gurantee Rs 125 vs.
actual wage of Rs 100. )
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Difference between this act vs. NREGA, and their implementation?
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State govt. did not act on this order so contempt of court case was filed in High Court
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Notable people like Sonia Gandhi, Chief Minister Rosiah and lawyer Prashant
Bhushan were involved.
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Impact: Min. wage was increased to Rs 121 in state of AP based on Central
Government Order 
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Other issues discussed at national level:
- NREGA - should we implement the Minimum Wage Act or not?
- Can the government violate its own laws?
- Can one law take away the rights given in another law?
- After the Supreme Court gives a decision, can the parliament make a law against it?
- Decision expected on 14 oct 2011 (Will give a follow up update on this)
New Project Proposal
• Project: NREGA improvement to strengthen the
mates and working groups
• Time Line: October 2011 – March 2013
• Area Covered: Visakha district Rural / Adivasi areas
• Financial Assistance: Rs. 10, 89,750
Srama Sakthi Sangham (SSS)
• Job card holder in an SSS must work in that group
• Each job has code number
• Code numbers are recorded to avoid false names /
taking payment unlawfully
• Will be provided both Work orders/muster rolls for
each group
• De-centralising the power of field assistants
• To strengthen SSS:
– Coordinate and learn among different SSS at village, district and
state levels
– Network is formed out of like minded mandals to collaborate
between mates and SSS groups
– Example: State level meeting was conducted on 15 Aug. 2011 in
Hyderabad
Mates
• Mates are selected by each SSS group
• Work typically involves:
- Take the group members to the site of the work
- Mark and measure the work on site
- Fill up the muster roll and submit to the Field
Assistant
• More power to mates through empowerment
• Members in the group led by a ‘Mate’ are typically
geographically co-located. This would prevent entering
fake names in the roster.
• Collective bargaining power-More like Workers Union.
Hierarchy of People
Panchayat
Field
assistant 1
Mate 1
20-30 villagers
select a mate
Srama Sakti Sangam (SSS 1)
Field
assistant 2
Mate 2
….……
Mate N
20-30 villagers
select a mate
SSS 2
Andhra Pradesh = 4,82, 571 SSS
Visakha district = 25, 962 SSS = 4,85, 988 workers
[50-60 in a panchayat and in each mandal around 600 - 800 SSS]
20-30 villagers
select a mate
SSS N
N = 50 to 60
Obstacles Expected
• Mates not literate and if at all, only up to elementary
level
• Overwhelming data collection and forms, each for
different kind of work so understanding becomes
more difficult for mates.
Ex: Understand interactions and learn about NREGA , RIT,
policies, acts, marking and measurement, data records etc
• Need well trained mates for effective
implementation
• Idea is to teach one mate from each group to spread
awareness and proper implementation of this act
Overall plan of action
• Timely guidance and regular bulletin updates of Govt.
Provisions/GO’s
- 4 page new bulletin
- One bulletin per month up to 18 months
- 13 mandals ->500 per mandal -> 6500
• Training programs
- 3 day programs in 10 mandals (Visakha district) & 3 mandals of
Srikakulam.
- 30 mates per training ->390 mates overall
- Each mate will train 50 people -> ~19,500 villagers possibly will be
benefitted
• Help centers at regional level
- To solve doubts of mates and SSS members
- Visit to villages as and when required
- Meetings for regular updates and guidance to/from mates
Financial Proposal
Questions we had
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What's the significance of these months Apr-Jun ? – no agri work/summer wages
How did the workers earn their living before NREGA implementation?
Social status of people? Their background and demographics?
What is minimum wages act and how rigorously is it being implemented?
What happened to the decision that is supposed to come out on Oct 14th?
How are SSS mates who are uneducated being trained?
Difference between minimum wages act and NREGA act? Which one is being effectively
implemented?
High court order on the discrepancy in the minimum wages paid Rs. 100 ( and not Rs. 125 as
accordance with minimum wages act). the corresponding status of the state got.v order?
Modus operandi of social audits in NREGA.
Decentralization of rights of field assistants to involve more people to implement nrega? how
effective has this been?
Strategies employed to strength SSS from Mandal to state level.
Obstacles facing training of mates. How can it be successful?
Functioning of APNA and why did the staff/coordinators stop attending the conventions?
Difference between right to life and right to work?
Do we fully understand SSS hierarchy?
Training of mates and do we have any past experience giving training to uneducated people
like these, and any success there? May be they could benefit from some leanings from
different organizations.