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| No Social Audit in Director Social Audit's office | | No website, no training to field staff | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Nov 23: Social Audit is an important provision provided under the MGNREGA by the Government of India. The implementation of this scheme at grass root level focuses on its transparency and especially the accountability of panchayat representatives , officials of Rural Development Department (RDD) such as Village Level Workers (VLW's) , Panchayat Secretaries and Junior Engineers's (JE's) . The NREGA guidelines focuses on the Social Audit and a separate directorate for it in all states .
In Jammu & Kashmir Dr A G Sofi who worked as Special Secretary to Government Rural Development Department was appointed Director Social Audits early this year when he retired from the active service. The Social Audits Directorate is yet to take up the social audit work in various blocks of the state with the result there is no accountability and transparency in the implementation of MGNREGA at grass root level. The directorate has no website where from some information could be gathered about " Social Audit ", its rules and regulations and details of social audits undertaken by the directorate in different districts of J&K. Under the provisions of MGNREGA, two social audits are to be conducted in a year per village panchayat , but as per reliable sources in 99% villages such audits are not being conducted.
The officials of Rural Development Department, Sarpanches and Panches and ordinary citizens are totally unaware about Social Audits.
Recently the officials of Rural Development Department conducted a `sham' "Social Audit" in haste at Palpora village of Budgam block after some mismanagement and bunglings were unearthed by the local residents using Right to Information Act (RTI). The local residents had shown strong resentment over this matter and have alleged that the Department did not give them prior notice about conducting the said Social Audit .
As per details a team lead by BDO Budgam along with local Panchayat members held a so called Social Audit in Palpora Panchayat halqa on Thursday (September 12) after the mismanagement in execution of works was exposed in the local press especially Early Times. The RTI applicant Farooq Ahmad Ganai and other aggrieved villagers have alleged that no prior notice was given to them. " I was informed on Thursday morning about the so called "Social Audit" while I was out of my village to attend a marriage function and it was impossible for me to come to my village on the same day within a few hours, if the officials would have been sincere about holding such audit I along with other aggrieved villagers should have been informed few days in advance and conducting such a social audit is a mere joke which is totally against the norms set forth by the Govt for conducting social audit," said Farooq Ahmad Ganai while talking to Early Times. Farooq added that after the Social Audit announced date on September 12 the BDO conducted another one after some weeks but there was a scuffle during the social audit as the Sarpanch and some Panches opposed of holding a social audit. The BDO tried to pacify the villagers but could not do anything. It seems they have no training and do not know the procedure of conducting a social audit. It was done all in haste.
"As per the provisions of MGNREGA while conducting a social audit all the villagers, Government officials, NGO representatives independent observers have to be assembled in a village and only after that a social audit has to be conducted by cross checking the works executed and doing on spot verification but this isn't done. We have heard of social audit from radio and TV but how it is done nobody knows," said Abdul Rehman a social activist from Hushroo Budgam
Pertinent to mention here that Rural Development Department has been in the dock for its inefficiency and mismanagement while implementing various Centrally Sponsored Schemes in many districts of state especially Budgam. The local access information from Block Development Offices (BDO) under Right to Information Act (RTI) but when the same has to be cross checked no official from Rural Development department comes forward . The locals residents of Neegu Chadoora , Palpora Budgam allege that the works shown executed on papers under MGNREGA and other schemes like Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) have not at all been executed on the ground. "We have contacted BDO Chadoora to undertake social audit at Neegu village in Chadoora block and he has agreed but in other areas the BDO's hardly care," said Mushtaq Ahmad a villager from Neegu Chadoora
According to the details available the RTI reply showed that a road has been constructed under MGNREGA during year 2011-2012 from Kargam to Moshi Bagh in Palpora area of Budgam block but the locals say that this is an R&B road and an amount of Rs 1.30 lakhs has been fraudulently withdrawn from Government treasury against this work by the local Panchayat and officials of BDO office Budgam .
Similarly another road from Kumar Mohalla to Banderpora has been shown constructed in the Palpora village under MGNREGA at an cost of more than Rs 3.56 lakhs but the RTI applicant Farooq Ahmad Ganai alleges that this money too has been fraudulently withdrawn from the Government treasury as the work has not at all been executed. In addition to it under Total Sanitation Campaign an amount of Rs 2700 has been shown provided to seventeen beneficiaries of Halqa Palpora but on the ground not a single lavatory has not been constructed nor has the money been provided to them.
The locals have been demanding that this matter must be independently probed by conducting a social audit in presence of media. "There is a provision of holding a social audit under MGNREGA scheme but hardly any social audit is held across the state due to non cooperation of Government Departments and lack of awareness among the people," said a villager Ghulam Nabi Mir a senior official said that they haven't been provided with any such training till date by any agency. "I wanted to gather the information myself online but I could not locate the website of the Directorate of Social Audit J&K," the official added, |
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