Grameen Coolie Karmikara Sangathane

Annexure 4.1

NREGA IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES IN KARNATAKA

1. Wages
a. Non-payment: Over Rs. 200 crores of wages from 2009-2010 are still due to the
ending of Old Panchayaths terms in February this year and coming of new
Panchayaths. Additionally, there is massive corruption by Members to get works done,
not in the “approved works list’. Finally, Karnataka government has commissioned a
new Panchayaths post, ‘Panchayath Development Officers’ (PDO) staffed by young
inexperienced people who’ve been unable to settle the matter. While the District
administration in some districts is ready to pay people in 2010-2011 account, Activists
are opposing this move on grounds that it will reduce entitlements of the people in this
year
b. Delayed payment: Most payments are being made in 2-3 months as opposed to 15
days. This reduces people’s interest to ask for new works in the Panchayaths.
c. Minimum wage: Minimum agricultural wage in Karnataka is Rs 117 however the
NREGA wage rate is only Rs 100. This is a violation of the Constitution and the
Minimum Wage Act. Finally after harmonizing NREGA wages with the Minimum
Wage Act, the rate needs to be automatically increased by 15% annually to keep up
with inflation in essential commodities
2. Social Audit: Karnataka has appointed SIRD for this purpose, which has appointed co-
ordinators in each taluk though many posts are still vacant. Some young co-ordinators have
uncovered large-scale corruption, yet despite submitting reports to the Zilla Panchayath along
with proof, no action has been taken. Further there is no provision to involve civil society
organizations in SA processes, or to ensure the independence and inclusiveness of the process
3. Job Cards: Karnataka government has decided to renew all Job Cards this year to remove
fake cards. However most people are not aware that they need to get new cards, resulting in
ZERO works being taken up in 2010-2011 (6 months are over already). New job cards are
being issued so slowly that people will likely lose their 100 days entitlements this year
4. Delayed Planning of Works: As per the Act, Action plan of works should be finalized by
October of previous year. However, in Karnataka Action plans for 2010-2011 are still being
made, but the PDO does not open work unless Action plans are approved
5. Outsourcing to NGOs: Karnataka decided to hire manpower agencies to supply NREGA
personnel in each Taluk/Block – this was outsourced to NGOs (in some cases blacklisted ones,
e.g., in Raichur). Observations over the last 6 months by independent people and by
government officials indicate that these new people are not doing any work at all with their
entire salaries going to waste
6. Grievance redressal: There is no clear procedure and fixed accountability for redress. The
complaint must first be made to the EO, then CEO but it is not known if the final authority is.
Initially a district committee with DC, CEO and others was proposed, which was changed to
Ombudsman, who has still not been appointed (very few taken till now in Karnataka). The
State and National employment councils are also unable to support people by upholding their
rights

GCKS is a union of agricultural workers with about 1 lakh members in 12 districts. Some members
have been sitting on dharna since 22nd September demanding payment of wages, all of whom
were arrested on the first day. Yesterday (25th September 2010) the Chief Secretary met them
and they hope that the payments may be made in 2 to 3 days.