India's largest social safety net needs a quality upgrade. A village in Rajasthan may have the answers
The Roster
The Man Jean Dreze
The Mission
To improve the operation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
What’s the Big Deal?
India’s largest social safety net.
Why We Need It
To help the rural economy catch up with the cities, the main beneficiaries of economic growth in recent years.
The Challenge
Lack of proper field-level records and a mechanism for handling grievances. Need to create locally relevant infrastructure.
What Can He Do?
As a key influence in the original design of NREGS, Dreze can give ideas to plug loopholes.
People to Watch Kaluram Salvi, a village sarpanch in Rajasthan, who has solved some of the problems of NREGS
Budget Highlights
Allocation raised 144 percent to Rs. 39,100 crore.
Problem No Transparency
Salvi’s Solution He got the entire NREGS records of the village painted on a wall at the centre of the village. Along with complete worker details, it also displayed the 10 rights that adult members of each family have under the scheme. “At any point in time anyone can look at the records on the wall and verify their authenticity. Villagers can compare and complain if there is any divergence from their personal records. This move has given a lot of confidence to the people,” says Salvi.
Problem Embezzlement
Salvi’s Solution: Corrupt hands used to fudge muster rolls and pay for absentees. Salvi ensured that the attendance was always taken at the worksite in front of all the people and absentees properly marked with a zero against their names. “This way nobody can fudge the attendance records after the roll call because it would entail changing the serial order of the whole sheet,” explains Salvi.
Problem Poor record- keeping
Salvi’s Solution: Every worker now gets a Majdoor Maap Card. It is a daily log of the amount of work done by a worker. This card is signed by the “mate” (worksite supervisor) and stays with the worker as a proof of his efforts.
Problem Inefficient Workers
Salvi’s Solution: The mates are known to have allowed their favourite workers to play truant and still get all the money. The final outcome of a team’s task would fall as a result and everybody, including the hardworking ones, paid less than what they deserved.
Now, Salvi has made sure that workers are placed in groups of five and each group is given a specific task. In the end, all five members of a group are graded together and paid equally. However, each group is graded and paid separately.
“This system ensures that nobody wants to work with a poor performer,” explains Salvi.
Early next year, Salvi’s term as sarpanch comes to an end. And that’ll also be Vijaypura’s acid test: Whether it can continue its trail-blazing run as the creative outpost for the country’s biggest social security programme.
(This story appears in the 17 July, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)