Behind the Curtains!

It was just a year back when I started writing this series of blogs accounting for my experiences of district training. Last one year was quite eventful for me. Apart from getting married, I traveled more than 20,000 odd Kms (half the circumference of earth) which by the

way din’t involve any foreign travel. I held various positions like that of Tehsildar, BDO, SDM and ARO (Elections) who form the cutting edge of the administration. I always felt wanting for words and time to narrate my experiences given their plethora and variety. Last one year was trans-formative too, adding more maturity and sense in me. Grass-root level administration is a theater of intense yet humane experiences and learning. It rekindles your original unpolluted value system but then serves as an eye opener too. It brings you close to reality and makes you more pragmatic than before. Away from the theoretic of air conditioned classes, it nurtures the real you like never before. One of the biggest advantages of grass-root level training is that it breaks lot of myths and imbibes the outcomes in your value system making them broader and permanent than before and at a much faster rate than cosy and sleepy theoretical classes. In this blog I am penning down some of the myths I heard and had pre-UPSC days but it took one year of district training to break them. There is no substitute for experience. But experiences are a function of time, place, state of mind and many more variables. So they are never complete and absolute but surely unique for every individual. Based on my experiences, I negate following:

1. "Indian Bureaucracy is bloated, Minimum Government and Maximum Governance is the need"

At least not in Himachal. With a cadre strength of 106 IAS officers against sanctioned 146, its getting increasingly difficult to run the government effectively. First be effective then aim for efficiency. Marginal cost of addition is still less than the value of output.

2. "Outsourcing is a good solution to downsize the government in a market economy"

Actually it has opened up more avenues for corruption. Should be taken with a pinch of salt. Privatization may not be always best solution to every problem in government. Government is the biggest monopoly in itself is understandable. But to infuse competition, doing away with the government is not necessary. Healthy system of checks and balances should be in place before we try out of box solutions.

3. "All IAS officers are corrupt and inefficient"

There might be a few odd black sheep here and there. But which organisation be it public or private lack them as it is a societal problem in India and elsewhere. Painting all of them with the same brush in one go would be a fatal mistake. It actually tarnishes and demoralizes the most efficient category of government servants. Some of them have actually sacrificed a lot to be in the services. A few corrupt ones are highlighted out of proportion in media shadowing the many honest, efficient and hard working officers. India needs to cultivate a culture of appreciating its unsung heroes. We need to infuse more optimism in the system than injecting pessimistic overdose.

4. "At the service of their political masters"

Repeat a lie thousand times and it becomes the truth. Political representatives are bosses for sure but not all IAS officers are at their service. At the Service of this nation would be more right and dignified way while addressing to them. This nation with 1.2 billion population, myriad political parties and innumerable thought streams would succumb to discontinuity and chaos but for the steel frame of this country. Politicians are going smart too. they want to get out of the sycophancy culture in their own interest. Had the myth hold any iota of truth, we would not witness such frequent transfers in higher echelons of government. Politicians have very high regard for IAS officers.

5. "Corrupt and yielding are awarded and honest and efficient shown the door"

Most crucial and important positions in government are always manned by most efficient and talented officers irrespective of their so called party affiliations. Somebody has to keep the show on. Corrupt and yielding ones are not meant for long hauls. They are finally weeded out and shoved in corner, at times with no scope for recovery. Corrupt might get immediate relief but they never win the race. System preserves the merit and appreciates the talent.

6. "Being neutral and playing safe helps for better future prospects"

When in Rome behave like Romans. You cannot not take sides. The job is not for weak heart. It keeps you on your toes. Enjoy the charm of the services. Playing safe is just not the way. But diplomacy is an art worth practicing. Being neutral means working at half the efficiency possible. Calculated bravery has its own rewards in long run.

7. "Highly qualified IAS officers work under uneducated Political masters"

Education has got nothing to do with your intelligence, social quotient, wit and leadership qualities. In a generalist organisation like government demand for above qualities is far more than ceremonial degrees. So if one thinks that he is at the wrong place then quitting and moving up the generalist ladder is better than cribbing. Every job demands its own unique set of skills. And new breed of politicians are coming with good qualifications too. These jobs demand more of common sense and education has no positive correlation with that.

8. "All politicians are alike"

Its not Bollywood out there. They represent our society. Good and Bad are in the same proportions as the society produces. And politics is no tool for producing siamese twins. Productivity and anonymity does have some positive correlation. You would be awestruck by some and many will fail you as well. You meet all kinds: Good, Bad and Ugly!

9. "Politicians are most unreasonable breed when it comes to working with them"

In fact its contrary. If the officer can add reasons while delivering advice, they will find the political class more understanding and reasonable way above their wives. Politicians have more at stakes than officers but still a reasoned advice is mostly appreciated. They deal with all kinds of unreasonable people in their constituencies to know better what a situation demands. A few rogues are mere aberrations and not the norms in politics.

10. “IAS no longer attracts the best talent in the country”

One needs to see the recent batches. People from IITs, IIMs, National Law Colleges, Best Art Graduates, and big MNCs with fat pay packages are joining selflessly. Trend may be trivialized but I see a great talent pool around. There is no dearth of talent in the service. The attraction for 150 years old services is adamant to diminish.

11. "IAS is a job with social status unparalleled"

Young members of services need to stop basking in glory. They had their limelight for a couple of years after passing the exalted portals of UPSC. They need to get down to business putting their best foot forward. Job may be unparalleled but individual is gauged and remembered for his deeds not for his status in long run. Many came and went, but a few could create a niche for themselves. Mediocrity is the most communicable and viral disease. Many officers just adorn the roll of honor on the glossy boards in the chambers but only few do exemplary works and become the folklore of the locals.

We have been given a golden opportunity and carry expectations of millions on our shoulders and that’s the privilege of being in the services. We have a daunting task ahead. Loads to do before complacency seeps inside of us and we are lost like dust in the storm. I might have seen the tip of the iceberg of "What would it be like?". I am sure future will unfold more interesting and challenging things ahead. With this I would bring down the curtain on this series of blogs called "Venturing into Administration". My district training comes to an end this month. Adventure is going to give way to some serious business now.

Governance Algorithm

“Be the change you want to see in the world”, this quote of Mahatma Gandhi in my view is not just applicable to individuals but to government as well. Before government burdened by the philosophy of ’Welfare State’ seeks to inflict any change in the lives of the countrymen, it needs to first repair itself. Reputes of governments both at centre and in states have touched nadir in recent times thanks to innumerable scams and scandals. The million dollar question is whether the self-preserving governments can ever introspect and fall in line with the tide of time. Governments are like quasi closed control systems in which feedback mechanisms are leaky which brakes the process of self-correction. That’s the reason why changes are slow to come by in governments. In fact the words ‘Government’ and ‘Change’ have been oxymoron since the advent of political science resulting in social revolutions time and again around the world and consequent establishment of new set of systems uprooting outdated age old decaying yet stubborn systems. Jasmine revolution in Arab world, Anna Hazare movement and rise of Aam Adami Party (AAP) in India in recent times are response to similar inactivity shown by the governments over last many decades. Being a civil servant, the question of snail pace of the delivery and dead slow changes in quality of governance does put me at unease. But being an optimist, I see this unease as a window of opportunity where I can contribute my bit in times to come. So when I was made district nodal officer for monitoring prices of fruits and vegetables in district Kangra, I sensed an amazing opportunity to experiment and contribute.

            District Kangra is the most populous district of Himachal Pradesh and “Sabzi Mandis” in the district are mostly fed by imports from adjoining Pathankot district of Punjab. Local produce is miniscule and is mostly sold out of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) purview by small time vendors. Partially due to lack of monitoring or lack of systems in place and partially due to topography, retailors of fruits and vegetables had been charging unreasonable prices to the customers with profit margins as high as 150 to 200 % in certain fruits and vegetables. Retailors especially in slightly elevated areas of Dharamshala, Mcleodganj and Palampur had been making merry at the cost of helpless customers. I was asked to research and come up with a comprehensive system of monitoring prices within the legal ambit and as per the guidelines and notifications of government on the subject matter. After studying the systems being put in place in other districts like Mandi, Kullu and Chamba under Himachal Pradesh Hoarding and Profiteering Prevention Order, 1977, I gave a presentation to an audience comprising of Deputy Commissioner, ADC, ADM, all SDMs of the district, secretary APMC and secretary District Food Supply. It was very important to get SDMs and Secretary APMC and DFSC on board as they were to form the backbone of the entire exercise in future.

            Our first challenge was to fix the maximum and minimum retail prices of each fruit and vegetable every day before 10:30 AM and put this information in the public domain accessible by customers before they hit the market for purchases. Information regarding Maximum and Minimum Retail Prices would give a fair idea to customers about the range of prevailing prices for the day for an item and also some sort of bargaining power. When produce is auctioned in APMC mandis, the seller of produce is issued R-forms stating the rate and quantity of fruit or vegetable by the commission agents. Three R-forms are generated, one is handed over to producer, second to APMC and third lies with the commission agent. When the commission agents further sale this produce to retailors they issue Q-form stating the price, quantity and commission to retailors. Again three copies of Q-form are generated, one is given to retailor, second to APMC and the third one is retained by commission agents. The prices mentioned for a particular item being supplied by producer and sold further to retailor by commission agent is same in both the R-form and Q-form. Only difference in Q-form is the commission charged by the agent which is mentioned separately. Given the multiplicity of producers and different quality standards of a single item being sold by different producers, a range of prices are obtained based on the R and Q-Forms.

            Suppose two farmers auction different qualities of potatoes in APMC Mandi. Let farmer F1 sells it to Commission Agent C1 at the Price INR 10/Kg after auctioning. So F1’s R-Form will mention INR 10 in price column. This produce is subsequently sold to let’s say retailor R1 by C1 at the same price plus the commission decided by government (In Himachal’s case 5%). So the Q-form generated will mention INR 10 in price column and INR 0.50 in commission column. This way prices in R and Q-forms are same.

            Now suppose farmer F2 sells better quality potatoes to Commission Agent C2 at price INR 12/Kg after auctioning. In this case F2’s R-form will mention INR 12 in price column. This when subsequently sold to retailor R2 by C2 will generate Q-form with price column quoting INR 12 and commission of INR 0.60. But what has happened due to these two transactions is that a wholesale price range of INR 10-12 has been obtained for potatoes which would further translate to a maximum and minimum range of prices for retailing purposes.

           

            The first step of filling up R and Q-forms were made mandatory for the Commission Agents and same had to be handed over to Secretary, APMC as soon as generated. Secretary, APMC would then prepare a list mentioning the lowest (X) and highest (Y) auction rates of each vegetable and fruit based on R-forms which are available with him latest by 8:30 AM daily after the auctioning is mostly over.

On X and Y a margin of 45 % is added for Maximum Retail Price on Perishable items.

A= X + 45% (X) aka Minimum Retail Price

B= Y + 45% (Y) aka Maximum Retail Price

For Non-Perishable items:

A= X + 30% (X) aka Minimum Retail Price

B= Y + 30% (Y) aka Maximum Retail Price

These profit margins take into account Commission Agents’ fee (5%), Market fees (1%) for Government, Misc. of 4% (Transportation charges, Packaging, Distribution, Display) and Wastage (10%) and profit margin of 25 % on Perishable and 10 % on Non-Perishable items. These various margins are as per the various notifications and guidelines issued by Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Himachal Pradesh from time to time.

The prices A and B are being daily updated on the website (http://hpkangra.nic.in/pdf/fruitpricedshala.pdf) of the district Kangra for the information of consumers. Display boards mentioning these prices have been put up in conspicuous part of the markets by DFSC and daily prices A and B are being written on them for the benefit of the consumers. These notices boards have the phone numbers of ADM, DFSC, Secretary APMC and Police who can be contacted in case of violation. Consumers can also demand Q-forms from the retailor to cross check the prices while making purchases.

Retailers after adding 45% or 30% (Perishable/Non-Perishable) on the prices mentioned to them in Q-form have been asked to promptly display it in their shops in following format:

Shopkeeper Name and Phone Number
Date
Item	Price
1
2
..
n
Phone Numbers ADM/DFSC/Police	Signature of Shopkeeper

The public awareness was the most vital part of the campaign. They were informed through press releases by district administration in local newspapers. When we were placing the price boards in various part of the district where major retailing take place, it generated lot of interest in the public.

Random checks but on regular basis by SDMs, DCFCS&CA (i.e. DFSC) and Police officers above the rank of Sub-Inspectors was undertaken to keep check on the adherence levels by the Shopkeepers. A few examples of confiscations were published with the help of local newspapers to project the seriousness of administration in the matter. I personally as SDM, Dharamshala for a brief time went out on regular inspections and challaned many erring shopkeepers.

But the most challenging part was to get the various departments of government on board for success of the whole exercise. It involved commitment of APMC, District Food Supplies, Administration (SDMs) and the District Information officer (DIO). APMC gives the prices and DIO puts them on website daily before 10:30 AM. Food Inspectors and SDMs have been regularly monitoring and inspecting the retail markets. All Departments had their inertia to begin with and it took some time and patience to get the ball rolling.

            Next challenge was to get the commission agents generate R and Q-Forms and provide the same to APMC. The whole exercise would result in loss to them in terms of time and margin so they were reluctant to generate these forms to begin with and were coerced into it after the notification by the district administration as they stood to lose their licenses. Retailor Association was the most reluctant group in the whole episode. Retailors so far were charging exorbitant prices as per their whims and fancies. After their profit margins got fixed and maximum retail prices out in public domain they were ones to show the strongest reactions. Some of our Price boards in district were vandalised. But since these prices are available on the website of the district they could no longer prevent customers from demanding reasonable prices.

As long as I was spearheading the exercise, it was running smooth and fine. It brought relief to consumers at large. Soon I was assigned others roles as per my training requirement. The whole exercise lost its steam in my absence. Prices which were being daily updated on boards in markets were stopped. All that remained was the price update on district website. This brings me to an interesting conclusion. Anything automated in government using technology might still be sustainable and lasting but any manual procedure established may vaporise in absence of motivation and push factor. Downsizing of the government and induction of technology driven automation in governance delivery is the need of the hour. This will not only bring efficiency in delivery but also make it sustainable by getting rid of the lethargy in the system. This brings me to the opening remark again, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. 

Legal extortion

Never before had I heard that government has departments to carry out legal extortion of dues from defaulting members of public and institutions. And to my disbelief these extortions/recoveries are utter coercive to an extent of auctioning the immovable and movable property  of the defaulter to recover dues payable to government and other notified institutions and all within the legal ambit. The people manning these departments are not hired goons but government employees who occupy respectable positions in the society. The whole process of recovery in government is quite unlike what we hear some private banks and financial institutions resort to. Here the recovery man is not a ‘Dada’ but a gazetted officer with a team of employees who are paid salaries from government treasuries. He serves summons to the defaulter and holds court like judges and can issue arrest warrants to ensure presence of the defaulters. He can put a defaulter behind bars for contempt and absenteeism.

             So when I was dispensed the charge of Tehsildar (Recovery) of district Kangra along with other charges it came as a surprise. The job of T(R) is to recover dues from the defaulting general public and institutions which accrues as Arrears to Land Revenue (ALR). And while doing recoveries, T(R) is guided by two acts of Himachal Government i.e. HP Land Revenue Act, 1954 and The HP Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act, 2000.

           On day one, I found T(R) branch was in total shambles with no set procedures and there were legal lapses at each stage of recovery process. The staff was hardly aware of the legal provisions and were riding on their luck to recover the dues as ALR. The branch recovers dues payable to many agencies who are our clients like Judicial Courts, Revenue Courts, Banks, Corporations, Public Sector Undertakings, Financial Institutes, any Department of Government i.e. Mining, and Industries etc. and any other body notified by the Government from time to time. These bodies and institutions were complaining of inordinate delay in recoveries by my office. There were no set procedure for initiating and completing recovery process, acts and rules guiding recovery process were not followed in letter and spirit, recoveries were miniscule when compared to time and energy spent, loss of collection charges, and shortage of staff was disheartening.

          Once in the very first week of taking over, I was holding the court and the recovery case before me amounted to around INR 8, 00,000/-. And the defaulter in late 50’s was paying INR 2000/- per hearing since last one year and pleaded to be poor and thus unable to pay the amount in one go but his revenue papers available with us said otherwise. In the open court I said this way it would take you around 400 hearings and that would be roughly 400 months or around 33 years to deposit the dues in totality. By that time I would have retired and Khadi Department to which you owe the amount would have shut down. People started laughing in the court. I threatened him to deposit the amount at earliest and not to fool around the court else the court would initiate auctioning of his properties to recover dues. He pled for next hearing and same was granted to him. In the next hearing he deposited INR 50,000/- and promised to pay remaining amount ASAP and submitted an affidavit to support his claim.

          After assuming the office, first thing I did was to go through the two guiding acts in detail and chart out a smooth and efficient recovery process. I figured out a simple process yet inclusive of all relevant aspects of law for future recoveries. The HP Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act, 2000 has provisions for collection charges if dues are recovered for Banking Companies, Financial Institutions and for Public Sector Undertakings. This was totally ignored in the past resulting in loss for the government. These collections charges as per government notifications are 8 % of the recovery i.e. for every lakh a sum of INR 8000/-. Now we are collecting these charges from our relevant clients.

         Kangra is a huge district. Some of the areas are 90 odd kilometers away from the district headquarter. So far most of the hearing proceedings or court of T(R) was being held at headquarter. It was very difficult for the defaulters to travel all the way to headquarters every month to pay their dues or to attend the court proceedings especially for the poor. There are 8 sub-divisions in Kangra. We decided to hold court or recovery camps at five different locations each month i.e. Headquarter, Kangra, Indora, Dehra and Palampur. In future we plan to add one more recovery camp at Baijnath. This has actually increased the attendance and recoveries have actually shown an upward trend. For small time defaulters who were paying more on bus fares than in recoveries the idea of recovery camps has proved to be a blessing. It has also helped the senior citizens who instead of travelling to headquarter used to hire advocates for attending their hearings paying them extortionate fees.

           As far as staff shortage is concerned I needed a Reader and an Assistant for my office in addition to existing staff. Shortage was hampering the office work like drafting legal notices and issuing summons to be served on defaulters and keeping track of various other office processes and communications. Presence of an IAS heading the branch expedited the cause of securing the much needed manpower which has helped smoothening office working.

              Next task was to educate my staff about the procedures of recovery and the relevant sections of aforesaid two acts. This took me a couple of sessions and a bit of patience to get across the message. But all is well that ends well. We took a print out of the procedure which was drafted and got it framed and displayed in the hall where my staff works and in my own chamber. And I asked them to look at it every day in the morning while reporting for work. And to my surprise they have started quoting correct sections numbers and provisions of the acts in their file noting, notices and drafts. All the hard work has started paying off finally.

Recovery Camp at Indora. Kangra

On the personal front, this independent charge gave me room to experiment as well as to contribute in administrative innovation and business process re-engineering albeit in a small setup. Turning an office almost totally ignored to one generating revenues has been a fulfilling experience on a personal level. I tried parallel processing procedures instead of usual linear processing route in a government office which have started showing results. Many of the recovery cases used to be pending in the office for several years rendering the entire recovery process a costly and futile exercise. But now our target is to finish off a file within six months of its inception as per the procedure adopted. District of Kangra has many Stone Crusher Units on its south and south-western borders with Punjab. Mining Mafia operate many of these crushers. One of our clients is Mining Department. We get regular recovery cases from Mining Department against these Crusher Units which are in tune of crores. When my office initiated recovery process against these Crushers threatening them of seizing their plants or auctioning them for their default some paid their dues and many ran to High Court for stay orders. Some of them after paying their dues run the risk of shutting down their units for lack of profit. We have initiated new recoveries against these crushers in tune of 14-15 crores in last one month which will further tighten noose around their neck and will act as deterrence to rampant illegal mining in the area. The experiment has helped me understand that the one of the successful ways to make dent in government and to get your task done is patience and ability to find solutions within the given legal framework already existing as the system believes in self-preservation. We can tunnel our way through if we understand and apply existing laws with bonafide intentions. Trust me there lies a solution in government for every problem, the need is to find it silently and tactfully putting your grey cells in action rather than hormone levels. Being anonymous till one achieves the end does help a bit in government.

The Buck Stops Here

As a part of my district training I was given Independent charge of Assistant Commissioner (Development)-cum-BDO of Pragpur Block in Kangra district for a few weeks. Pragpur is one of the 15 blocks in the district Kangra but stands out for more than one reason. Apart from being the largest block in Himachal with 75 Gram Panchayats (GP), it is also headquartered in Pragpur village which is the first Heritage village of India. Pragpur village is also the oldest village of Himachal Pradesh with a history of almost 3 centuries and has been the delight of foreigners who have been frequenting this place. Pragpur was founded to commemorate the successful resistance against Mughal marauders led by princess of Jaswan, ‘Kumari

Pragpur

Prag’ in 17^th century. After foundation many clans of ‘Hill Soods’ came and settled in this village and in the adjoining village Garli. Over a period of 2-3 centuries they built graceful havelis, manors and Italianate buildings that are interspersed amidst beautiful mud-plastered and slate roofed houses. These buildings in spite of vintage neglect give Pragpur and Garli a medieval look and ambiance. The Garli-Pragpur Heritage zone is under Special Area Development Authority (SADA) and has been integrated with National wetland, Pong Dam Tourism development Project. These villages located in the backdrop of river Beas and Pong Lake present tourists a plethora of opportunities for camping, angling, trekking, boating, bird watching, nature walks, cycling and relaxing in the peaceful milieu.

        Pragpur which is situated 60 Kilometers from district headquarter of Dharamshala is a major destination for ‘Rural Tourism’ in Himachal Pradesh. Presence of posh ‘Judges Court’, a Heritage Manor attracts foreigners acting like

Judges's Court

an anthro-magnetic field. I too was smitten by its hospitality and joy of candle-light dinner on more than one occasion including the eve of the New Year.  It was built by Justice Sir Jai Lal in 1918 who belonged to Pragpur and he was the only second Indian who acted as Chief Justice of Punjab High court during British Raj. Incidentally Justice Sir Sadhi Lal who was the first judge from India and also member of Privy Council of British Government hailed from Pragpur. ‘The Taal’ forms the core of village. This water body was constructed by the Village Brotherhood, ‘Nehar Committee’ and their recorded meetings date back to 1864. The Nehar Bhawan surrounding the Taal is around 250 years old.

        Last year Pragpur Block was in news for all the wrong reasons like embezzlement, shortage of staff, high absenteeism and uncooperative staff etc. Inquiry was conducted into the scam of roughly a crore in MNREGA and the guilty accountant who used to forge the signature of BDO on cheques, and Panchayat resolutions was summarily dismissed. Since then things have been falling in place for the block. Some fresh appointments and transfers of many blundering staff have really put the block on the tracks again. Block is almost 100 Kilometers in length east to west. District Hoshiarpur of Punjab borders it on south. To its north lies the majestic Pong Lake. Remoteness and Undulating terrain in Shivalik presents its own developmental challenges for the block. And that’s why a few weeks spent in the block were an experience in itself.

        The task of AC (D)-cum-BDO is to oversee implementation of various central government schemes like MNREGA, SGSY, IAY, IWDP, NFBS, TSC, IDDP, IWMP, NRLM, RSBY, NFSA and several other schemes run by both central and state government. BDO’s main responsibilities are sanctioning of projects under aforesaid schemes, release of funds, oversee execution and regular inspections. BDO’s are the development engines of the government in the field. Currently the scheme which guzzles the maximum time of block offices is MNREGA. Before the financial year begins, a labour budget is prepared which takes into account the number of job card holders in a particular GP. Based on Labour budget Gram Sabha prepares a shelf of projects within the operational guidelines of MNREGA to be taken up in the next financial year. Then the shelf is approved by all the tiers of Panchayati Raj. And now in the financial year GP by resolution seeks sanction for the projects in the shelf one by one as per the job demand from BDO who not only sanctions but also releases funds for carrying out those projects. Gram Rojgar Sevak (GRS) and Technical Assistant (TA) help GP in handling MNREGA works and procedures. After Panchayat resolution for a project in the shelf, TA prepares the estimates and GRS prepares the documents (Photograph of site, Parcha-Tatima, Jamabandi Papers, list of Job-seekers, Affidavits, and NOCs along with Panchayat resolution paper) for necessary sanctions and approvals. GRS also does the MIS entries at each stage of the project in execution. Once the project is under execution, Junior Engineers (JEs) from Block and BDO inspect the work from time to time. When the work is complete and all payments are done, GRS submits the work completion certificate and does appropriate MIS entries.

        Once I was out on surprise inspection to one of my GPs called ‘Maniala’. I was accompanied by a JE. After inspecting the various registers of Panchayat like Proceeding, Attendance, Asset, Job-Card, Cash, Marriage, Death and Birth and Ration Card Registers, I inquired about the ongoing MNREGA projects in the village. I asked the Panchayat Secretary to show me sites of those projects. I was taken to the site of a project where a water well/Tank was being constructed. It was in the final phase and was filled with underground water and villagers were already fetching water out of it. I saw some other Tanks too which were complete and in fact villagers had installed pump sets for mechanical lifting of water and had laid down an elaborate system of pipes to supply water to nearby households. These tanks were being constructed under MNREGA with a budget of 2.5 lakh INR each. Utility of those tanks for the village undeniably justified the investment. A question crossed my mind as to how the location for Tanks were being determined. I mean if you choose the location wrong and go on digging and finally hang up your boots without getting water, it would result in total waste of time and energy. I asked my JE, you must be consulting some hydrologist from Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) department to locate underground water. And I got a curious reply. He said, “We have found a local solution”. There is this lunatic kind of guy by the name ‘Ashok’ who helps us out every time to choose locations for constructing wells/tanks. He puts two wooden pieces on his head and walk over the ground. Wherever one of those two pieces fall is the location where we start digging and he has never disappointed us so far. Once after digging 30 odd feet, we were not getting the water source. And we started to think that his forecast is going to fall flat. People told him ‘Ashok paani nahi mil raha hai, tu galat ho Gaya isbaar’. Giving a very indifferent look he said, “Go a foot further”. To everyone’s surprise, workers after a foot of more burrowing hit the water source and the tank started filling. Mr Ashok is being used by our block as hydrologist in other Panchayats as well and of course without any honorarium. It is amazing that such a huge and ambitious scheme of government is being run by such local solutions. I think the strict policy of upholding 60:40 ratio for labour and material component in the scheme would have given birth to infinite good, bad and ugly innovations across the country.

        Highly centralized operational guidelines in MNREGA leave very little room for experiments at grass root level. For example most of GPs I visited were either having no running projects or a few tank/well projects in execution. I inquired about it and asked Pradhans to get some more work sanctioned else they won’t be able to achieve their targets. They said we want roads and we have already exhausted upper 30% of expenditure limit under MNREGA on roads. People are willing to work if we can get more sanctions for roads as that is what they are demanding the most. There is no interest in any other kind of project in many GPs and thus no demand for work anymore. Himachal is a hilly terrain and providing kachha/pucca road connectivity to every household is an arduous task. So people show more interest on road projects which benefits them right away and thus there are more job seekers for the same. Demand for work is reducing under MNREGA at many places in Himachal as operational guidelines are very restrictive and are unable to capture local needs. And that’s where centralized planning fails. In my view operational guidelines of MNREGA should be more flexible or rather should have been handled, modified and notified at the district level by Zila Parishad. I mean who can understand the local needs more than the local people themselves. Even the decisions regarding convergence of MNREGA with other schemes should be left to Zila Parishad. If that happens the scheme will go a long way in creating valuable and permanent assets for the local community in long run. More tweaking is needed for any further benefit before MNREGA dies its own death albeit as martyr.

        With non-availability of cheap labour in states like Himachal and non-availability of cheap construction material with the mining embargo of river beds by honorable courts, meeting targets under MNREGA has become very demanding. If we really want to create more durable and useful assets under the scheme then there is impending need to review the philanthropic 60:40 ratio criterion and switch to more pragmatic 40:60 in phased manner in states like Himachal. Cheap labour is scarce resource in Himachal. With time demand for work is coming down and that is clearly echoed in the number of job card holders in the state and number demanding work year after year. Work is being mostly demanded by housewives from economically weaker sections (EWS) and Very Low Income Groups (VLIG) in the state. Organization and processes of the scheme should be decentralized further to make it a harbinger of true decentralization. It has been 8 golden years of MNREGA which has really enhanced the rural economy and empowered the masses in general and local bodies in particular. In fact in my opinion it unknowingly proved to be a Keynesian intervention during last recession which kept the rural demand high and proved blessing in disguise for Indian economy. But it would be senseless to romance with the scheme in such preposterous way any longer. It’s time to introspect at the utility dimensions of the MNREGA, it’s time to revamp and repackage it to make it more relevant, more pragmatic to local needs before it becomes a dead scheme in well to do states.

        And coming back to our Heritage village, Pragpur. With great pomp and show, state government in 1997-98 declared the village a heritage village. SADA was notified for the development of the area but its enthusiasm was only ephemeral. Thus only a few pockets belonging to influential people could benefit from the whole arrangement. When I intermingled with the villagers, I found out the unpleasant side of the story. Residents of Pragpur grumble that they are not even allowed to raise new constructions or make substantial changes to existing buildings as it is a heritage village now. They travel all the way to Dharamshala, 60-70 kilometers to get necessary approvals. For most of them, heritage tag means a little but just a liability. What an irony? Who has to be blamed for such sloppiness and discontinuity? Why don’t democratic governments suffer from closure syndrome for a good cause? Who will ensure continuity of schemes, policies, vision, focus and intentions in government? In my opinion bureaucracy should roll up its sleeves and say that ‘The Buck Stops Here’.