| |
2. Worksite Management: The NREGA can work well if there is decentralized accountability at every one of the hundreds of work sites in each district. An efficient worksite management system will change the work culture, involve a new set of educated unemployed youth and bring about skill upgradation in an organized manner. The PGK can serve as the platform for implementation of the following:
- Initial training of NREGA worksite managers (?upgraded mates?) in 3 months
- Facilitating adequate training and competencies of all worksite managers in the block in one year
- Institutionalising worksite management systems including systems for training women masons, appropriate worksite facilities, improved tools and certified worksite managers. This would require a period of two years
3. Computerization of the Panchayat Office: To address efficiency and accountability issues, the PGK can assist in computerizing the Panchayat office. This would involve:
- Computerization of NREGA documents in 6 months
- A fully computerized and organized Panchayat office in 12 months
- Institutionalizing this process with innovations such as information kiosks at the Panchayat level, over a period of two years
4. Use of ICT: Use of ICT innovations for better governance would involve proper record maintenance, enhanced transparency and proactive disclosure, efficient and timely wage payments and facilities for financial inclusion at the Gram Panchayat level. This could also include innovations to reduce the digital gap, by making the PGK a public internet point of the Panchayat. To ensure transparency, ICT should also be employed in bank transactions for wages as well as to create bank accounts for NREGA workers. This would provide an important system of checks and balances.
One such initiative is a live pilot jointly launched by NIC and India Post in the state of Orissa in December 2008. In this pilot, postal agents in villages have been equipped with mobile phones enhanced with unique secure transaction technology, and supported by smart card readers and finger-print sensors, to interact with NREGA workers and securely deliver payments. Near real-time data entry from these terminals to the block level system using mobile data connection ensures minimal latency and enhanced transparency in servicing worker requests. While the first phase of the live pilot is focused on secure delivery of payments to the workers, the larger goal of this exercise is to create ?pseudo-bank accounts? for all the participants, which will be hosted by India Post (and any other treasury authorized by the Government of India). A similar pilot project for enabling wage payments through ICT is also under consideration in Rajsamand district in Rajasthan.
|
