New Delhi: Critical over the leakage of
funds meant for the rural poor, the National Human Rights
Commission has suggested that the government should conduct a
social audit of flagship programmes like MGNREGA and ICDS to
have an assessment on what is the impact on ground.
A top NHRC official said the government`s various
studies and reports had shown that there was no match between
the programmes and performance as the authorities had failed
to achieve the 11th Plan targets set in 2008.
"Though the growth rate approaching double digit and
GDP on rise, it has no impact on common man`s life...What we
need is a social audit of government`s flagship programmes
like MGNREGA and ICDS," the official said.
He said the NHRC will be presenting its assessment to
the United Nations next year about the functioning of the
government as per Universal Periodical Report.
The official said the government guaranteed 100 days
of work under the MGNREGA scheme but its own report says that
people got an average of 47 days work a year. This is when the
villagers are demanding 200 days work, he said.
Similarly, he said, around 60 per cent of the funds
allocated for anganwadis under ICDS were pocketed by officials
and others.
"A study conducted by the NHRC in a district in Uttar
Pradesh showed that 61 per cent of the funds have been
siphoned off. A government report for the whole country also
shows that 60 per cent of the funds under ICDS are siphoned
off," he said.
The official pointed out that the 21 most backward
districts chosen by the NHRC were almost similar to that in
the government list and most of them are in the naxal belt.
On the naxal front, the official said, the
administration simply does not manage to enter the remote
villages.
"The writ of the government does not run there...the
contractors who are engaged by government pay the naxals. In a
way the government is pumping their enemies," he said.
The official said there were reports that naxals
procure explosives from contractors who had procured it for
building roads in difficult terrains.
"The same explosive is used to built roads by
government and later the naxals blow it up using explosives
from the same stock," he said.
The official pointed out that the 11th Plan target was
to increase the sex ratio to 935 in 2011 from 927 in 2001 but
it had fallen to 914 this year. Similarly, infant mortality
rate was to be reduced to 28 from 58 but the achievement was
only 53.
PTI
