The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 is a far-reaching achievement capable of revolutionising rural India. For the first time in the history of independent India a job is being guaranteed to every family that lives in a village, instead of funds being doled out.Unemployment in villages is one of the biggest challenges that India faces today. While the first draft of the bill limited its coverage to below poverty line (BPL) families, Sonia Gandhi personally took an interest in the bill and suggested several amendments, including extending the scheme to all families living in villages. Rural areas by definition lack job opportunities as there is no infrastructure to sustain industrial activity. Work done by beneficiaries under NREGS will result in the creation of infrastructure, which can then be used to sustain economic activity.However, as has been genuinely apprehended, the success of this scheme will entirely depend on the quality of infrastructure it results in. Therefore it is the quality not the quantity of work that matters. This is where adequate safeguards need to be set up. A system has to be put in place so that only credible people decide on the type of work to be undertaken, which in turn should be customised to local needs. An independent monitoring agency should oversee all work done and funds disbursed. A suitable complaint redressal system for the scheme with provisions for whistle blowing should also be planned out. The act is the biggest achievement of Manmohan Singh’s government so far, but the hard work starts now.A potent information campaign publicising the salient features of the scheme that reaches out to the target beneficiaries is another must. In similar schemes earlier it was found that beneficiaries were paid wages far lesser than minimum wages stipulated, apparently because beneficiaries were just not aware that a minimum wage guarantee existed. If this scheme has to work, people should know their rights under it.It is incumbent not merely upon the government and administrative agencies but upon the people at large that this scheme does not meet the fate of earlier, similar schemes. Earlier schemes didn’t work precisely because they involved mere monetary assistance, something easily siphoned off. Even today ruling parties in many states are busy doling out funds to unemployed youth, but these funds never reach the targeted people. Gram Pradhans fudge records and siphon away most of the money.Talking to the copsAdministrative reforms are very close to the PM’s heart. It was the turn of police reforms when Singh spoke at the national seminar of Superintendents of Police, giving us a glimpse of what to expect should he have his way. Police is one of the few institutions in India which has failed to keep pace with the times. Reforms in police is an old demand and I am glad that Singh has asked for a modernisation blueprint.The announcement to make sweeping changes to the 1861 Indian Police Act is also a welcome step and work on it should begin in earnest and at the earliest. Singh asked the assembled IPS officers to stand up and resist all political interference and threats of frequent transfers. He also used the opportunity to rebuke state CMs for neglecting his advice against effecting appointments and transfers on political considerations. Singh’s insistence on overcoming this unwarranted interference is welcome, for there are several CMs who change SPs and DMs like clothes. Monthly transfers of SPs and DMs is a common practice in UP.When T.S.R. Subramaniam was Cabinet Secretary, he mooted the idea of a 2-year tenure for SPs and DMs. I hope the recently set up administrative reforms committee under the chairmanship of former Karnataka CM Veerappa Moily will take tips from the PM’s speech and go ahead with strong recommendations to stop the practice of effecting transfers on the whims and fancies of CMs.Singh rightly highlighted the fact that going to the police is the last resort for a person in distress. On the other hand, the plan to review perks and benefits available to junior police officers should boost police morale.Reviving the corporationIndian PSUs have over the years acquired an image of mismanagement, corruption and ineptitude. Nevertheless, a few exceptions in recent years have broken the mould and the tribe is growing. The Food Corporation of India is another one knocking at the doors of the efficient PSUs club. The supreme body handling the Public Distribution System, FCI has been a den for corruption, waste and mismanagement. Apocryphal tales abound of rats wasting entire warehouses worth of food grain, and of rotten grain declared unfit for human consumption that got thrown into rivers. Food subsidies have always been a thorn in the flesh for any government, but subsidy management by FCI has been criticised in all quarters.Political and social considerations mean no government can mess with food subsidies; what matters is the extent to which they reach the target beneficiaries and how they are used. FCI has moved swiftly on operational improvements, including superior inventory management techniques, many developed in partnership with McKinsey. A toned-up quality of administrative functioning has resulted in an ISO 9000-2001 certificate.Fiscal reforms including the issue of Rs 5,000 crore bonds have cut the interest burden and saved Rs 500 crore. Another Rs 1,000 crore were saved following voluntary retirement taken by 9,000 FCI employees. The results are heartening. The leadership must be congratulated. FCI has got a secretary-rank officer as CMD: Vicky Malhotra, IAS (UP cadre).(The writer, a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha, can be reached at shuklarajeev@gmail.com)
