OBSERVER The Weekly
Volume 14 | Issue 21
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Govt job scheme a scam
EXCLUSIVE
“They (contractors) take all the money from the account and give me just 100 rupees.” Gurunathhuvappa, a weaver
Nikhil M Babu A government work scheme is being routinely abused by contractors. Villagers who sign up for the scheme - where money is paid directly into bank accounts - are forced to withdraw it and hand it to corrupt officials. The Weekly Observer found out that in four villages of Ramdurg taluk, corruption was prevalent in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was passed by the government in 2005 with the mission to give 100 days of employment per year to the people of the rural India. Sureban is an area in Ramdurg where weaving is a major occupa-
tion and most of the weavers are in their 50s or 60s. Gurunathhuvappa, a weaver in his 60s, said: “The contractors take me to the bank. They take all the money from the account and give me just 100 rupees.” His bank statements show that he has got Rs 25,000 under the scheme. In the last three years, Ramdurg was allotted almost Rs 10 crore under the scheme by the central government. There is a clear pattern that exists in this business and Gurunathhuvappa’s story is a reflection of many others in Sureban. The government creates different developmental projects in the villages which provide employment for villagers. The money will be send directly to the accounts of the people by the government.
Manjunath from Nagannur
The Weekly Observer spoke to two of Gurunathhuvappa neighbors who also met with the same fate. Shankarappa, standing in front of the handloom inside his hut, showed us his bank statements which stated that he had received atleast Rs 15,000 under the scheme. “Contractor, contractor…,” he said in a heavy Kannada accent when asked who gave him the 100 rupees. “I went with him to the bank to take out the money for him.” From 2006, the Indian government has spent crores of rupees for the same scheme which is one of the most heavily funded schemes of the government. Hanumanth’s name was in the list of workers who supposedly worked on the construction of a road for Rs 2 lakhs in Sunnal village. As per the records, 60 villagers had worked on
the project every day for four weeks. “The work was done by the contractor with only four or five workers including me and it was completed in four days,” said Hanumanth. “Even the name of the contractor is there in the list of workers.” Kadampur panchayat received almost Rs 50 lakhs last year, the highest funds under this scheme in Ramdurg taluk. The panchayat president, Zaharath Ali, gets a meager salary but owns a new SUV and has a new house. Nava Gram is an area where people were rehabilitated after a flood few years back which has about a 100 small houses on both sides of the village road. Shivanand G Kalyani stands in front of his allotted house al-
lotted and tells the same tale of Rs 100 for the Rs 4,000 that came into his account under NREGA. Manjunath, a resident of Nagannur village, said: “Most of us don’t get any work under the NREGA. Once there was work on the maintenance of a pond. The panchayat members took a group of us near the pond and took a picture. We didn’t do any work nor did we get any money.” Last year, the government changed the funds under the scheme to 51% for employment and 49% for purchasing raw materials. The increase in the funds for raw materials indicates that the scheme will concentrate on more skilled labor and that 5 lakh people will lose employment as per different reports.
Highway to HIV, a bumpy ride to awareness not aware of the disease”, he said.
Punita Maheshwari Tushar Kaushik
Adding to the availability of condoms at dhabhas and other halts, he said, “We do not find condoms at regular halt points and usually truckers do not use condoms as there is not much time to waste.”
Truckers are being targeted in an HIV awareness campaign after a survey found they are 10 times more likely to contract the virus. A report by Indian Council of Medical Research in 2012 states that after approaching 1800 truckers and helpers aged 16 to 65 commuting regularly to Hyderabad, they were assessed to have any HIV prevention program, history of previous HIV testing and information about new medications to curb HIV. The report established that a total of 1,602 (89%) truckers gave interview and provided blood sample. Forty five truckers tested positive for HIV resulting in HIV prevalence of 2.8 per cent against the national average of only 0.27 per cent. Only 126 truckers reported ever being contacted by staff providing HIV prevention interventions. Truckers who reported hav-
Ashok who hails from Bidar, lorrie driver from Goa-Karnataka route, said, “It is prevalent as truckers are away from homes for a very long time, it is rare that they would use condoms.
“Thanks to govt schemes, condoms are saving many lives.” - Srikant, a truck driver ing sex with a man and those who halted regularly at dhabas were significantly more willing to undergo circumcision for HIV prevention, according to the report.
Srikant, after years of commuting long distance, chose driving in Karnataka itself after he lost three of his friends to the disease. “From the time they started long distance journeys, they grew
weak and their skin was gradually turning black and wrinkled. Even after spending money from under the nose, the families could not save them as they were
Condom distribution at vulnerable areas is one of the strategies taken up by the AIDS prevention societies in Karnataka. Ajay, an on the field program officer with Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society explained, “We locate major vulnerable areas and collaborate with dhaba owners and shop vendors to indentify the truckers and we distribute condoms with these volunteers.” (Continued on page 3)