Wiil it work? It does!

Budgetary allocation for people-driven scheme? Source - THE HINDU, March 20, 2002

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI MARCH 16.

If a village in Maharashtra coughs up 10 per cent of a project cost, then at the `tehsil' level, a committee, comprising the local MLA, the panchayat samiti chief, the Block Development Officer and five `sarpanchs' (village chiefs) will allocate the remaining 90 per cent of the estimated cost for executing it. This scheme will be people and demand-driven. The project will be executed according to a contract cleared by the `gram sabha' - and not the `gram panchayat' officialdom or elected representatives - and monitored by it. Even the costs will be determined by the `sabha'.

The scheme is to be named after Yashwantrao B. Chavan. Some 30 per cent of the entire budgetary allocation for the Rural Development department in the coming budget may get parcelled out to the various `taluks.' The figures will be based on the population of each `tehsil.' The five members who will come from the hierarchy of `sarpanchs' within the `tehsil' will have a one-year term. The MLA and the BDO, of course, will have a nominal role as once the 10 per cent popular contribution comes, their sanction will be automatic.

This concept stems from the experience of the Gadge Maharaj Gram Swatchhatha Abhiyan in which people spent money to compete in work for keeping their villages clean and improving their community facilities. And their work, done through popular contribution and `shram dhaan' - building a road, toilet, pond etc. - was cheaper by 70 per cent. The quality was also not as bad as the work done by the Government through contractors. The `abhiyan' received the appreciation of the World Bank.

The argument is that if the entire village is involved in decision-making and the villagers take pride in their effort, they will refrain from taking away slices of the capital cost. Government costing, sources said, often takes into account enormous profits for the contractors and bribes for the officialdom. An example cited is the construction of toilets by the Government. Only 40 per cent of the 14 lakh toilets, built at a cost of Rs. 442 crores, over the past few years, are in use. Either they were built at an inconvenient place, or ``thrust upon the village regardless of whether they were needed or not.''