If Jharkhand has anything to show to the entire nation about implementation of social sector schemes it is how to manage schemes effectively and efficiently irrespective of hurdles in the way.
Jamtara district won national acclaim for exhibiting leadership skills on upholding the objective of the social sector scheme — MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) in the district. The district won the award of "leadership and Team Work" in the category — District Award for Effective Initiatives — under MNREGA. The award was given recently by Union Ministry of Rural Development.
Jamtara in Santhal Pargana, bordering Bengal, happens to be a small district comprising six blocks. It was created in 2001 by carving out four blocks from Dumka. The district administration made good use of technology at its disposal to address demand-supply mismatch with regard to jobs in different geographical pockets. The administration improved network connectivity in the district to ensure better communication which helped in upgrading MNREGA MIS (Management Information System) on real time basis, thus providing scope for policy adjustments at district level.
"Availability of real time data helps in analysing the information with regard to expenditure and details on work demand," pointed out the then Jamtara Deputy Commissioner, Chandra Shekhar, who has now been shifted to Chatra.
The geographically accessible district did not face hurdles only on connectivity front. The administration had the challenge of managing MNREGA across length and breadth of the district with handful of resources available. To meet the challenge, the administration divided panchayats in clusters of five to six thus easing monitoring of the scheme. "There are hurdles at all levels. Dearth of human resource was a bigger problem but we managed it successfully," continued Chandra Shekhar.
Buoyed with the success of improved network, the district administration will now strive towards implementing Electronic Fund Management System in Jamtara.
The district was recommended by various expert committees for the category award. The award was conferred after a three-member team visited Jamtara last December and interacted with labourers to ascertain ground realities.
"Our efforts helped in improving women participation in MNREGA. Although it is still lower than national average we are striving to improve it," said Project Officer, DRDA, Jamtara Motiur Rahman.
The three-member team during their stay examined record keeping, matched details of passbook with job card to find out payments made for the number of works done by a labourer besides work side facility, muster roll and progress on works merged with MNREGA as part of convergence with the scheme.
The MNREGA MIS of Jamtara reflects that around 1,11,401 job cards were issued against 1,14,180 number of applications made till February 11. The MIS updated up to February 11 indicates that 69,094 recipients of job cards are women which accounts for 33 per cent of total MNREGA workers across six blocks of Jamtara. Significantly, as per the MIS number of active women job card holders in the district is 35 per cent (18,835) of total (53,462) active job cards till February 11.
Notably, other districts to bag awards for different categories under MNREGA are - Rajnandgoan, Chhattisgarh for leadership in MGNREGA Implementation, the Nilgiri, Tamil Nadu for Substantial Enhancement of Employment Opportunities in a Plantation Economy, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir for leadership in improving MGNREGA implementation, Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh for Implementing MGNREGA in Challenging Administrative Environment, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh for High level Inclusive Employment Generation, Bankura, West Bengal for Enhancing livelihood through convergence with MGNREGA, Unnakoti, Tripura for High level of Employment Generation and Koraput, Odisha for leadership in Challenging Circumstances.