DECEMBER 2009/JANUARY 2010 PROGRESS REPORT

D A TE : F E B R U A R Y 1 3 , 2 0 1 0

The year ended on a good note as the progress during December was substantially better than we had expected. We were able to generate around 45,000 job demands during the month as against our estimate of 25,000. This is a clear vindication of the strategy we have followed and a testimony to the sustained hard work put in by our field based activists the Himsainiks in Uttarakhand and the Jansathis in Orissa.

UTTARAKHAND
The strategy of bypassing the Pradhan/Sarpanch (village headman) has begun to yield results the team was able to register work demands for over 3,000 families. However several problems remain and the most significant ones are: 1. The continued opposition by the pradhans towards outsiders entering and working in his area which they treat almost as their own fiefdoms! They have yet to come to terms with the fact that under NREGA their discretionary powers of allocating work to their supporters have been eroded and that they now have to give A show of unity work to anyone who demands it. They are also still hoping that by stalling work under NREGA they will receive their panchayat fund where there is ample scope for misuse. 2. Awareness amongst the people of this systemic change is not strong enoughthe pradhan in many areas is still looked on as a demi god. 3. Since harvesting and grass cutting has just been completed there is no pressing urgency felt by most people to seek work immediately 4. The men feel that the wage rate should be Rs.120/- per day and are also resentful of the fact that women are being equated with them. As a result it is largely women who are enrolling. The general consensus is that demand for work will continue to pick up over the next two months but there will be no Big Bang akin to the one we have witnessed in Orissa.
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ORISSA
Work continued at an accelerated pace during Dec/Jan and the quantitative achievements are summarised below: Job cards: Over 95% of the 165,000 families we have covered now have job cards. This means our combined effort has resulted in over 50,000job cards reaching the people in the last three months. Bank/Postal accounts: Starting from an extremely low 25% who had accounts we are now at a much better level of around 75% which means that around 80,000 new accounts have been opened. In most areas we Eager to Join the process. have been assured that if a job card holder applies for work, the panchayat/block will take care of the account opening process. Committee formation at the village level: We are covering over 3500 villages/hamlets and we have selected volunteers and formed committees in over 90% of these. Job demands: Following the mass applications in Dec 2009, another 20,000 people applied for work in Jan 2010 bringing the total number to around 65,000. We do not have an accurate system of tracking the numbers who have actually got work, but raw data suggests that around 60% have started work. During these two months we made two field visits, reviewing progress and strategising at the individual team level. In addition review meetings were held with all the team leaders/field coordinators in Bhubaneshwar. We also had continued interaction with government officials at the block/panchayat level as also in the state secretariat. Strategy a. b. c. d. e. f. g. The common strategy that has evolved is to: Try and ensure that all those who have applied for work get employment. To expedite payments of wages. To create additional awareness of peoples entitlement through a wall painting campaign. To document the process with case studies. To start village level training as also orientation for the volunteers. To conduct a three day training for the jansathis in March.

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OTHER ACTIVITIES
The central government announced that they would provide Rs 100/- as the wage for NREGA work and that states where the minimum wage is below would now have to apply at the enhanced rate. In December we asked the state government what action had been taken but have not received any response to date. (A classic example of bureaucratic delay costing the people 10/- per day in lost wages. Even in our restricted area of work this translates to something like Rs 6 lakh a day). The groups have also started a post card campaign demanding the increase from Rs 90/- to Rs 100/per day. We also wrote to the state government requesting them to take the 19 blocks we are working in as test cases and deploy additional manpower to take care of obvious gaps. We also asked them to experiment with the alternate payment option we have suggested. (Details in the Sept newsletter). Funds continue to be a problem and unfortunately, the situation doesnt seem to be getting any better. Once again thanks for your invaluable support and now that weve got some numbers to display please try and garner support from your friends and associates. We look forward to your continuing support, as also spreading the word and assisting us in garnering additional resources for this venture. Donation details are outlined at the end of the report. With best wishes, M.M. (Koko) Singh

APPEAL FOR DONATIONS

You are requested to support one or more such workers each of whom will cost only Rs.4,000/- per month. We will provide regular updates that fully account for your donations and detail the work that has been executed through various means such as the website, emails, social networks etc. Cheques can be made out to Atmashakti Trust Please pass this on to friends who may be interested in supporting us. Donations enjoy exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act

CONTACT DETAILS
Koko Singh The Atmashakti Trust 101A Friends Colony New Delhi 110065 Ph.: +91-11-41627576 Email: atmashaktitrust@gmail.com Web: www.atmashaktitrust.com
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