TAMILNADU

Food For Work Programme: Poor & Faulty Implementation

G Ramakrishnan

THE preamble of the National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) says:

“The New Food for work programme is also a move towards wage employment guarantee. It is an experiment which, if successfully carried out, will give the government the necessary confidence to take responsibility for providing wage employment guarantee initially in these 150 identified districts and, later, gradually in the remaining districts.”

The aims and objectives of the NFFWP are laudable, indeed. But its implementation in Tamilnadu is a failure --- by any standard. The programme is well intended but is being badly implemented. A much talked about scheme from which much had been expected, NFFWP as an experiment --- as the precursor to the wage employment guarantee act --- may not give the government the necessary confidence to expand the scheme gradually to the remaining districts.

PROGRAMME’S GUIDELINES

One will recall that the 29 page NFFWP guidelines, effective from 2004, left nothing to chance. They say the following, among other things:

1. The programme should be published and the people informed of it.

2. A schedule of works with date of commencement, location and labour needed should be available in the block or taluk office or at the village panchayat, for directing the needy persons to the nearest places

3. Contractors are not permitted in the execution of any work under the programme. No middlemen should be employed, and the full benefit of wages to be paid should reach the workers.

4. The entire work under the programme should be implemented through hired manpower only.

5. The use of labour displacing machinery is forbidden under this programme. Severe action will be initiated against the defaulters for violation and further funds will be withheld.

6. The works will be carried out departmentally.

7. The implementing officers are instructed to give an undertaking about the conditions mentioned in the NFFWP guidelines.

WHERE THE BLAME LIES

These guidelines are impeccable --- in themselves. There is no denying that there are several flaws in the NFFWP, but they are not the cause of its failure. The blame lies squarely with the delivery system --- the state government and its machineries at the district and block levels. Also, the political class in the state --- down to the block level --- lack commitment to help the poor for whom, in the first place, the scheme was framed.

If one reads the above guidelines, one may think no person on the earth could possibly violate them. But what happened and what is happening is quite contrary to the intention --- as far as Tamilnadu, at least, is concerned.

For, the reality at the ground level is totally contrary to what was envisaged. Labour displacing machines are being used with impunity; contractors are being given the works for execution; workers are not being departmentally employed; there is no display of the details of the works; and money is being paid to the contractors that are illegally hired.

And what about rice? It is clear that the rice of the non-existent workers’ share can’t be fed into the machines, as the latter can’t eat. So the rice supplied by the government is being smuggled or sold to the people not entitled.

In sum, the NFFWP is being implemented in the state in 100 per cent violation of its guidelines. And for whose benefit? For the benefit of those who initiated, suggested or those who are implementing the dubious methods. Bureaucracy down to the block level and the ruling party’s men holding positions are busy with precisely this type of implementation. The downtrodden, landless agricultural labourers, for whose benefit was this NFFWP evolved in the first place, have become mute spectators.

DISTRICTWISE EXPERIENCES

The NFFWP is being implemented in four districts in Tamilnadu. These are (1) Nagapattinam (2) Cuddalore (3) Villupuram and (4) Thiruvannamalai. About 60 crore rupees were allotted to these four districts, including the monetary value of the rice component of the wages. Entire cost of the programme is being borne by the central government.

On the basis of the NFFWP guidelines, the state government issued circulars to the concerned district collectors and other officials. The collectors, in turn, reproduced the same guidelines and sent them to the officials below. But things started moving exactly the other way. A gist of the experiences in three of these four districts is being given below.

Thiruvannamalai District: Leading members of the CPI(M) in this district met the collector and asked for details of implementation of the NFFWP, but in vain. These CPI(M) members came to know that works had already been allotted in consultation with the MLAs, MPs and Panchayat Union chairman. In all the places, machines were used instead of engaging the landless labourers, and as such the benefit of the NFFWP did not reach the deserving people. At places, CPI(M) workers objected to the use of machines and also picketed the machines. Still, the administration has not yet changed its approach. The collector says workers were not coming forwards to do the job, and that was why the machines were used. But the collector’s contention is evidently untrue.

Villupuram District: The CPI(M) district committee in Villupuram has taken effective steps and intervened on this issue. Though the state government issued the NFFWP guidelines to the concerned collectors on November 12, 2004, the district collectors did not publicise the scheme and did not call for eligible workers to register their names in their villages. CPI(M) members came to know about it only when the works began to be carried out in the villages. On March 4, 2005, district leaders of the party approached the district collector and gave him a memorandum seeking details of the NFFWP scheme. CPI(M) members in the lower committees also met the BDOs and asked for details, but in vain.  

Later on, through a press statement, the CPI(M) district committee asked the district collector to make the NFFWP guidelines and objectives public. The party’s intervention received some coverage in a few daily and weekly papers. Only then did the BDOs display the details of the scheme on their notice boards. However, the authorities engaged machines with impunity even after CPI(M) workers gave them a list of workers who were willing to work under the scheme. CPI(M) workers picketed the machines in many places. The AIAWU and DYFI also conducted an agitation against the use of machines under the NFFWP.

Some village panchayats, where the CPI(M) is strong or which it is leading, have engaged only the agriculture labourers to work under this scheme and fulfilled all the stipulations.

But, overall, district authorities have decided the types of work and the allocation of fund to each gram panchayat, in consultation with the MLAs, MPs, BDOs and the Panchayat Union chairman. The result is that only the agents of these people are implementing the works and they are also using machines with impunity. This also gives them double advantage as machines cannot eat rice and thus the rice allotted as a portion of the wage has been smuggled and sold by these anti-socials. In Villupuram district, the programme is thus being implemented in gross violation of the NFFWP guidelines. Though the CPI(M) has opposed this mode of implementation, the district administration is hell-bent on going ahead its own way.

Cuddalore District: Work in this district has not yet started though fund has been allotted to the panchayats. The CPI(M) district committee is taking steps to see that the NFFWP is implemented here properly. In this district, 80 per cent of the fund has been allotted for road construction. So far, the authorities have not displayed the details of the scheme in the villages. The CPI(M) district committee has already taken up the issue with the collector and insisted that the guidelines should not be violated. The party has also made it clear that it would oppose the use of machines tooth and nail.

Nagapattinam District: Here, works have been allotted for road construction and for silt clearance of tanks and canals, but implementation has not yet begun. The CPI(M) is strongly opposed objected to the use of machines. It has held demonstrations at block centres. Its leaders have met the collector and asked him to adhere to the NFFWP guidelines. The collector is under pressure and he has not so far asked the authorities to use machines.

Regarding fund allocation, the CPI(M) cadres found that more amounts were allotted to some panchayats at the instance of the ruling party men. The district collector corrected it after the CPI(M)’s protest. The CPI(M) district committee has alerted the party ranks to see that machines are not used, picket them if they are used and stop their use where the party has strength.

While the state government and district administration are not willing to adhere to the NFFWP guidelines, there are certain flaws in the programme itself which make the implementation process very difficult. Hence the CPI(M) has proposed, and in fact implemented in some pockets, a formula that would attract wage labourers. It is being explained below.

CPI(M)’S FORMULA

The scheme proposes a daily wage of Rs 54 (5 kg rice + Rs 25.75 in cash). This wage is lower than the daily wage agriculture labourers are getting in a majority of districts in the state. As a result, agriculture labourers hesitate to come forward to do the jobs and a change is required as far as wage component is concerned. There is a clause in the NFFWP that wage paid under the NFFWP should not be lower than the minimum wages paid in the state. In Tamilnadu the minimum wage prescribed by the state government is Rs 80 for men and Rs 70 for women. Despite knowing that the NFFWP wage is lower than the minimum wage fixed by the state government, they have not taken steps to change the wage structure under NFFWP.

In such a situation, in a few panchayats in Villupuram district, CPI(M) cadres have got the wage structure modified. Now, agriculture labourers are being paid Rs 29.90 per cubic metre of road construction. This comes to Rs 150 per worker per day, and is more attractive.  

CPI(M) cadres have decided to get this formula implemented In Nagapattinam district also. Here, wages will be paid according to cubic metre of silt clearance. It comes to Rs 80 per day, which is comparable to the minimum wage fixed by the state government. The CPI(M)’s district unit is now insisting upon the collector to follow the formula it has suggested. All the rural party branches in the district held their unit meetings on a single day, May 25, to discuss the issue.

While it is in the fitness of things that the charge of implementing the scheme has been devolved upon the state government, the latter has not discharged its duty properly. The scheme is being used to benefit the ruling party’s men in the main. Nor is there anything like supervision by central government officers even though there is a provision for it in the NFFWP guidelines. On its part, however, the CPI(M) has kept up vigil to ensure, as far as possible, that the scheme is put in practice.