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Designed to Falter
Laudable aims aside, the implementation of India's largest welfare programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, leaves much to be desired. Taking a close look at its functioning in three development blocks in Maharashtra in the last three financial years, this study emphasises that there is a serious lack of capacities in the agencies tasked with actualising the scheme. A partnership between local non-governmental organisation and educational institutions could offer a way out by bringing in transparency, accountability, and participation to strengthen local governance.
We thank Aroehan, a non-governmental organisation, particularly Anjali Kanitkar and Shraddha Shringarpure for allowing us to participate in the social audit process conducted in Mokhada block in 2012. We also acknowledge the fi eld-level facilitations by Aroehan in all the three blocks selected for the fi eld survey, and the cooperation of the block and panchayat-level offi cials, and local people. This study evolved since 2011 as a part of an MTech research project in CTARA. The research was extended as a project under the Technology and Development Supervisory Learning course in which 15 students participated. A section is partly written from the data collected by these students. Importantly, we acknowledge the support of Milind Sohoni, head of CTARA, in carrying out these activities.
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