NREGA: Summary of Irregularities in
Karon Block, Deoghar District
NREGA: Summary of Irregularities in Ganjebadi Gram Panchayat
(Karon Block, Deoghar District)
I.
Gram: Jasobandh
Worksite: Sichai Koop Nirmaan (Work No. 82/07-08)
Main Irregularities:
1. Fudging of MR
a. Fake entries in MR
i. False names
ii. Double entries
b. Inflated entries in MR
2. Low Wages
3. Involvement of Middlemen
Facts in Brief
The MR of this site has 25 names, of which 24 workers did not work at this site. The one entry that was correct, Gobind Murmu (s/o Lakhan Murmu) had only worked for 16 days, while the MR said 18 days. He was paid at Rs. 65 per day, a sum total of Rs.320, and the MR records show Rs. 436. There was found to be a discrepancy of 255 days and Rs. 21,537 in the MR and worker testimonies. Three entries were shown to have 2 different job card numbers on the MR of the same site.
Enclosures
1. Affidavit No. GJB-AF-5
2. MR (61478, 61404, 61216, 61303, 18202, 61306)
3. Madankatta Post Office Payment Order Slip (for 82/07-08)
II.
Gram: Kerakol
Worksite: Mitti Murram Sadak (Work No. 22/07-08)
Main Irregularities Observed:
1. Inflated entries in MR
2. Post office account operated without workers knowledge
3. Hoarding of passbooks and job cards
4. Implementing Agency
Facts in Brief
The work was carried out over a time period of 1/11/07 to 12/06/08. Of the 28 workers recorded on the MRs of this worksite, 75% workers were interviewed. No worker of the name of Miloni Soren (w/o Ranendra Tudu) was found to live anywhere in the village.
Furthermore every worker that was interviewed by the Audit team said that they had been paid in cash. However the payment order records and account slips obtained from the Madankatta Post Office show transactions in their names, although they all testified that they had never carried out any transactions on their accounts, and were not (and had never been) in possession of their passbooks.
Two women, Santori Soren and Manju Murmu were named as the implementing agency for this work, as head officials of a SHG. Upon investigation the Audit team realized that these two were just the front for a contractor, who made them sign on pieces of paper, and paid them sums of money between Rs. 100- Rs. 200 in return.
Enclosures
1. Affidavits No. GJB-AF-1, GJB-AF-2, GJB-AF-4
2. MR no. 61475, 61474, 61205, 61206, 61201, 61203, 61208, 61209, 61301, 61302
3. MR verification sheet
4. Madankatta Post Office Payment Order Slip (for 22/07-08)
III.
Gram: Kerakol
Worksite: Sichai Koop Nirmaan (Work No. 07/07-08)
Main Irregularities Observed:
1. Fudging of MR:
a. Fake names
b. Inflated entries for days
2. Job card and Passbook hoarding
3. Opening of Post Office accounts without the workers presence
4. Low Wage Payments
Facts in Brief
The work at this site was carried out from 24/03/08 to 19/06/08. Of the 10 workers recorded on the MR, 9 were interviewed and 4 workers reported that they had not worked at the site. There were discrepancies of 198 days and Rs.20314.60 in wage payments in the MRs and workers testimonies. All the workers reported that their job cards were with one Obilal Murmu, but he said that he had handed them over to the Panchayat Sewak, Govardhan Bhokta. The workers also reported to have been paid at the rate of Rs. 65 per day.
Enclosures
1. Affidavits No. GJB-AF-03
2. MR
3. Madan Katta Post Office Payment Order for (07/07-08)
IV.
Gram: Kerakol
Worksite: Uparbahiyar mein Vijay Ahari ke pas Talaab
Main Irregularities
1. Delayed Payments
2. Opening of Post Office Accounts without workers presence
3. Hoarding of Pass Books
Facts in Brief
Although the audit team was not in the possession of any documents regarding this worksite, atleast 39 workers from this village reported that they had not been paid in full for this work, which was carried out in 2006-07. The work was carried out by a contractor: one Nonuraam Rawani (from Burikuran gram, Navabaan tola.) The aforementioned had also taken sums of money between Rs. 100 to Rs. 300 to open their Post Office accounts, and made the workers sign on blank slips of paper. Subsequently the workers had not been given their passbooks, and therefore it is assumed that the same have been in the possession of Nonumraam Rawani for the last year. The workers reported that they had not ever carried out any operations on these accounts, but the account details obtained from the Post Office show sums of money ranging from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 10,000 being deposited and withdrawn from these accounts, all without the workers knowledge.
Enclosures
1. Affidavit no. GJB-AF-6, GJB-AF-7
2. Post Office Savings Bank Ledgers (a/c 1190021 to 1190043)
3. Post Office Payment Orders (for works 82/07-08, 22/07-08, 07/07-08)
NREGA: Summary of Irregularities in Tekra Gram Panchayat
(Karon Block, Deoghar District)
I.
Gram: Tekra
Worksite: Sinchai Koop Nirmaan, Indu Mandal (Work No. 9/07-08)
Main Irregularities
1. Fudging of MR
a. Fake entries
b. Inflated entries in MR
2. Low Wage payments
3. Involvement of Middleman
Facts in Brief
The work at the well was carried out from 15/02/08 to 21/06/08. 11 workers were on the MR of this site, and the Audit team was able to meet 10; 6 names on the MR were found to be false entries (the workers testified that they had not worked at the site). However, the payments (of Rs. 1555) were still credited to their bank accounts (on the 12th of May, 2008). The people who did not work at the site testified that they went to the bank accompanied by a middleman by the name of Vikram Mehto and gave him the money after withdrawing it. There were discrepancies of 90 days and Rs. 8,072 in wage payments in the MR and workers testimonies.
Enclosures
1. Affidavits (TK-AF-1, TK-AF-2, TK-AF-3, TK-AF-4)
2. MR for the site
II.
Gram: Tekra
Worksite: Sinchai Koop Nirman (Churan Pandit) (Work No. 4/07-08)
Main Irregularities
1. Fudging of MRs
a. False entries
b. Inflated entries
2. Poor Maintenance of Job Card
Facts in Brief
11 workers are on the MR for this worksite; the work was carried out between 19/02/08 to 28/05/08. Of the 11 workers, 2 did not work at the site. One was found to be a fictitious name; and another entry, Ritu Mandal (s/o Khetu Mandal) did not work at the site, but there was a transfer of payments to his account. Overall there were discrepancies of 12 days and Rs. 521 in the 4 other workers whose testimonies were taken. The major problem seen at this site was incorrect job card numbers given on the MR, and poor maintenance of Job Cards. Other than the fake names the Audit team also met with workers who had actually worked on the site, and had received payments, but whose names had not been recorded in the MR.
The works were not decided in Gram Sabhas, instead the residents of the village claimed that the Gram Sewak had to be paid sums of money ranging from Rs.1000/- to Rs.2000/-to get a well sanctioned.
The MRs were not present at the worksite at any point during the work; instead the implementing agency takes the attendance on a kaccha khata, and the MR stays with the middlemen and the concerned officials at the village level. This is reflected in the huge discrepancies between the data on the MR and the testimonies of the workers.
The workers were not paid at the minimum wage rate; instead they are paid according to Rs.70/- . However on the 16th of October, 2008 the workers claimed that the middleman involved, Vikram Mehto, had repaid the balance of Rs. 16. (This claim could be due to intimidation by the middleman, as we heard that he had visited each worker several times after they gave their testimony to the Audit team).
There is also no correspondence between the job card entries and the MR entries, (see enclosed MR verification sheet) which indicates that semi-literate workers are being taken advantage of by middlemen and officials.
Although the workers are withdrawing wages credited to their bank accounts themselves, they often hand the same over to the contractor/ middlemen involved. The bank system therefore, has made the wage payments more opaque, since there is no column anywhere for the worker to sign or indicate that he has infact received the wage payment.
Enclosures
1. Affidavit TK-AF-5
2. MR (58251, 58253, 58238, 58239, 58249, 18584, 18535)
3. Vananchal Bank Pay Orders (for 4/07-08)
NREGA: Summary of Irregularities in Badiya Gram Panchayat
(Karon Block, Deoghar District)
I.
Gram: Navadih
Worksite: Sinchai Koop Nirmaan (Work No. 09/07-08)
Abhikarta: Mohilal Baski
Main Irregularities
- Involvement of Contractor
- MR not present at the worksite
- Cash Payments
- Hoarding of passbooks, Job Cards
- Low Wages
Facts in Brief
There are 11 workers involved at this site, and the work was carried out from 09/04/08 to 14/07/08. The Audit team could meet with 6 of the 11 workers. Discrepancies were seen in the Worker testimonies and MR.
The work said to be was carried out by the contractor, Hriday Rai and Lallan Rai. The workers pass books and job cards had also been hoarded by the aforementioned. The workers were paid in cash, at the residence of the postmaster (who is also the father of Hriday Rai). Although the post office passbooks record transactions in the names of the workers, the workers testified that they had not been to the post office for any of these transactions.
Enclosures
1. Affidavits BDY-AF-1, BDY-AF-2, BDY-AF-3, BDY-AF-5
2. Baskupi Post Office Pay Orders
II.
Gram: Jugtopa
Worksite: Mitti Moram Karya Grade 1 path nirman se Jayati nadi tak.
(Work No. 175/07-08)
List of Irregularities
- Involvement of contractor.
- Fudging of MR
- Manipulation of passbooks.
- Faulty maintenance of Job cards and Passbooks
- Payment in cash.
The Facts in brief
The contractor Lallan Singh’s involvement in this work was clear. The Abhikarta, a woman named Sarodi Murmoo was completely clueless about the work. Her husband a man named Sobna Murmoo was also unaware of everything except the total amount sanctioned. The MR had inflated entries against all the names. The job card numbers mentioned on the MR do NOT match with the original job cards. The audit team observed that there was a lot of over writing on the job cards. Passbooks have also not been maintained properly as two workers had the same passbook number (Jonalal Murmoo and Babujan Baski: 1191192). These two workers are not related. The entries in these passbooks do NOT match with the payment orders. None of the workers have ever been to the post office and were all paid in cash either at the worksite or at Shyam Rai’s (the contractor’s father) house.
Enclosures
- MRs 66402-04, 66407-11, 66805-07, 66481, 82, 60855.
- Bank payment orders.
- Affidavits B AF-3, B AF-6, B AF-7, B AF-8, B AF-9, B AF- 10, B AF-11, B AF-12, B AF-13, B AF- 14, B AF- 15, B AF- 16, B AF- 17, B AF- 18, B AF- 20, b AF- 21, B AF-22, B AF-23
NREGA: Summary of Irregularities in Ranidih Gram Panchayat
(Karon Block, Deoghar District)
Gram: Karon Pahadi
Worksite: Khas Bandh Jeeronddhar (Check Dam renovation) (Work No741/07-08).
List of Main Irregularities
- Fudging of Muster Roll.
- Involvement of ‘middle man’.
- Hoarding of Job Cards, pass books.
- Underpayment of Wages.
- Cash payments.
The facts in brief:
The audit team verified the Muster Rolls and found large-scale faking of names and inflated entries. We obtained muster rolls for 11 shifts from 1.1.08- 20.6.08. Twenty laborers were engaged at the worksite (according to the MR) out of which six had not worked at the worksite for even a day. All the other entries were inflated (the MR said that some laborers had worked for 72 days but when asked they said they had worked only for 15- 20 days. There was also a ‘middle man’ whose name was on the MR (Jailal Tuddu). Although he hadn’t worked, he was responsible for hoarding job cards and pass books. The labourers also said that they had been paid at the rate of Rs. 70 despite the prevailing wage rate being Rs. 86.40. The bank payment slips from the Cooperative Bank show that the money had been transferred to their individual bank accounts; however all payments had been made in cash, by the panchayat sewak and this middle man.
Enclosures
- Muster roll verification sheet.
- Bank Payment Slips.
II.
Gram: Chorbadiya.
Worksite: Sohan Hembram ki zameen par sinchai koop nirman (Construction of a well on Sohan Hembram’s land) (Work No. 150/07-08)
Main Irregularities
1. Involvement of Contactor
2. Manipulation of pass book.
2. Cash Payments
3. Underpayment of wages
The facts in brief
Sohan Hembram was the labhuk for the well construction as the work was done on his land. The panchayat sewak got him to open a bank account (although, he never went to the bank). His passbook had no transactions. Also throughout the construction he was asked to pay for materials etc although no money flowed through his account. His name was NOT on the MR. The obtained MR for 7 shifts was completely fake as he said that all the labourers were from an adjoining Gram Panchayat brought by the contractor. The bank payment slips from the Cooperative Bank show that the money had been transferred to their individual bank accounts. Also all payments were made in cash and at the rate of Rs. 70.
Enclosures
- Affidavit RND AF-4.
- Bank payment slips.
III.
Gram: Chorbadiya
Worksite: Pane Hembram ki zameen par sinchai koop nirman (well construction on Pane Hembram’s land) (Work No. 37/07-08)
List of Irregularities
- Fudging of Muster rolls
- Involvement of Contactor
- Manipulation of Bank accounts.
The Facts in brief
The audit team verified muster rolls for 7 pakhwadas from 16.3.08- 26.5.08. The MR contained 20 names out of which 14 were interviewed. None of these had worked even for a day. A conractor Rohit Singh was also involved. Pane was the labhuk and his name is even on the MR but he said that he hadn’t worked. The bank payment slips from the Cooperative Bank show that the money had been transferred to their individual bank accounts.
Enclosures
- MR verification sheet.
- Bank payment slips
IV.
Gram: Chorbadiya
Worksite: Dharam Das Singh ki zameen par sinchai koop nirman (Well construction on Dharam Das Singh’s land) (Work No. 32/07-08)
List of Irregularities
- Fudging of Muster rolls.
- Involvement of contractor.
- underpayment of wages
- Cash Payment
- Manipulation of bank accounts.
The Facts in brief
The audit team obtained muster rolls for 8 shifts from 1.3.08- 21.6.08 and found that most of the labourers hadn’t worked even for a day while other entries were inflated. There was a contractor by the name of Naval Kishor who was involved and he contracted labourers from Govindpur, in Tarapur Panchayat. The team also spoke with some villagers who said that they had indeed worked but they’re names were not on the MR. The bank payment slips from the Cooperative Bank show that the money had been transferred to their individual bank accounts, however all the workers were paid in cash at the rate of Rs. 70. Also, the MR shows that one of the names Manchan Rajwar had worked for 18 days. He was afflicted with Polio and had clearly never worked at the site.
Enclosures
- Muster roll verification sheet.
- Bank payment slips.
- Affidavit RND-AF-3
V.
Gram: Ranidih
Worksite: Koka Baori ke zameen par sinchai koop nirman (well construction on Koka Baori’s Land) (Work No. 339/07-08)
List of Irregularities
1. Involvement of Contractor
2. Cash Payment
3. Underpayment of wages.
The Facts in brief
Koka was the labhuk for the well construction. The work was contracted to Naval Kishor Singh. Koka says he collected a cheque worth Rs. 15,000 when the work started and one worth Rs. 17,000 when the work concluded. He was not made aware of any other money which was sanctioned for the work. He gave this money to the conractor. The contractor used to pay the labourers in cash at the rate of Rs. 70. The bank payment slips from the Cooperative Bank show that the money had been transferred to their individual bank accounts; however Koka said that wage payment was done at Naval Kishor’s home where the workers were called individually. Manchan Rajwar’s name (ref. Dharam Das Singh koop nirman) also appeared in this MR for 12 days of work, although he had never worked at the site.
Enclosures
- Affidavit RND AF-1
- Bank payment slips.
NREGA: Summary of Irregularities in Mahuatan Gram Panchayat
(Karon Block, Deoghar District)
I.
Gram: Simra
Worksite: Taufeeq Jarra ji zameen par sinchai koop nirman (Scheme No. 8/07-08)
List of Irregularities
- Extraction of bribes
- Fudging of MR
The facts in brief
Taufeeq was the labhuk and he had to bribe the gram sewak with Rs. 2500, to get the well passed. He also had to continually pay the gram sewak 10% and the overseer 13% of the money he got from the well. To pay the wages and for the materials he had to take a loan of Rs. 20,000 for which he had to sell one bull and had to take a mortgage for Rs. 5000 for his land. The MR would not be available at the site and was filled afterwards. There were some fake names on the MR, the workers said that they hadn’t worked but to ‘help’ Taufeeq they would withdraw money from the bank and give him. He used to pay them Rs. 100 each. One Bhari Pujhar said that he received Rs. 2200 in two installments. Although he went to the bank to collect both installments, his bank statement shows 3 installments of Rs. 1728, Rs. 1382 and Rs. 1728. The statement shows that the third installment has been withdrawn, but he has no knowledge of this. MR and Job card entries do not match for some other workers employed at the site.
Enclosures
- MR verification sheet.
- Affidavit MHT AF-2
- Bank payment slips.
VI.
Gram: Mahuatand
Worksite: Pramod Rai ki zameen par koop nirman
List of Irregularities:
- Delays in wage payments
The Facts in brief:
Workers employed at the worksite have yet to receive full payment despite of the fact that it has been 45 days since the work finished. The work lasted 27 days
Enclosures
1. Affidavit MHT AF-2
Gram: Simra
Complaints:
- Works are not available
- Works are opened only by the contractor Shamsham Khan.
- Gram sewak is never available at the Panchayat office.
- Also despite repeated requests, some villagers’ job cards have still not been made.
Enclosures
- Affidavit MHT AF-3
- Affidavit MHT AF-4
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