Development - Alert

Jharkhand

Poor show in scheme implementation:

A recent survey has revealed that the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) — the ambitious pro-poor scheme launched by the Centre — is in a shambles in Jharkhand.

The week-long survey, conducted by the Poorest Area Civil Society (PACS) under the aegis of the department of International Development (DFID), UK, has revealed the sordid details as to how the scheme for the poorest among the poor is being executed in the state .

The first glaring irregularity that came to fore during the survey was that the middlemen continued to exploit the poor. They charge the poor beneficiaries anything between Rs 10 and 55, varying from block to block, in the name of photographs and for filing up applications for job cards, the survey has found.

These services are supposed to be provided free of cost to the applicants and the cost of expenditure is to be borne by the government. The government agencies have also failed to create awareness among the poor villagers. This is corroborated by the fact that of the 3,799 households that were issued job cards, only 67 applied for employment. They have not been told that receiving the job cards alone is not enough, they have to apply for jobs.

This was part of the over all survey of 100 poorest districts in chosen states including Chattisgarh, MP, UP, Bihar and Maharashtra.

Health trust move gains momentum

Jharkhand government, with the help of corporate houses, has initiated creation of Sarva Swastya Mission trust (SSMT), which happens to be India’s first public private partnership. The trust, initiated by the Tata group and three major corporate houses- Birla, Essar and Jindal- will provide health care for BPL families.

It is believed that this initiative will also encourage private health service to reach out to people in the rural areas. The Tata group has reportedly confirmed a contribution of Rs. 25 crores for a period of 30 years. Other corporate houses area also likely to confirm their contributions to the corpus soon.

A Mission Management Group will be entitled to run the trust. With this scheme, the public and private sectors will enhance their efficacy in the delivery of health services.

It is claimed that the scheme will be far more efficient and also have a wider coverage area than any known health insurance scheme prevalent now.

(Source: HT)

Judge orders ‘caring’ pill - Stress on striking balance between progress and shielding tribals

Terming the tribal populace of the state “special people”, Supreme Court judge Justice Altamas Kabir suggested that they should be dealt with utmost care.

Why not place tribals in a situation where they become useful citizens instead of bundling them out for setting up an industry?” he asked at on the second day of the brainstorming session organised by Judicial Academy and Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority. Tribals constitute 50 per cent of those displaced due to various projects. About 64 per cent of them are yet to be rehabilitated. He said resettlement has remained a state issue. Unfortunately, most states are yet to frame a comprehensive national rehab policy, he pointed out.

When a judicial officer suggested to ask the government to legislate on the issue so that the tribals may move the court when they are illegally ousted, Justice Kabir said: “We cannot direct the legislature. We could at best make a wish.

Justice Kabir, the former Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court, also stressed the need to strike a balance between development and protecting cultural and social identity of tribals.