
Andhra Pradesh is one such state. In 2006, the Andhra Government embarked on a process to institutionalise social audits for all NREGA programmes in the state. To do this, the government collaborated with civil society organisations for building up a 35-member team that facilitates and manages the audit process. This team is responsible for identifying and training educated village youth who conduct the actual audit. Andhra now holds an average of 64 audits a month. Details of government expenditure on NREGA are verified, assets developed are assessed and information on the NREGA is shared with village communities. The audits culminate with a public meeting — attendance varies between 500-1,000 people — where audit findings are shared in the presence of local government officials and politicians.
Rajasthan is another state which has been at the forefront of many innovations in strengthening NREGA. This is hardly surprising given that Rajasthan is the home of the movement for the right to information and employment guarantee. Yet, while Rajasthan has been relatively successful in curbing obvious corruption, poor management and weak delivery structures have contributed to serious inefficiencies in the actual delivery of NREGA. One critical fallout of this is that labourers are unable to access the minimum wage despite putting in a full eight hours of work — the average NREGA beneficiary earned a meagre Rs 51 per day in 2006-2007 even though the statutory minimum wage for the state is Rs 73.
... contd.


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