Here are the inspiring stories of four volunteers who have worked with Jan Jagaran Shakti Sangathan (JJSS) in Bihar. JJSS mobilizes the rural poor to demand better services from the government and to get the entitlements promised to them under schemes like MNREGA.
From software to social movements
“Intrigued by questions of India’s development and on a road to self-discovery, I came to know about JJSS through a friend. In May 2011, I decided to step out of my world of software to get a taste of life in rural India. And to say the least, I came back with an experience that would change my life forever.
JJSS gave me the opportunity to meet the dwellers of Kauwa Koh village of Araria district in Bihar to find out whether the schemes meant for the villagers were reaching them or not. On the orientation day, Kamayani of JJSS told us, ‘It’s going to be physically challenging and do not take it to your heart if things do not go your way, because for the villagers this is the reality of life. They are born this way and will probably die too like this, struggling for basic necessities.’ Needless to say, the words moved me and my already questioning mind became even more restless to learn more. The social audits concluded with people reporting to government officials the exact amount of misappropriated money or gaban as we call it.
During the audit process, I was shocked by the deep-rooted corruption, the lack of development, the deteriorated living conditions. I felt helpless when we, the audit teams, would get surrounded by villagers who would ask us to seek justice for them and reprimand their wrongdoers.
What were merely words in fancy books earlier, suddenly became harsh realities of life. The audit itself is an arduous task because whenever a movement begins, there is always a mighty force trying to stop it. This force will go to any extent so that the truth doesn’t come out, whether it be life threats or threats of other kinds. But what makes this movement unique is the courage, perseverance and the will of the leaders, the volunteers and the villagers to come together to bring about a change, to highlight the truth, to ensure that people get what they deserve. It surely has been humbling and worthwhile to have been a part of this process.”
– Sushmita Verma, Master of Social Work student, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
From auditing society to auditing the self
“One day, in early 2010, I received an email asking for volunteers for a social audit in Araria, Bihar. I immediately called the contact person who had gone back to India from the U.S. to work on development issues. I asked him for the schedule of the audit. He said, ‘Just show up as the realities on the ground makes it hard to plan ahead’.
At that time, I did not realize that talking to him would change the course of my life for several years. I spent part of the summer in 2010 with JJSS, a social-movement-in-the-making in Araria. I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of college students, mainly from Delhi, who had also assembled to volunteer for the audits. The audit process was intended to root out corruption and give voice to the workers of NREGA.
I also realized how the social audit process was aimed at transforming and exposing the harsh realities of life to many of the urban and affluent students who had come to volunteer for the audit. I remember the work, which went into the late hours.
It certainly had an impact on me, I decided to study social audits as part of my dissertation here at UC Berkeley. To learn more about my Bihar visit, please click here.”
– Rajesh Veeraraghavan, PhD student, School of Information, University of California, Berkeley.
From social audits to social change
“In 2010, after completing my first year of college at IIT Madras, I was interested in doing an internship, when I came to know that social audits based on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) were going on in Araria, Bihar, and were being organized by Jan Jagaran Shakti Sangathan (JJSS).
I went to Bihar and worked for one month along with people from different streams of life, including a few research scholars, students from other colleges and members of the JJSS. Working there exposed me to the policy making and ground-level work structures of MNREGA. It was my first real introduction to the world outside the classroom and to the policies of the Central Government of India on rural development.
With JJSS, I gained first-hand experience in auditing. Our work revealed several irregularities and much corruption in the administration at the panchayat level. From fake signatures to incidents where workers’ wages were significantly lesser than what they should have been. The audit exposed these and many other irregularities and grievances, including catching corrupt officials red-handed. We organized several public hearings and presented every detail of our audit report to the people of the concerned village. After the audits, the Araria administration acted swiftly and fired some of the officials who were involved in corruption.”
– Manish Kumar, Student, Chennai (Read the entire account here.)
From learning to politicization
“The extensive social audit of the Integrated Child Development Services scheme helped all of us understand the necessity of social audits per se. Several of JJSS’s student volunteers from Katihar and other places received training in understanding essential schemes, doing fieldwork, building capacity of other organizations and working collectively. The everyday work of collecting information, conducting interviews and planning meetings offered valuable training to the volunteers.
Financial and other discrepancies were revealed in the public hearings that were conducted at the end of the audit in each panchayat. The public hearings became a crucial platform where several locals, especially women, spoke. Also, the anganwadi sevikas got to put forward the difficulties they were facing on the job. The audits and the public hearings were both experiences of learning for all volunteers.”
– Apoorva Gautam, Master of Arts student, South Asian University, New Delhi.
If you are interested in volunteering with Jan Jagaran Shakti Sangathan, write to:
or
. Vist their website at www.jjabihar.org.