Satyamev Jayate - Jinhe Desh Ki Fikr Hai

Power to you

Be an information activist by spreading the word about the problems that exist in our society. Here are some resources that can help you empower yourself and others.

 
  
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Power to you

Aakash

We can demand accountability and transparency with these tools

Demanding accountability Back

Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a union of peasants and workers in Rajasthan, has successfully demonstrated the power of information as an effective tool to enable citizens to participate in governance. MKSS-sponsored public hearings have contributed significantly to limiting corruption in public works projects in rural Rajasthan.

Vivek Ramkumar and Warren Krafchik lay down the five stages of social audits conducted by MKSS:

1. Gathering information

MKSS members start by gathering all documents that are maintained by public agencies on development-related projects. These include cash books, muster pay rolls, and expenditure voucher files with bills containing details of materials purchased for projects. MKSS also gathers records that a layperson seldom encounters, such as books and certificates with complete details of a project’s expenditure.

Initially, MKSS depended upon sympathetic officials for accessing the information they sought.  Now, the organization uses the Right to Information Act for obtaining necessary documents.

2. Collating information

When they started out, MKSS members faced a major challenge in deciphering and categorizing the details contained in the records that they had obtained. Over a period of time, they became familiar with the management systems in public agencies and the project documents maintained by them.

One table was prepared from payrolls that had information about the number of days a worker had worked in a year on a particular project site. It was very useful as it identified cases of fraud in which a single worker was shown to have been working on two different project sites on the same day. Similarly, another table that provided a summary of the materials used in a particular project was developed.

3. Distributing information

MKSS members and other volunteers usually make several copies of the project documents and the tables. Teams of volunteers then go from house to house in the villages where public hearings are to be held and distribute and explain this information. Residents who have worked on project sites become valuable resources for verifying the accuracy of project documents. The copies of the payrolls, for example, become sources of enormous excitement as residents identify names of dead or fictitious people in the rolls. This verification process also helps to identify workers who have received smaller sums than those shown in the pay rolls.

This information distribution process can take from one week to a couple of months and provides an opportunity for MKSS members to build momentum within communities prior to the public hearing. Using songs, street plays, banners and posters, MKSS members and community volunteers encourage residents to scrutinize project information and attend the forthcoming public hearing.

4. The public hearing

Public hearings sponsored by MKSS have a very festive atmosphere. There is a lot of anticipation among residents of the village about the possible outcomes of the day’s events. The hearing is normally held in an open field. It is attended by public agency officials, local elected representatives, the media, and residents of the area. A panel comprising of eminent citizens of the area is set up to administer the proceedings.

Often, the public hearings reveal shocking findings about the ways in which public projects are conducted. Instances of corruption and inefficiency in the utilization of public funds, and poor planning within public agencies are sometimes uncovered in the testimonies provided by speakers. Things heat up especially when public officials try to defend the projects they supervised and village residents point out the lies in their statements.

The process is so effective that in some public hearings, family members of corrupt officials have testified against them and public officials have even confessed their wrongdoings. In front of an audience of 200–300 village residents, officials have handed over cash—the proceeds obtained through the corrupt use of project funds—to the panel adjudicating the public hearing.

5. Follow-up to the public hearing

A formal report is prepared by the MKSS following each public hearing. Copies of this report are sent to senior state government officials, the media, and other groups engaged in anti-corruption campaigns. The report contains details of the proceedings and the findings of the public hearing. These findings include recommendations to the state government regarding action that should be taken against errant officials, as well as changes that should be implemented in official programmes and policies to make them more effective and more responsive to public demands.

This article has been excerpted from the report The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Auditing and Public Finance Management, published by The International Budget Partnership.

Those interested in volunteering with MKSS can send an email to

  
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