Till 2011, Bihar was the most talked about state for misusing MGNREGA funds. But even when it streamlined the system and brought about better management in transferring money, it still stands to be a loser.

Bihar, unlike West Bengal, has already attained the first level of competence and almost all the 39,000 village panchayats have made effective implementation of the management information system (MIS). While West Bengal has been given a target to roll out electronic fund management system (e-FMS) in all the districts by the end of this fiscal, all the 39 districts of Bihar are already equipped with e-FMS. And while the Centre has asked West Bengal to put in place electronic muster and measurement system (e-MMS) on a pilot basis in select districts, Bihar already has it in place in all the districts.

With all these systems in place, the state has been able to streamline flow of funds to original beneficiaries and report and assess the amount of assets created. Now the Centre has asked the state to converge CPMS, a generic software, which tracks end-to-end flow of funds, with MIS, so that the entire gamut of system is reported on a real-time basis.

NREGA funds would flow on the basis of real-time reporting, which will also ensure that most of the loopholes in the system are plugged.

This is the second level of competence, which the state has been asked to achieve in terms of implementing e-governance in NREGA. But the state, despite achieving the first level of competence, has been disincentivised, with fund allotment so far coming down to R700 crore with no allocation for the entire year,? says Dr Bhim Singh, state panchayat works development minister.

In 2010-11, when Bihar did not attain any competence level with no e-platform like MIS in place, the state was allotted R4,416 crore. The Centre released R2,103 crore according to the demand placed by the state for being able to achieve 1,597 lakh man days against a targeted 2,500 lakh, and 80% of these funds were utilised.

But when the state put MIS in place by 2011-12, the number of targeted man days was brought down to 1,700 lakh and achievement reported was just 645 lakh, which was 58% of the original achievement. Bihar could only bring 58% of the total works made under data processing and so it stood to be a loser when it got funds on the basis of the data it could make available on the MIS.

Bihar?s allocation in 2011-2012 was down to R3,166.89 crore and the release was R1,300.73 crore. The state utilised 86% against its neighbouring West Bengal?s 50% utilisation. Now considering the number of gram panchayats (West Bengal?s 61,000 and Bihar?s 39,000), Bihar has still been able to achieve higher man days, as well as mobilise more funds.

For 2012-13, the state?s targeted man days have been further brought down to 1,603 lakh days and till May the projected achievement has been 432.96 lakh days. But data processing so far has been much below that level. The conditions imposed by the Centre are actually working against the idea of inclusiveness and the number of beneficiaries is gradually getting reduced. ?This should not be the outcome of attaining competence. The Centre should think of coming out with a different modus operandi,? feels Singh.

He says the Centre has imposed conditions like operationalising a state employment guarantee council, creating a separate wing for quality control assessment, report real-time progress of work and capture data on closure, completion, partial completion and abandonment of work. All these are a part of social auditing, which needs to be carried out.

However, Bhim Singh says the state has been thinking on different lines so that larger benefits could be extended to the poor people of the state. The state, he said, has extended the Rashtriya Swastha Bima Yojana (RSBY) to all eligible NREGA workers (the Centre has demanded an action plan for extension of RSBY) and is now considering linking the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) as well with NREGA. This linking would help increase the quality of assets created and that should form a parameter of getting more funds, he says.

However, the Bihar legislative assembly is deliberating the issue of linking NREGA with PMGSY, as making roads will need skilled manpower, unlike the unskilled labour force used for NREGA works. ?We are exploring the possibility of training a section of unskilled manpower for construction of roads,? says Singh.

He says the state has already undertaken 42,000 kms of rural road for reconstruction under the PMGSY, of which 21,000 kms have already been made. While one-third of the total cost has been borne by the state, 90% of the funds released have been utilised. The Centre has so far sanctioned R12,000 crore under PMGSY and R6,900 crore has been released.

He goes on to allege that Bihar, which started implementing NREGA and PMGSY in 2009, has all along been doing its best to fulfill the Central conditions, “but the Centre?s intent has been to hold back growth”.

MGNREGA norms ask for 60:40 labour cost to cost of material and administration and if quality assets have to be created, the amount of allocation per unit (wages per person per day) has to be increased. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded to take up NREGA wages to R200 per person per day, which is legitimate, feels Golok Behari, a panchayat-level activist.

The Centre, which allotted R90,435 crore to the rural development ministry in the last Budget, has allotted 36% or R33,000 crore for NREGA. This was down 21% as compared to the allocation made for NREGA in 2011-12 (R40,000 crore).