Proposal on Awareness Generation and Capacity Building on NREGS

No: CAPART/NREGS/2007-08

Date: 3 September, 2008

Circular No. 13/2008

This circular is issued to guide the RR & MCs of Regional Committees of CAPART in launching awareness generation and capacity building on National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA) by Voluntary Organizations.

It was felt that the success of NREGA scheme lies in continuous public vigilance in the implementation of the project, laws & policies. It is essential that the potential beneficiaries and other stakeholders of the scheme are involved at every stage: from planning to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation. To ensure this, an initiative has been taken in awareness generation and building capacities of the local rural communities so as to access their entitlements and assert their rights under NREGA.

A detailed action plan on awareness generation and capacity building on NREGS along with the format for formulation of project, model budget for 30 gram panchayats, three days training module etc. was placed before the Competant Authority for approval. The scheme is enclosed for compliance. In view of the approval from Hon’ble MRD the following points may be noted:-

NREGA awareness generation may not be carried out in districts where GVA is being implemented. Thus no projects under NREGA may be given in districts where GVA projects have been sanctioned. This is to be done to ensure that there is no overlapping of activities.
NGOs implementing GVA/NREGA awareness generation will not be eligible for any awards for NREGA instituted by the RD Ministry.
Projects to be sanctioned only from among the VOs applying within the stipulated time in response to the news paper advertisements taken out by the RD Ministry for inviting Expression of Interest. The proposals received either as VIP reference or in the RD Ministry after the due date mentioned in the news paper advertisement, may be filed for now. Any other proposal received after the due date may also be dealt with similarly.
NREGA awareness projects to be sanctioned only in the 14 States originally mentioned in the news paper advertisements brought out by the RD Ministry for inviting Expression of Interest from VOs.
NREGA awareness generation projects will be under the OB scheme of CAPART and all stages of the projects will be governed by CAPART norms and guidelines. There should be no deviation from the same.
The first phase of this programme shall be launched in the list of districts enclosed. Keeping in view the fact that those districts where GVA projects have been sanctioned shall be excluded. Projects may be considered for awarding only to the list NGOs enclosed herewith. In case, any NGO other than the one mentioned in the list is to be considered for awarding projects, then the same must be intimated to the Hqtrs for approval.
To make monitoring of activity foolproof, apart from regular monitoring by Institutional Monitors, concurrent monitoring through YPs/ROs, etc. will be invariably done in each case. Additionally, 5% of awareness generation and capacity building on NREGA projects will be concurrently monitored by teams deputed from CAPART Headquarters. These projects will be identified on a random basis in Hqtrs office. For this purpose, the VOs who have been sanctioned NREGA projects should be requested to submit action programme with dates and places well in advance.
For review of the NREGA awareness generation projects, the Performa used for GVA programme/projects may be used. It shall be the responsibility of the RR & MCs and Consultant (GVA) to technically implement the scheme properly as per norms.
Considering the importance attached to the implementation of NREGA by the RD Ministry, RR & MCs may immediately initiate proceedings for desk appraisal (if not already done), appointing monitors for prefunding appraisal and preparing the agenda for placement before Regional Committees.

This issues with the approval of the Competant Authority.

Yours faithfully,

(Sanjay Awasthi)

Director (Finance)

Copy to:

1. All RR & MC of CAPART’s Regional Committees.

2. Under Secretary (NREGA), Ministry of Rural Development

3. All HODs at CAPART Hqtrs. New Delhi.

4. SES to DG/ES to DDG (K)/ES to DDG (G)/SES to CVO/ ES to Director (Finance).

5. CAO (FAD)/CAO (AED).

Proposal on Awareness Generation and Capacity Building on NREGS

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA) is a landmark in the history of social security legislation in India and promises to be a major tool in the struggle to secure the right to food. The Act provides enhancement of livelihood security, giving at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Panchayats at Districts, intermediate and village levels become the principal authorities for planning and implementation of the Act.

The success of the scheme lies in continuous public vigilance in the implementation of the projects, laws and policies. It is essential that the potential beneficiaries and other stake holders of the scheme are involved at every stage: from planning to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation. To ensure this an initiative has been taken in awareness generation and building capacities of the local rural communities so as to access their entitlements and assert their rights under NREGA. In this regard Expression of Interest (EoI) from civil society organizations and professional institutions were invited by Ministry of Rural Development. In response, the Ministry of Rural Development had received 2400 number of proposals from the civil society organizations and professional institutions. The proposals were sent to CAPART for scrutiny and short listing of potential civil society organizations and professional institutions.

As per the Expression of Interest, the organization selected will be assigned a District each and the tasks will be undertaken at the village level upwards to the District level for six months to begin with. The tasks to be undertaken will include:

· Social mobilization and awareness generation through door to door contact campaign, village convention, personal contact programmes.

· Training of NREGA workforce, members of village vigilance and monitoring committee, members of Gram Panchayat and Gram Rozgar Sewak on NREGA procedure and their roles.

· Enabling local community to apply under NREGA for various entitlements covered under its legal guarantee.

· Enabling NREGA workforce to verify the benefits due to them, inter alia, their muster rolls, and job cards entries.

· Submitting reports as desired by the Ministry

Expected Outcome:

The expected outcomes are capacity building of NREGA beneficiaries, Village monitoring committees, and Gram Panchayat members as also the following:

1. Information: Awareness about NREGA: features, procedures, management systems.

2. Ability to use information.

3. To access rights under NREGA and claim entitlements, inter alia apply for job card, apply for employment, ensure appropriate wage remuneration, participate in village level planning, avail of work site facilities, enforce unemployment allowance.

4. To enforce transparency and accountability, inter alia, use the Right to Information Act, understand and scrutiny vital records like muster rolls, measurement books, job cards; do social audit and enforce grievance redressal.

Proposed Action Plan

1. Selection of NGOs:

Selection of NGOs will be carried out by following the existing policy guidelines of CAPART under Organization of Beneficiaries (OB scheme). It is proposed that for the awareness campaign under NREGS, the jurisdiction of an NGO may be confined to a particular District irrespective of the number of Districts in a States the NGO had applied for. A Pre- Funding Appraisal (PFA) of the selected NGOs will be carried out as per the guidelines of CAPART for assessing the antecedents of the NGOs at the RC level.

2. Assignment of Target Area

As per the Expression of Interest published by the Ministry of Rural Development selected organizations will be assigned a District each. If an organization is assigned a District having more than five Blocks, it may be difficult for a particular organization to coordinate, manage and simultaneously assess the impact of the awareness campaign in a stipulated period of time. Therefore, it is proposed that assignment of number of Blocks to a particular NGO will be decided based on the assumption that an NGO can conduct intensive awareness campaign in a maximum of 5 Gram Panchayats in a month. Since the awareness campaign would be conducted for six month to begin with, an NGO will be able to cover 30 Gram Panchayats in a period of six months. Where more than 10 blocks are involved in a district, then additional projects shall be given either to the same NGO, if it has the required capacity to implement and also falls in the eligibility norms of having not more than 3 on going CAPART projects at a time or to another eligible NGO. Hence, it is proposed that the unit of target area may be a Block instead of a District. In this case one NGO will be assigned not more than 10 Blocks within a District depending upon its organizational capacity and professional strength to implement the project. The NGO has to submit a detailed project proposal as per the format enclosed at annexure- 1(this format is on the pattern of OB projects).

3. Training of NGOs:

For awareness generation and capacity building of the short listed NGOs, a three day training programme would be conducted by the concerned Regional Committees where in two representatives from each selected NGOs will participate. As per existing norms, the workshop budget for the two days is about Rs. One Lakh for fifty participants and this will be applicable for conducting this training programme. However, the additional expenditure incurred (if any) may be upto Rs.50,000/- in addition to Rs. 1 Lac. Thus the total cost for the training programme should not exceed Rupee One Lakh Fifty Thousand. The expenditure for this training shall be borne by the concerned RCs. A detailed Training Module as enclosed at Annexure - 2 will be followed for imparting training to the participants.

As soon as the organizations are short listed, they will be intimated along with the format of the project proposal and model budget so that they can submit the proposal within 15 days of receiving of the intimation.

4. Model Budget

The awareness campaign will be conducted by the short listed organizations for a period of six months covering 30 Gram Panchayats.

S.N	Particulars	Unit	Amount	For 30 Gram Panchayat
1	One day training for *50-55 participants per batch in 15 batches @ Rs. 12,425/ batch for 30 Panchayats	2 Gram Panchayats	12,425/-	1,86,375/-
2	Gram Sabha Meeting (2 times)	Gram Panchayat	1000/-	30,000/-
3.	Mike / Street Plays/ Kala Jatha / Local Folk Media	Gram Panchayat	1000/-	30,000/-
4.	Poster Campaign through posters and other media.	Gram Panchayat	500/-	15,000/-
5	Screening of Documentary on NREGS/ Social Audit / RTI etc	Gram Panchayat	2000/-	60,000/-
6	Bicycle Rally	Gram Panchayat	1000/-	30,000/-
7	Miscellaneous Expenses (includes admn. Expenses, payment to resource person for sl.no. 1 above and expenses on travel @ Rs. 5/K.M subject to overall ceiling of Rs. 15,000/-	____	___	35,137/-
Total				3,86,512/-

Notes

Ø * In case of less then 30 Panchayats the costing will be proportionately reduced. In case of more than 30 Panchayats, costing can be increased on a prorate basis. However, if due to increase in the number of Panchayats beyond 30, the project becomes unwieldy then the size of the project will be restricted to manageable level and additional project sanctioned to either the same VO or to another eligible VO.

Ø For items at sl. Nos. 1 & 6 above- These will be on the pattern of implementation of GVA programme. However, here, the focus will be on NREGA only.

5. Monitoring:

Concurrent monitoring of the awareness campaign will be conducted in the target areas. The monitoring will be carried out twice within the project duration of six months for ensuring smooth implementation of awareness campaign. In the first phase, a team of internal monitors will be appointed by the Regional Committee for monitoring the programme within a period of two months from the release of first installment. This will be coupled with regular monitoring by the Institutional Monitors as per CAPART norms.

Annexure – 1

Format for Formulation of Project Proposal under NREGS

1. Title of the Project:

2. Location

a) State

b) District

c) Block

d) Gram Panchayat

e) Village/s

3. Demographic Details

i) Total Population: Male Female

ii) No of Households: SC ---------- ST---------- OBC---------- General -----------

BPL------------- APL ------------

iii) Land Utilization

iv) Source if Irrigation

v) Artisanal trades

vi) Problems of Villages

4. Objectives:

5. Coverage of the programme in terms of beneficiaries

Name of Village Block District Expected number of Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries are the adult members of the households of the local Gram Panchayat who are willing to do unskilled manual work.

6. Methodology to be adopted for the awareness campaign:

7. Action Programme:

8. Expected Outcome:

9. Budget: The NGO is required to follow the model Budget for the preparation of the budget.

10. Arrangement for Social Audit of NREGS by the community

Countersigned by the Member of Executive Body Signature and seal of the Authorised Signatory*

Name: Name:

Designation Designation:

(*Attach copy of Authorization by Executive Body for signing if Articles of Association/Byelaws do not indicate it)

Place:

Date:

THREE DAYS TRAINING MODULE ON NREGA Annexure – II
Day One
Technical Session	Time	Topic	Objectives	Contents	Training Methods	Reference Reading
Technical Session	Time	Topic	Objectives	Contents	Training Methods	Reference Reading
One	11.00 - 12.00	Introducing NREGA: (a) Why and How it came into being? (b) Vision, Mission and Objectives	Paricipants will develop understanding about the fundamentals of the Act	1. Significance of NREG Act (Art 19 A, 21) 2. Its Vision, Mission and Objectives	1. Power Point Presentation 2. Lecture	Operational Guidelines of NREGA
Two	12.00 - 13.30	What does the NREG Act speak of ? Some Questions and Answers	Participants will be acquainted of the key elements and provisions of the NREG Act	1. Employment guarantee for 100 days in a financial year 2. Eligibility Criteria 3. Registration for seeking unskilled employment 4. Issueing of Job Cards 5. Demand for Work 6. Work Allotment 7. Payment of wages	1. Power Point Presentation 2. Lecture and Participatory Discussion	Operational Guidelines of NREGA
Three	14.30 - 15.30	Transparancy and Accountability (Step - 1)	To know the importance, objectives and advantages of Public Vigilance and Social Audit	1. Basis of Social Audit 2. What is Social Audit? 3. Objectives of Social Audit. 4. Advantages of Social Audit	1. Power Point Presentation 2. Lecture	Reading Materials
Four	15.45 - 17.15	(Step - 2)	The participants will be accustomed with various steps, processes and key factors of conducting social audit	1. Various Steps - Multi-perspective, Comprehensive, Comparative, Regular, Verification, Disclosure, Improved Social Performance 2. The assessment of vulneribilities of each stage of NREGS through "Social Audit Forum"	1. Group Exercise and Presentation	Operational Guidelines of NREGA
Day Two
One	10.30 - 12.00	Information Dissemination and Participation	To know about various tools and skills of awareness building and ensuring participation of rural masses.	1. What, Whom and How to generate awareness 2. Various communication methods (local folk media, electronic and print media, street plays, wall painting, posters) and periodic meeting with community and door to door visit. 3. Various motivational tools	Games, Group exercise and Presentattion	Reading Materials
Two	13.00 - 14.30	RTI Act - An instrument for upholding people's right on NREGA	To impart the participants about various provisions and processes of RTI Act with regard to effective implementation of NREGS	1. Salient features and advantages of RTI Act 2. Various processes for seeking information 3. How the Act helps in effective implementation of NREGS - Information Kiosk	Group exercise and Presentation	Reading Materials
Three	14.30 - 16.00	Learning by doing - A practical hands on experience on Social Audit	To give practical exposure to the participants about how to conduct social audit	1. Division of participants into groups 2. Pre-planning for field visits	Group exercise and Presentation	-
Day Three
One	09.00 - 16.00	Visit to the nearby Gram Panchayat to carryout Social Audit	To have first-hand experience of conducting social audit	1. Field Visit 2. Carry out Social Audit Process of NREGS 3. Presentation and Feedback on field experience	Group exercise and Presentation	-

Districts under NREGA

Districts under NREGA
State	Districts under GVA	Blocks under GVA	Districts Covered under GVA and also applied for NREGA	Shortlisted & Eligible disrticts under NREGA
Gujrat	Dahod	Fatehpura	Dahod	Narmada, Sabarkantha
	Panchamahal	Santrampur	Panchamahal
	Patan	Santalpur
	Banashkantha	Vav	Banashkantha
	Valsad	Kaparada	Valsad
	Dang	Ahwa	Dang
Union Territories	Daman	Daman		Not covered under NREGA
	Diu	Diu
	Dadra Nagar Haveli	Dadra Nagar Haveli
Maharastra	Hingoli	Aundha	Hingoli	Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Bhandara,Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Nandurbar, Yavatmal
	Hingoli	Kalamnuri	Hingoli
	Nanded	Hadgaon	Nanded
	Nanded	Kinwat	Nanded
	Buldhana	Sindkhedraja	Buldhana
	Buldhana	Deolgaonraja	Buldhana
	Amravati	Chandur Bazar	Amravati
Himachal Pradesh	Kangra	Panchrukhi		Not covered under NREGA
	Mandi	Karsog
	Sirmour	Pachad
Punjab	Hoshiarpur	Mahilpur		Not covered under NREGA
	Jallandhar	Shahkot
	Amritsar	Rayya
	Nawanshehar	Saroya
Jammu and Kashmir	Anantnag	Khoveripora		Not covered under NREGA
Jammu and Kashmir	Poonch	Surankot		Not covered under NREGA
Haryana	Mewat	Nuh		Not covered under NREGA
	Mewat	Punhana
	Tambala	Brara
Orissa	Nawarangpur	Papadahandi	Nawarangpur	Boudh, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kandmal, Kendujhar, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Sundargarh
	Malkangiri	Mathili	Malkangiri
	Koraput	Dasmantpur	Koraput
	Nuapada	Boden	Nuapada
	Balangir	Luisinga	Balangir
	Phulbani	Phiringia
West Bengal	Bankura	Bankura-II	Bankura	24 Pargana South, Dinajpur Dakshin, Jalpaiguri, Maldah, West Medinipur, Murshidabad
	Purulia	Jalda-II	Purulia
	Burdwan	Ausgram-I
	Birbhum	Murarai
Chhattisgarh	Bastar	Pharasgaon	Bastar	Bilaspur, Dantewada, Dhamtari, Jashpur, Kanker, Kawardha, Korea, Rajnandgaon
	Raigarh	Sarangarh	Raigarh
	Kabirdham	Bodla	Kabirdham
	Sarguja	Bhayathan	Sarguja
Assam	Goalpara	Rangjuli	Goalpara	All Districts are under GVA
	Dhemaji	Sissiborgaon	Dhemaji
	Bongaigaon	Dangtol	Bongaigaon
	NC Hills	Mahur	NC Hills
	Kokrajhar	Hatidhora	Kokrajhar
	Karbi Anglong	Chingthong	Karbi Anglong
	Lakhimpur	Dhakuakhana	Lakhimpur
Meghalaya	West Garo Hills	Selsella		Not covered under NREGA
Tripura	Dhalai	Damburnagar		Not covered under NREGA
Manipur	Tamenglong	Tamei		Not covered under NREGA
Sikkim	North District	Chungthang		Not covered under NREGA
Karnataka	Bidar	Aurad	Bidar	Belgaon,Chikkmagalur, Belary, Shimoga, Hasan
	Raichur	Lingsugur	Raichur
	Raichur	Devdurga
	Gulbarga	Chincholi
		Aland
		Jewargi	Gulbarga
	Chitradurga	Hosadurga	Chitradurga
	Davangere	Harapana-halli	Davangere
Kerala	Palakkad	Attapady		Not covered under NREGA
		Malampuzha
		Chitoor
	Wayanad	Sulthan Bathery
		Kalpetta
		Mananthawady
	North Goa	Sattari
	North Goa	Pernem
	South Goa	Sanguem
		Quepem
		Canacona
Bihar	Nawada	Nawada	Nawada	Araria, Aurangabad, Darbhanga, Jamui, Katihar, Kishanganj, Lakhisarai, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Patna,Purnia, Samastipur, Sheohar, Supaulhd,
	Nalanda	Nalanda	Nalanda
	Gaya	Gaya	Gaya
	Jehanbad	Jehanbad	Jehanbad
	Vaishali	Vaishali	Vaishali
	Bhojpur	Bhojpur	Bhojpur
	Rohtas	Rohtas	Rohtas
	Munger	Munger	Munger
	Kaimur	Jamui	Kaimur
	Kaimur (Bhabua)	Bhabhuwa (Kaimur)
Jharkhand	Palamu	Palamu	Palamu	Bokaro, Chatra, Dhanbad, Garhwa, Godda, Hazaribag, Jamtara, Koderma, Latehar, Lohardaga, Pakur, Ranchi, Sahebganj, Saraikela, Kharsawan, Sindega, West Singhbhum
	Gumla	Lohardagga	Gumla
	Giridih	Giridih	Giridih
	Deoghar	Deoghar	Deoghar
	Dumka	Dumka	Dumka
Andhra Pradesh	Medak	Mulugu	Medak	Adilabad, Chittoor, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Nizamabad, Vizianagaram
	Ranga Reddy	Chevella	Ranga Reddy
	Cuddapah	T. Sundupalli	Cuddapah
	Warangal	Maripeda	Warangal
	Anantapura	Hindupur	Anantapura
	Nalgonda	B. Pochampally	Nalgonda
	Kurnool	Arlagada
Tamilnadu	Dharmpuri	Nallampalli		Dindigul, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Sivagangai
	Villupuram	Ulundurpet
	Vurudhnagar	Kariapatti
	Mahbubnagar	Jadcherla
	Pudukkottai	Thiruvaran Kulam
	Coimbatore	Sulur
	Krishnagiri	Bargur
	Dindigul	Athur
Rajasthan	Dousa	Bandikui		Banswara, Jhalawar, Karauli, Sirohi
	Tonk	Todaraisingh	Tonk
	Dungarpur	Sagwara	Dungarpur
	Jaisalmer	Sam	Jaisalmer
	Udaipur	Girwa	Udaipur
	Dhoulpur	Dholpur
	Barmer	Chotan	Barmer
	Alwar	Bahrod
Madhya Pradesh	West Nimar	Khargon		Balaghat, Barwani, Betul, Chhatarpur, Dhar, Dindori, Jhabua, Khargone, Mandla, Satna, Seoni, Shahdol, Sheopur, Sidhi, Tikamgarh, Umaria
	Shivpuri	Karera	Shivpuri
	Shivpuri	Pohari
	Gwalior	Murar
	East Nimar	Khandwa	East Nimar
	Indore	Mhaw
	Jabalpur	Jobat
	Unnao	Hasanganj	Unnao	Ajamgarh, Banda,Chaundauli, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Gorakhpur, Hamirpur, Hardoi, Jalaun, Kausambi, Kheri, Kushinagar, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh, Sonbhadra
Uttar pradesh	Unnao	Mianganj,
	Sitapur	Hargaon	Sitapur
	Barabanki	Masauli	Barabanki
	Jaunpur	Muftiganj	Jaunpur
		Karanjakala
		Buxa
		Sikrata
		Sirkoni
		Machlisaher
		Mugra Badhsahpur
		Sujanganj
		Sahaganj
		Badlapur
		Khuthan
		Suitha Kala
		Maharajganj
		Ramnagar
	Raibareli	Rahi	Raibareli
		Amban
		Harchandrapur
		Shivgarh
		Dih
		Rohnia
		Jagatpur
		Khero
		Sareni
		Unchahar
		Maharajganj
		Dalmau

			Total- 64	Total 184 districts