Water Security Programme Under Lens in Jharkhand - Case study of corruption detected in Social Impact Assessment Audit at the Chakra Village, Godda District ( Jharkhand ).
* Birendra K Jha,
Social Impact Assessment Auditor &
Member Institute of Social Auditors of India.
Email: birendrajha03@yahoo.com
Water security in India means availability, of the water ecosystems. This ecosystem is important for sustainable living and is an additional source of income for poor farmers to improve their living through "fish farming" or growing water related food products like "Makhana". But, in India this scheme is failed when corruption is sitting here. This case "audit report" of Chakra Village at Jharkhand has been prepared for the stakeholders to improve the efficiency of the "Water Security" investment scheme. In this case report 10 ponds of Chakra Village have been audited constructed under the Manrega scheme. Stakeholders complain that some 6 numbers of "new water ponds" claimed as constructed in 2024, have been shown from "Old Assets", all constructed before 2024. In audit this came into light that out of ten ponds, only two ponds are constructed new in 2024 and remaining 8 ponds are all old assets. Clearly this was corruption. When corruption is sitting at the root cause, no scheme shall improve. The only approach whether project has been delivered to the people sitting at the bottom is only Social Audit. The scheme in Jharkhand needs continuous monitoring with professional social auditor. Now in SEBI listed enterprise and companies, the Social Projects are compulsorily audited by the qualified professional people, who holds the Membership of the Institute of Social Auditors of India ( An institute of excellence created under the SEBI Act by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India). Institutions like World Bank shall remain in high alert mode, where "Water Security" investment is very high.
Financial Auditors fail here. They have passed huge bill on strength and support of the verified vouchers. This case is not detected and remains under carpet, till Social Audit is conducted. A large scale of corruption is detected. This is reported from the Chakra Village, Boarijor Block; Kusumghati Panchayat; Godda District ( Jharkhand ). This has been detected through highly technical skill of Social Audit through satellite. The satellite data used for this audit is given at the end report. A concurrence audit at the Kusumghati also revealed that large corruption is prevailing here. This is only the Central Government which has the onus to act as fast as possible.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is not a prestigious project now. This is criticized in public for its high rate of corruption. Some examples of MGNREGA corruption include: misappropriation of funds: funds intended for the scheme are not used but stolen right away; non-payment of wages: workers are not paid their work, but transferred in different account through fraudulent means; fraudulent completion of work: work or asset is not created but is permitted under the scheme; forgery: the entire muster rolls are forged to show the work that was not done & manipulation: in this case job cards are manipulated to show the work, that was not done.
To stop this corruption many Indian states have introduced strong laws to curb corruption just through Social Audit. "The Andhra Pradesh Promotion of Social Audit and Prevention of Corrupt Practices Act" is a glaring example. In this Social Audit, the audit report is directly given to the "Mobile Court", which moves with the Social Auditor. The Court then and there issues "arrest warrant" based on the Social Auditors report. This has curbed the corruption rate immediately. But some states, like Jharkhand and Bihar have not implemented the Act like the "The Andhra Pradesh Promotion of Social Audit and Prevention of Corrupt Practices Act". This needs strong political will to prevent and stop corruption.
Now Social Auditor has enormous responsibility to audit the projects prevailed with practices, where corruption is fashion and culture. I am talking about Bihar and Jharkhand. A case is reported here from Jharkhand, where under Water Security programmes, water ponds ( local language: dobha ) were created. Some of the same "Old Assets" which were created before 2024, have been claimed again in 2024. This case is reported from Chakra Village, Boarijor Block; Kusumghati Panchayat; Godda District ( Jharkhand ). When you start auditing stakeholders, complain start pouring in that same ponds constructed earlier have been shown constructed again in records of 2024. This is very embarrassing situation. The satellite detects this corruption clearly.
In this Physical Audit, satellite has been used effectively to verify the ponds construction through satellite. Here two site records were detected by satellite in "Before" and "After" format. One can see clearly the difference. In this work construction, on some sites, work executed and some skipped ( Refer satellite data given at the end of this report).
The satellite has given brilliant data. Not to mention in the MGNREGA scheme, now any creation of asset is feeded into the ISRO Bhuvan data site. The ISRO Bhuvan data provides similar assets as reported in previous year and the current year. There is no improvement in the number of assets in 2024 compared to 2022. If asset not created then how under the MGNREGA scheme, money has been paid against the property which was already existing as on May 2022. This is corruption.
The Social Auditor needs here expertise to use the satellite data. In number of ways if satellite data is tortured, then this reveals brilliant data for the Social Auditors. Mahatma Gandhi throughout his life was against the corruption and adopted simplicity. But his "brand image" is misused. This is very sad and hopeless affair. Many foreign governments like Japan are investing in India on development work through the Manrega scheme. They are not aware with the high rate of corruption going on inside the Manrega.
Suggestion for Improvement:
1. Regular Social Audit through highly qualified professional who holds the qualification as Member of the Institute of Social Auditors of India ( An Institute of excellence created by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India). Now the entire Social Audit of projects covered under the SEBI listed enterprises, only is conducted through the listed member from the Institute of Social Auditors of India. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs in line with the SEBI Law has mandated only the Qualified Member to conduct the Social Audit. This is important parameter as many unqualified people enters the Social Audit side.
2. During asset creation the location should have clear QR Code built on high rise surface open to sky and easily detected through satellite. This QR link shall carry to the server data, where ground photograph is available in "Before" and "After" format. If in Manrega, practice of Social Audit from qualified Social Auditor is conducted, before start of the work and after completion of work then it shall remove most of the corruption cases. The Social Auditor then shall provide verified data of ground situation in "Before" and "After" format.
3. The ISRO Bhuvan data system, needs improvement. This should have link. This link should have data in "Before" and "After" format of the same site. Trained Social Auditor, through visual audit, easily detects corruption.
4. The Jharkhand Government should have law like the "The Andhra Pradesh Promotion of Social Audit and Prevention of Corrupt Practices Act". This Act has reduced the corruption rate.
5. Last but not the least, the Manrega scheme at Jharkhand is in very poor condition. Corruption is at the base. This needs regular monitoring through Social Audit. There is no short cut.
Satellite Data How Detects Irregularity & Corruption:
Satellite is a strong tool in the hands of the Social Auditors. In this village the satellite looks in "Before" and "After" format the given site. This is a common practice of corruption seen in Manrega, where some work is skipped. Suppose payment collected for four works. Three works executed and one skipped. Another route of corruption is that some old assets already existing at the site, are shown again as "New Assets". This is common practice and case remains undetected, if social audit is not conducted.
An analysis of 10 "Water Ponds" are given here. All these Water Ponds are constructed under "Water Security" scheme. Stakeholders complain that in "2024" payment has been claimed of some 6 "New Ponds" construction. At site only two ponds ( Pond Number 8 & 9 ) are seen as "New Asset", remaining 8 ponds are all old assets.
Before parting, one important point is required to be addressed. All these 10 numbers of "Water Ponds", how many times have been claimed as "New Assets" from 2024 to 2013. A thorough investigation shall help the Central Government to sharpen the monitoring tool.
☝ Pond: 8 in yellow cover. This pond was not created as on May 2022. In May 2024 this pond came into existence. Except the pond no. 8 and 9, no any "New Pond" was created in 2024. There is claim of more "New Ponds" creation in 2024. On ground the claimed numbers of "New Ponds" are missing. All these are Old Assets.
☝ Pond: 10 in yellow cover. This pond came as "New Asset" as on October 2020. This is not New Asset of 2024.
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☝ The financial data of this area is not healthy. The Social Audit of financial year 20-21, has recorded financial misappropriation, financial deviation and process violation of reported amount shown in the graph. This is not good sign. This is seen in most of the cases, project is missing on ground.
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