Author: Ravish Tiwari
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 5, 2007
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/208566.html
Introduction: Asks other states to implement
Rajasthan model to reduce corruption
Stung by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remark
terming corruption in road projects as "cancer", Union Rural Development
Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has decided to take a lesson from BJP-ruled
Rajasthan.
The Rural Development Ministry, which handles
the Rural Roads Programme under Bharat Nirman, has amended its guidelines
at the instance of the Minister and incorporated the unique feature from Rajasthan
for better inspection of rural roads work under Prime Minister Gram Sadak
Yojana (PMGSY). Raghuvansh wrote letters to all state Governments to adopt
the Rajasthan model in just over a month's time after the PM's remark.
"Corruption in road construction projects
has spread like a cancer to every corner of our country. I hope we can implement
both PMGSY and Bharat Nirman without this affliction and in a transparent
and accountable manner," the Prime Minister had said while inaugurating
the National Conference on Rural Roads organised by the Ministry on May 23
this year. Official sources in the Ministry said the Minister himself talked
to the CVC and also consulted officials from CAG seeking their advice to fill
the gaps, if any.
However, the consultations with CVC and CAG
did not help him much. An internal quality check information helped him to
figure out the model Raghuvansh was looking for. The data collected from random
inspections of road works under PMGSY carried out by the independent National
Quality Monitors (NQMs) under the Ministry during July 2004 and September
2006 indicated that Rajasthan had the lowest percentage of completed as well
as ongoing road works that were found to be of "unsatisfactory"
quality. (See: BOX)
For the rural road works, the Rajasthan Government
introduced a system of inviting public representatives along with Government
officials for joint inspection of PMGSY works. Under this model, while the
superintendent engineer of the concerned zone goes for a joint inspection
with the local MP every six months, the executive engineer of a division goes
for joint inspection with the local MLA or chairperson of intermediate panchayat
every three months.
Under this practice, the assistant engineer
of the sub-division undertakes joint inspection with the concerned sarpanch
every two months. And these officials are instructed to request the public
representatives for joint inspection at regular intervals.