A key feature of the National Rural Employment Gurantee Act is the crucial role of the panchayat bodies. The provision for social audit of developmental projects by the Gram Sabhas in a panchayat area makes the Act a powerful weapon in the hands of people, to address the needs of the working masses and realise a life of dignity. These elements of participatory planning and public accountability truly make it a people`s Act.

Rajasthan is an example of how the scheme has brought welcome changes. According to an estimate, approximately 97 crore rupees were spent in Dungarpur district under the scheme, which provided employment to as many as 1 lakh 75 thousand people. Similarly, in Udaipur district, Rs 110 crores was spent under the scheme, which resulted in the creation of jobs for about two lakh people.

However, these positive indicators should not create the impression that problems relating to minimum wages and quality check over development schemes have been finally solved. There are numerous instances of the scheme being scuttled by vested interests and the allocated funds landing in the hands of corrupt officials.

The right to information (RTI) has an internal mechanism to put an effective check on such tendencies in future. Simple documents such as cash memos, muster rolls of wage earners, vouchers and sundry certificates, which were almost impossible to obtain just a couple of years back, have been made accessible to common people through the gram panchayats. Now the people have the power to seek explanation from officials if they detect any irregularity. 

Here again, Rajasthan provides an example of how mass organisations can galvanise an Act into a potent weapon of change. A loose alliance of different mass organisations has been working overtime to turn the RTI/NREGA into a mass movement. It is largely due to the efforts of such organisations that other issues pertaining to people`s livelihood have also been yoked to the scope of the existing right. The demand raised by such organisations to ensure employment to people in the drought-hit areas can be seen as an instance of how an existing Act can be widened to incorporate issues of concern to a community, which are not directly addressed by the Act itself.

As part of a campaign to promote awareness about the RTI Act, several organisations came together in the state and undertook padyatras across villages and hamlets. Udaipur district was the first to feel the impact of this campaign. In a move to stress accountability and ensure transparency in public dealings, a meeting was organised in Valota panchayat to discuss various developmental projects completed over the last year. The details of accounts that emerged from the public hearing were most revealing: a staggering Rs 4,83,000 were found missing from the expenditure details. Later, the discrepancy was also attested by the departmental committee. Clearly, the exercise not only helped people unearth the reality of development, it also made them aware of the potential of the RTI.