Construction of this road in Latehar’s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. "The contractor had layered the road with barely half-an-inch of asphalt," he says.
Will the district administration act against the contractor? "Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those opposing them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), i.e. beheaded," he says.
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a vice grip on NREGA projects, too.
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.
In Gumla’s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. "We are yet to get a reply," says one of them.
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. "Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum’s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other," says a villager.
In Latehar’s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can’t resume work till he pays up.
At Helta, villagers talk about college student Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. "A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay," claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn’t returned since then.
The case wasn’t reported to the police. "If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers," says a villager of Gumla’s Bishunpur.