Capital shock

Did Swami Agnivesh's Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM), which has been at the spearhead of various public campaigns, including Anna Hazare's stir, fudge a petty Rs 18 lakh contract with the Delhi government in 2005? The first reaction to this question would be a "No", but in this day and age of corruption, no one seems to be lily-white. TSI probed the matter and facts that have come to light with the help of Right to Information (RTI) – documentation of which is available with TSI – suggesting a serious breach by an organisation which has made its name freeing bonded labour and fighting for the cause of the lowliest of the low in the past three-four decades.

Swami Agnivesh himself has been at the forefront of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption stir and is a frequent TV guest, and of late has been appearing more frequently on television. Not surprisingly, this one case refers to BMM's crusade against bonded labour. The facts of the case are simple.

•     In 2005, the Delhi government had conducted a survey (under the "Centrally sponsored scheme for the identification, release and         rehabilitation of bonded labourers) to get details of the total number of bonded labourers in Delhi.

•     The survey was awarded to Bandhua Mukti Morcha.

•     The Delhi government paid the Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM) Rs 18 lakhs as cost towards conducting the survey.

•     This project was awarded to the BMM without any advertisement in papers, as duly required by the rules.

•     There was no MoU between the Delhi government and the BMM, nor were there any terms of reference (TOR), both of which are mandatory.

Several other questions have been raised. There appears to be large scale discrepancy in payments made for work done in Guna in Madhya Pradesh and Bara in Rajasthan, Katihar in Bihar for the research of different bonded labourers.

Importantly, whereas the amount was to be spent only for the work in Delhi and specifically for purposes of the survey, there are vouchers – totally unexplained and certainly uncalled for – from all over the country.

Going against well set norms, there are no bills and most payments have been made on vouchers. A number of these vouchers do not have the signature of the receiver, recipient and the approver.

  

The study covered a sample of 18048 bonded labourers in nine districts of Delhi. The questionnaire included the section for the name and address of the contractor or the employer along with their address.

According to an official of the Delhi Administration, it was found that names and addresses of the units and employers were not provided, neither were locations where the survey was conducted.

"To do this study, no MoU or TOR was decided or signed between the Delhi government and the BMM...as per guidelines it has to be done by the vigilance committee constituted at a district and sub-division level and the survey had to be conducted with the help of the statistical department of the state government which was not done in this case.

Thus, many SDMs who came after the survey are not even aware of its existence, and in their knowledge no survey was conducted by the BMM, which is against the laws of the government. It is surprising that funds to the tune of Rs 18 lakh were released without any MoU," the official said.

Replies given under the RTI suggest that all was not above board. When asked if Delhi's revenue department had issued a notification about the survey, the department's reply is a categorical 'No'.

Was there any terms of reference (ToR) between the BMM and the Delhi government about the survey? The department's reply in the RTI leaves no scope for ambiguity. "No records are available regarding any TOR,'' it states flatly.

There is also a clear dichotomy between a survey and release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers. In this case, the BMM appears to have done too many things at the same time, all without any formal mandate.

Interestingly, when this report was first made public in 2006, Swami Agnivesh had rocked Delhi by informing everyone that 90 per cent of the national capital's labour was bonded. When questioned, Swami Agnivesh told TSI that no one had yet levelled charges against him. "Now that I am with Anna, the Congress is indulging in mudslinging. These charges at this stage are an attempt to weaken Anna's agitation,'' he said. It is highly unlikely that the Congress would have foreseen Anna's agitation back in 2005!

Asked about the anomalies in the vouchers submitted, Swami Agnivesh suggested we talk to his project manager.His project manager, however, declined to comment, saying he could not remember anything. End of the matter.

According to LD Mishra, former Labour Secretary and special rapporteur bonded labour of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), "A survey to identify bonded labourers is conducted and then after the survey, a special magistrate presides over their release. If an NGO, in addition to the survey, also uses that money to free labourers, the act is illegal. It is also irregular to award the nine-district survey to just one NGO.''

The Delhi government cannot escape the responsibility and most of their officials are not too keen to talk, either off or on the record. However, Kuldeep Singh Gangar, Addl. Secretary (Revenue) said that prompt action would be taken against the culprits.