The National Advisory Council led by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has asked the health ministry and the department of public grievances to conduct a social audit of programmes under the National Rural Health Mission and implementation of the Right to Information Act on the lines of similar monitoring of schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
An NAC member told this newspaper: “We have stopped discussing the Lokpal Bill ... but corruption in this country cannot be seen in isolation — involving only politicians and bureaucrats. We must take a holistic view to ensure that schemes and programmes of the government reach the targeted poor.”
The NAC member, saying the much-talked-about Lokpal Bill is “for the middle class, of the middle class and by the middle class”, said the council had recently suggested that the two government departments conduct a “social audit” of programmes under the NRHM and of RTI implementation. “This is very important in the wake of certain cases like the death of 13 pregnant women in Rajasthan and the repeated refusal by the authorities to give information under the RTI Act,” he added.
Thirteen women had died in one fortnight in February this year in Umaid and MG Hospitals of Jodhpur district after developing serious post-delivery complications resulting in profuse bleeding, allegedly after they were administered contaminated drips.
Stressing the need to enlarge the scope of the national discourse on corruption, the NAC member said the Lokpal alone would not be able to ensure a corruption-free society in which the poorest of the poor could get justice. “We at the NAC have started working on a larger plan, which includes issues like administrative reforms, strengthening RTI, electoral and judicial reforms and public appointments,” he said, adding a background note for further discussion was finalised at the NAC’s last meeting on Friday. This focuses on the need to ensure accountability at all levels and putting in place a smooth grievance redressal mechanism.