Greg Almeida sdb
KAWANT, 
DECEMBER 31, 2010: Disha Don Bosco organized a one day training programme on December 30, 2010, for the Vigilance and Monitoring Committee (VMC) members of the different villages in the Kawant Taluka, at Don Bosco Kawant from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., as part of the ongoing Governance Project. Of the hundred and ten VMC members who were invited for the workshop, eighty five persons were present. This relatively large turnout was a good indication that the village leaders are interested in knowing about the NREGS. The resource persons for the day were Mr. Shailesh Parmar and Mr. Sanjay Parmar from DRISTI. The topics that they covered were the roles and responsibilities of the committee members, functioning of the NREGS, Social Audits and problems related to Social Audits.
The training programme began with a video film on a Social Audit that was held at Varnagaam, Dholka Taluka. This was followed by a presentation on the roles and responsibilities of the VMC members vis-à-vis the NREGS. It was surprising to note that some of the participants were not even aware that they were members of the VMC in their respective villages and had no idea regarding their role in this scheme. Mr. Shailesh explained in detail the functioning and responsibilities of the VMC members and how they should conduct a Social Audit. He gave examples of Sabarkanta Taluka, where people took the initiative of following up the social audits with the help of NGOs a
nd this resulted in much benefit for the villages. Problems and difficulties related to payment, muster roles, work order and job cards were expressed by the VMC members. The resource persons answered their questions and also presented them with strategies to tackle these problems. Mr. Sanjay Parmar concluded the workshop with a film on Social Audits that was held in Sabarkanta Taluka by Unnati. The participants expressed their gratitude to DISHA Don Bosco for organizing this awareness programme.