Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The curious case of Meghalaya’s COVID-19 relief package -Rakshita Swamy and Angela Rangad&#039;,
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

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	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&#039;,
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised...&#039;
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

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                <strong>The curious case of Meghalaya’s COVID-19 relief package -Rakshita Swamy and Angela Rangad</strong></h1>
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                <p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.</p><p style="text-align:justify">When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>RTI and response</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.</p><p style="text-align:justify">The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.&nbsp;</p>               </font>
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The curious case of Meghalaya’s COVID-19 relief package -Rakshita Swamy and Angela Rangad&#039;,
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	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

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                <strong>The curious case of Meghalaya’s COVID-19 relief package -Rakshita Swamy and Angela Rangad</strong></h1>
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                <p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.</p><p style="text-align:justify">When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>RTI and response</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.</p><p style="text-align:justify">The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.&nbsp;</p>               </font>
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The curious case of Meghalaya’s COVID-19 relief package -Rakshita Swamy and Angela Rangad&#039;,
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

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	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&#039;,
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&amp;rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&amp;rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;RTI and response&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&amp;rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&amp;rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&amp;rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&amp;rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

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                <strong>The curious case of Meghalaya’s COVID-19 relief package -Rakshita Swamy and Angela Rangad</strong></h1>
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                <p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.</p><p style="text-align:justify">When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>RTI and response</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.</p><p style="text-align:justify">The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.&nbsp;</p>               </font>
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		'description' => '<p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>RTI and response</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.&nbsp;</p>
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

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<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>RTI and response</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth ₹2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was ₹5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&rsquo;s record, ₹2,100 or ₹5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.&nbsp;</p>
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Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement

Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised...'
$disp = '<p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India&rsquo;s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India&rsquo;s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic.</p><p style="text-align:justify">When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>RTI and response</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act.</p><p style="text-align:justify">The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government&rsquo;s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister&rsquo;s Office if they contested the Government&rsquo;s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government&rsquo;s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-curious-case-of-meghalayas-covid-19-relief-package/article38372608.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.&nbsp;</p>'
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The curious case of Meghalaya’s COVID-19 relief package -Rakshita Swamy and Angela Rangad

-The Hindu Audits, transparency and citizen-centric accountability need to be a part of fund support and disbursement Every COVID-19 wave in India has brought us face to face with the dire precarity of life and livelihood for India’s vast numbers of unorganised workers, and the inadequate response of the state and society to their plight. The latest global OXFAM inequality report highlights how India’s billionaires have grown dramatically in numbers and wealth, while 84% have reduced income and 4.6 crore working people have plummeted into acute poverty. It provides damning indicators of how poor the state response has been in terms of relief and social sector expenditure during this period. The delivery systems of the meagre amounts that have been allocated by the Centre and State governments, therefore, become even more important. A massive public audit of a gratuitous relief scheme in Meghalaya for unorganised workers provides important lessons about the critical importance of transparency, public participation, and peoples monitoring for those who have had to bear the brunt of the novel coronavirus pandemic. When the Government of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown through the Chief Minister’s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme, it was welcomed by many. But this announcement came without necessary details. There was no notification outlining the quantum of financial support. There was no published scheme, or guidelines with minimum norms for identifying beneficiaries, and verifying their eligibility. Nevertheless, the state of economic desperation led a large number of people to apply for the assistance. RTI and response Unfortunately, people had no way to check whether their application for support had been successful or not. Payments began trickling into the bank accounts of some of the applicants, but even they were confused about the amount of support they were supposed to get. Some unions of unorganised sector workers such as street vendors and domestic workers immediately brought this to the attention of the government, but not much was done. In October 2020, a local civil group, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), filed an RTI application asking for the list of unorganised workers to whom payments had been made. This information should have been mandatorily and proactively disclosed in the public domain by the State government as mandated under Section 4, RTI Act. The response to the RTI was provided in December 2020 with details of around 1,60,000 people and transfers. The response also seemed to indicate that the scheme for financial assistance to unorganised workers facing a wage loss was worth 2,100, and to construction workers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act was 5,000. The unions decided to widely disseminate this information over WhatsApp, community websites, and through local electronic news channels. The RTI response was subsequently also converted into a searchable digital database with the help of Graamvaani, a social tech company, via a dedicated site called hokmeghalaya.in. This enabled people to ascertain whether and how much money they had been transferred as per government’s records, with the option provided of filing a grievance with the Chief Minister’s Office if they contested the Government’s claim. Using IVRS, calls were also made to 1,35,617 people to inform them that as per the Government’s record, 2,100 or 5,000 had been transferred to their bank account.  Please click here to read more.