Case study in detail Problems with NREGS Samarthan has monitored implementa­tion of NREGS since the NREGA was enacted. Early on it discovered that: 1. Many poor families had no clear under­standing of their entitlements under the Scheme. 2. Many people lacked job cards, with­out which it was not possible to apply for work under NREGS. 3. Often, people applying for work failed to get a written receipt acknowl­edging their request. With­ out it, it was impossible to hold the village secretary accountable. 4. In many places, the village secretary kept people’s job cards, making it impossible for them to demand work. Samarthan also documented that people who had worked received their payment only after considerable delays. Awareness-raising within communities Samarthan developed an ambitious awareness-raising campaign in ten villages to ensure that people knew about their right to work, knew how to apply for work under NREGS, and got paid for their work. Through youth groups, they: • held meetings with people in the villages who needed work; • launched a house-to-house awareness-raising effort; • developed training materials on the requirements and procedures related to NREGS; • trained other youth groups, who could then assist people in applying for work; and • printed and distributed pamphlets to explain NREGS’s features. Moving from house to house, Samarthan distributed job application forms and made them available in grocery stores. They stressed that applicants should get a dated receipt for their application. They assisted people in filing on-line application forms. Once work demands had been filed in a village, Samarthan and the applicants put pressure on the village secretary. General Comment 18 emphasizes that governments have an obligation “to undertake […] educational and informa­tional programs to instil public awareness on the right to work.” This means that it is not sufficient for a government to simply introduce a program like NREGS. It must ensure that people who need work know about the program, and are pro­vided with detailed, accessible information about the opportuni­ties it offers, who would qualify and how to successfully apply for it. In this case, both the federal and local governments were failing to meet this obligation in adequate ways.