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Content

• Introduction
• Other Key Features
• Steps taken to improve the functioning
• Performance of the Scheme
• Shortcomings/Limitations in implementation
• Steps that need to be taken

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Introduction

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 is a statutory job guarantee scheme for rural India.
• It’s an initiative by MoRD, which was launched in 2006. It is aimed at:
  • Enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by legally guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to adult members of any household willing to do unskilled manual work related to public work at the statutory minimum wage.
  • Creating durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds, wells)
• The scheme also helps in protecting environment, empowering rural women, reducing rural urban migration, and fostering social equity, among others.

Other Key Features

• Demand Driven Program: Workers are provided work when they demand it and not when the government wants it.
• Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence.
• If work is not provided within 15 days of applying, applicants are eligible for an unemployment allowance.
• 1/3rd of the stipulated workforce should be women.
• Social audit of the work done by Gram Sabha.

Steps taken to improve the functioning.

i. Management Information System – digitization of all process in MGNREGA – available in public domain – promotes transparency

ii. Mandatory expenditure on agriculture and allied sector:

• As per the provision of the Act, the District Programme Coordinator is required to ensure that at least 60 per cent of the works to be taken up in a district in terms of cost shall be for the creation of productive assets directly linked to agriculture and allied activities through development of land, water, and trees.

iii. Training and Skill Development of Workers:

• Training of MGNREGA workers under initiatives like Bare Foot Technicians (BFT) to move than up the skilling ladder.
• Similarly, project “UNNATI” focuses on upgrading the skill base of MGNREGA workers.

iv. Other technology to Reduce Corruption and improve transparency:

• DBT through E-Payments are used for payment of wages which is ensured fast payment and reduced siphoning of resources.
• Geo-Tagging of assets to reduce corruption.
  • Rolled out in 2017 and more than 5.2 crore assets (Jan 2023) have been geo-tagged and made available in public domain.
• National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) App was launched in 2021 which permits taking real time attendance of workers in MGNREGA worksites with a geo-tagged photograph.
  • It is a big step toward step towards bringing transparency and proper monitoring of the schemes and will help in increasing oversight of the program.
  • According to a SOP recently (Aug 2023) issued by MoRD, drones will be used for monitoring of MGNREGA work. It will be used in four types of monitoring: Surveying the ongoing works, inspecting the completed works, impact assessment, and special inspections in case of complains.

v. Regular verification of Job Cards (JC) to weed out the bogus and duplicate JCs

vi. Efforts to cover all landless households:

• As per the SECC 2011, there are 5.5 crore households in India which fall in the landless category. Government is taking measures to get all these households a Job Card and thus employment under MGNREGA.

Performance of the Scheme:

i. Positives/Achievements

• Various Government Reports have indicated that MGNREGA has led to:
  • Reduction in Poverty: The program reduced poverty by 32 percent and prevented 14 million people from falling into poverty.
  • Raised Income level: Although it fails to add to the number of days that Individual work, it attracted individuals who were previously employed in less productive work, thereby raising their income.
  • Relief during distress situations
    • During COVID-19 crisis it had emerged as a mechanism to ensure jobs for migrants returning back home and
    • It serves as an important source of income during distress situations such as drought, famine etc. Additional employment opportunities is made available in these circumstances.
  • Upliftment of weaker sections like women, SCs and STs through creation of livelihood opportunities.
    • Increase in women’s control over resources: MGNREGs scheme may be the first opportunity for many women to earn cash income resulting in substantial increase in women’s control over resources- including cash in hand and likelihood of having a bank account.
    • The % of SC workers in MGNREGA has been around 20% and ST workers
      around 17%.
  • Impact on Education of Children: Higher level of educational attainment for children: MGNREGS households were likely to obtain higher level of educational
    attainment and were less likely to be working.
  • Rise in financial inclusion: during this period, there has been a general increase in financial inclusion, reliance on moneylender has gone down and accessing of formal credit grew.
  • Development of Rural Assets
    • Irrigation canals and roads have augmented rural infrastructure.
  • Mitigation of climate change – through water conservation, drought prevention, reforestation and flood control activities.
• International praises
  • In World Development Report 2014, the world Bank termed it a “stellar example of rural development.”

ii. Shortcomings/Limitations in implementation
– Factors which adversely affect the implementation of MGNREGA

• Funds constrains.
  • Parliamentary Standing Committee has also raised concerns about slashing of the budget for MGNREGS. In the FY 2023-24, the allocations for MGNREGS have been drastically slashed to Rs 60,000 crores for this financial year from a Rs 73,000 crore budgetary estimates for 2022-23.
    • This allocation is much lower than World Bank recommendations of Rs 1.7% for the optimal functioning of the program.
• Disparity of wages across state and Wages less the minimum wages in many states:
  • Parliamentary committee in a report in 2023 has highlighted that daily wage rates ranged from Rs 204 to Rs 331 in different states and UTs.
  • According to the new wage rate notified for FY2023-24, the lowest wage is in Chattisgarh and MP at Rs 221, while the highest is in Haryana at Rs 357.
• Delays in wage payment sometimes discourages work under MGNREGA. It also increases the chance of corruption.
• Institutional Shortcomings:
  • PRIs suffer from challenges like inadequate administrative and technical expertise:
    • This adversely affects proper planning, approval, monitoring and social audit of the scheme.
    • Inadequate technical staff to help unskilled workforce.
• Non-Appointment of Ombudsmen:
  • Under the act, there should be an ombudsperson for each district who will receive grievances, conduct enquiries, and pass awards.
  • Standing committee in 2022 noted that out of 715 possible appointments, so far only 263 ombudsmen have been appointed which shows poor coordination between central and nodal agencies.
• Quality of Assets which are getting created have turned out to be of incomplete or of poor quality, requiring repairs every year.
• Cases of corruption / lack of transparency
  • Social audit hasn’t been very effective because of lack of cooperation from government officials. Further, non-compliance with transparency and accountability provisions and poor maintenance of records are impacting the implementation of the mega scheme.
  • Fabrication of jobs cards and associated corruption.
• Inadequate coverage of person with disabilities and women in many states is impacting inclusive aspect of the scheme.
• Some Issues specific to women:
  • Lack of childcare facilities and basic amenities at the site like clean drinking water, sanitation facilities impact health and safety of women.
  • Lack of awareness about the process and entitlements available under the scheme.

Steps that need to be taken

i. More Funds: MGNREGA has the potential to change the face of rural India and hence more funds should be allocated for the scheme.

ii. Minimum wage: MGNREGA wages should be linked with Minimum wages act (Now The Code on Wages) and no state should be allowed to pay less than the statutory amount.

• Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended that government should explore the possibility of making the wages paid under the scheme uniform across the country.
• Wages should also be linked with CPI-R rather than CPI-AL which is an outdated index.

iii. Capacity Building of PRIs by empaneling institutions that can be training institutions for MGNREGA.

• More technical human resource needs to be provided at rural level to improve the quality of the assets which are getting created.
• Better Planning for durable infrastructure creation.

iv. Appoint Ombudsperson in all districts on high priority to ensure simple and effective grievance redressal.

v. Monitoring of the projects needs to improve.

• Strengthening Social Audit: CAG should develop mechanism in consultation with other stakeholders to handhold Gram Sabhas to ensure regular social audits of all projects under MGNREGA.
• Civil Society can also monitor the Information Management system to ensure that the program is properly implemented.

vi. Promoting the use of Adhaar based biometric verification to prevent fake job cards etc.

vii. Improved facilities at workplace specially for women laborers. (E.g., Clean Sanitation  facilities, child care facilities etc.)

Conclusion

• Since, MGNREGA has proved its socio-economic advantages for rural areas, the program should  be continued in full throttle. But, at the same time it is important that the work being done under it is producing something concrete & sustainable and that there is a transparent grievance redressal mechanism for the unskilled work force which has worked under MGNREGA or is seeking work under MGNREGA.