The MGNREGA Crisis

PERSPECTIVES

employment generated in 2014–15 was The MGNREGA Crisis very small in some states, for example, all rural households in Uttar Pradesh Insights from Jharkhand and Maharashtra, on an average got work for only about fi ve days in the entire fi nancial year (Table 1, p 39). Ankita Aggarwal Budget Caps: The central government A decade after coming into force, he Mahatma Gandhi National funds the wages to be paid to unskilled the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee MGNREGA workers and 75% of the mate- MGNREGA Rural Employment Guarantee TAct ( ) has been in a rial costs; the rest is paid by the state crisis for a few years now. Rural workers government. Every year, a certain allo- Act is suffering from a decline are fi nding it increasingly hard to get cation is made for MGNREGA in the union in employment, budget caps, work and payment on time. Most budget, but if required the central gov- delays in wage payments and of them are also denied their other ernment gives funds over and above this rampant violations of workers’ entitlements under the act such as allocation, as the programme is meant worksite facilities, unemployment allow- to be demand-driven. entitlements. An examination of ance (when work is not given on time), However, in 2014–15 the central gov- the case of Jharkhand points to and compensation in case wages are ernment treated the initial allocation reasons for this crisis, including paid with delays. of `34,000 crore as a cap on MGNREGA the absence of a strong grievance This article discusses the nature and expenditure. As a result, when funds scale of the MGNREGA crisis in the coun- dried up towards the end of that fi n- redressal system, weak fi nancial try and goes on to examine the reasons ancial year, workers were denied work institutions, acute shortage of for the crisis in Jharkhand, in the hope without any compensation in the form functionaries and indiscriminate that this will help shed light on the situa- of un employment allowance. Apart use of technology. However, tion in other parts of the country. Lastly, from the budget caps, delays in transfer it discusses some of the promising initia- of funds from the Ministry of Rural some initiatives taken by the tives that have been taken recently to Development also hampered the ability state government and civil improve MGNREGA in Jharkhand. of states to provide timely work to society in the recent past open up This article draws on offi cial data all workers demanding employment. MGNREGA new possibilities for improving from the website, existing In 2015–16, the budget caps were re- literature on the programme in Jhar- moved, but delays and uncertainties the programme. khand, discussions with activists working in the fl ow of funds continued to affect in the state, and several years of work on MGNREGA. MGNREGA in Jharkhand in association with local help centres for rural workers, Delays in Wage Payments: As per offi - civil society organisations and the state cial data, 70% of MGNREGA wages were government. paid with delays (more than 15 days after the completion of a week’s work) in Nature and Scale of the Crisis 2014–15; 64% of the delayed payments were made more than a month late. In Employment Crash: Over the past fi ve Punjab and West Bengal, the proportion years, there has been a major crash of delayed payments was higher than in the scale of MGNREGA employment. 90%.1 In 2014–15, 155 crore person-days of MGNREGA work were generated across Shrinking Rights: Since MGNREGA was the country, just about half the quantum enacted 10 years ago, several entitle- of employment generated in 2009–10. In ments of workers have been curtailed. The author would like to thank Jean Drèze Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, em- To illustrate: and Siraj Dutta for their comments and ployment has fallen by more than half in (i) MGNREGA is no longer linked to the suggestions. the last two years alone. The reduction Minimum Wages Act. The MGNREGA Ankita Aggarwal (aggarwal.ankita87@gmail. in Bihar’s employment has been as large wage is now fi xed at the discretion of the com) is with the National Institute of Rural as 60% between 2014–15 and 2012–13. central government (Drèze 2015). As a Development, Hyderabad. Even in absolute terms, the scale of result, in several states, MGNREGA wage

38 may 28, 2016 vol lI no 22 EPW Economic & Political Weekly PERSPECTIVES

Table 1: Statewise Status of MGNREGA in 2014–15 other parts of the country, some have had State Average Number of Days of Proportion (%) of Persondays Notified Wage Proportion (%) to go as far as Kerala (Aggarwal 2015). MGNREGA Work Provided Per Accounted for Rate (`) of Wages Paid Employed Rural Women Scheduled Scheduled with Delays Household Household Castes Tribes Disruptions in Funds: Like the rest of Andhra Pradesh 47 11 59 23 12 169 59 the country, Jharkhand suffered from Arunachal Pradesh 14 10 30 0 90 155 52 the budget caps imposed by the central Assam 22 4 28 6 15 167 67 government in 2014–15. The same year, Bihar 34 2 37 28 2 158 75 Chhattisgarh 32 13 50 11 32 157 71 the state also faced long delays in receiv- Gujarat 35 3 43 7 40 167 54 ing funds from the Ministry of Rural Haryana 28 2 42 44 0 236 82 Development. However, the blame for Himachal Pradesh 42 15 61 27 8 193 77 this situation lay partly with the state, as Jammu and Kashmir 36 8 25 5 20 157 80 it did not complete the process of collect- Jharkhand 41 10 32 14 36 158 31 ing MGNREGA audit reports from all the Karnataka 40 5 47 16 8 191 88 districts and forwarding them to the Kerala 43 14 92 17 4 212 82 centre on time; a prerequisite for the re- Madhya Pradesh 42 11 43 16 29 157 82 lease of funds from the ministry. Maharashtra 53 5 43 10 19 168 72 Manipur 22 26 38 3 52 175 11 Due to the budget caps and delays in Meghalaya 48 39 43 1 94 153 88 receiving funds from the ministry in Mizoram 22 41 40 0 100 170 2 2014–15, Jharkhand was left with very Nagaland 22 33 31 1 95 155 70 little money from October 2014 to the Odisha 36 7 34 16 42 164 79 rest of the fi nancial year to provide Punjab 22 2 57 77 0 200 93 employment and ensure timely payment Rajasthan 46 18 68 20 26 163 59 of wages. Given the uncertainty about Sikkim 43 26 48 4 36 155 56 receiving additional funds in the rest of Tamil Nadu 47 28 85 29 1 167 71 the fi nancial year, local offi cials became Telangana 43 13 61 24 19 169 71 Tripura 88 83 49 17 44 155 30 reluctant to open works; they preferred Uttar Pradesh 34 5 25 35 1 156 79 violating workers’ right to work than Uttarakhand 32 10 51 18 3 156 46 dealing with the hassles of delays in West Bengal 33 12 41 32 8 169 92 wage payments. Further, the ministry India 40 9 55 22 17 170 70 exempted the states from paying com- Source: Author’s calculations using official data from nrega.nic.in and Census of India 2011. pensation to workers who did not re- is lower than the state’s minimum agri- Most workers who are denied work are ceive their wages on time due to short- cultural wage. In Punjab, for example, also unable to secure the unemployment age of funds. the MGNREGA wage in 2014–15 was `66 allowance.2 Instances of payment of the below the state’s minimum agricultural severely reduced compensation amount Lack of Accountability: Even when funds wage. in case of wage delays are also few and are available, workers are often unable to (ii) At the time of enactment, MGNREGA far between. Worksite facilities (drink- get work because of delays in sanctioning entitled workers to claim compensation ing water, fi rst-aid kit, shade for rest, schemes, starting schemes or allotting of up to `3,000 in case of delays in wage crèche for children below six years of work to workers. Such situations arise be- payments, as per the Payment of Wages age and notice board) have become a cause of a general lack of accountability of Act. But the revised schedules of the act rare sight and grievance redressal re- local offi cials and MGNREGA functionaries, now entitle workers to a compensation mains a distant dream. creating an atmosphere of impunity, which amount of only 0.05% of the pending results in rampant violations of workers’ wages per day of delay. The Case of Jharkhand e ntitlements. (iii) The initial MGNREGA guidelines The crisis in the employment guarantee Failure of the state government to im- required the implementation of the pro- programme has affected Jharkhand as pose penalties on the erring offi cials and gramme act to be consistent with the well, a state which has amongst the high- functionaries has also contributed to Persons with Disabilities Act, which est levels of poverty in the country and large-scale delays in wage payments. mandates spending 3% of the funds for tremendous potential for MGNREGA Timely payment of wages requires sev- the benefi t of persons with disabilities. works. Between 2012–13 and 2014–15, eral operations to take place on time— This requirement was subsequently there has been a 20% fall in MGNREGA generation of muster roll, fi lling of the done away with. employment in Jharkhand. The unavaila- muster roll, entry of the fi lled muster bility of adequate work and delays in roll, measurement of work, generation Violations of Entitlements: Workers wage payments have caused immense of wage list, generation of Fund Transfer are not only facing dilutions, but their economic hardships in rural areas. Many Order (FTO) and signing of the FTO. MGNREGA entitlements are also violated. workers have been forced to migrate to As all these operations take place

Economic & Political Weekly EPW may 28, 2016 vol lI no 22 39 PERSPECTIVES s equentially, delay at any step stalls all sample households with the offi cial re- Another example of corruption was the subsequent steps as well. In order to cords for the same households. On an uncovered a year later in Palamu Dis- avoid these delays, the central and state average, the scale of work as per the trict, in which large-scale fake demand g overnments have repeatedly prescribed offi cial records was just 7% higher than for work was made by MGNREGA func- clear timelines within which these oper- what was reported by the household. tionaries on behalf of workers and the ations are to be completed and have also But in the case of Jharkhand, the offi cial work was carried out by machines, identifi ed the functionaries responsible fi gures were more than twice as high, which are banned in the programme. As for them. However, most offi cials and suggesting widespread siphoning off of wages were paid after fi ngerprint au- functionaries are either unaware of funds for labour payments through in- thentication of workers in whose names these timelines or fl out them knowingly fl ated muster rolls. the payments were made, they too were as the errant persons are almost never Siphoning off usually takes place made party to the scam being paid token held accountable. through collusion of several persons, typi- amounts for coming to the bank branch In April 2015, the Government of cally involving middlemen, MGNREGA and verifying their identity. Jharkhand fi nally notifi ed rules for pay- functionaries, elected representatives, Corruption is also rampant in pro- ment of compensation in case of delayed local offi cials and postmasters (in case curement of material for MGNREGA payments, and in November 2015 it noti- of wage payments through post offi ces). works. Material is to be procured only fi ed rules for payment of unemployment For example, in July 2014 a case of cor- from registered vendors, but it is usually allowance in case of delays in giving ruption was unearthed in a road con- supplied by unregistered suppliers. These work to workers. However, these rules struction work in Murhu block of Khunti unregistered suppliers pay a c ommission are yet to be activated. District, in which muster rolls were ex- to the registered vendors for providing tensively fudged by adding fake names them with a bill from their establish- Shortage of Staff: MGNREGA function- and infl ating entries for the workers ment which is then submitted to the aries, that is, gram rozgar sevaks, block who had actually worked. Based on administration for reimbursement. As a programme offi cers, computer assis- these fudged muster rolls, wages were part of the material payment is used for tants, engineers and accountants form credited into workers’ post offi ce ac- paying commission to the registered the backbone of the programme’s imple- counts and then withdrawn by the local vendor, the material which is actually mentation in rural areas. Despite the middlemen and mate in connivance supplied is less than the amount for crucial role of these functionaries in with the postmaster. Meanwhile, the which the bill is made. The resultant e nsuring timely work and wages to workers received only token amounts in shortage of materials either leads to the workers, 25% of the posts were vacant in cash. The gram rozgar sevak partici- asset remaining incomplete or getting December 2015.3 pated in the scam by signing the fudged constructed poorly. In case of individual The staff shortage increases the work muster rolls and the juniour engineer works, often the benefi ciary puts money load on the existing functionaries with- manufactured an infl ated measurement from her own pocket to provide the out any additional pay and causes delays book. Block-level offi cials and elected additional material that is required to in the implementation of the programme. representatives may also be responsible, complete the asset. Sometimes the work Even the pool of functionaries that does as the work was implemented by the estimates are prepared with infl ated exist is fairly unmotivated, given the pal- panchayat samiti. a llocations for materials, to ensure try salaries for most of them, lack of fi nancial incentives to improve perfor- EPW E-books mance and virtually no public apprecia- tion for those who do their work well.4 In Select EPW books are now available as e-books in Kindle and iBook (Apple) formats. the absence of regular trainings for the The titles are functionaries, they are usually left on 1. Village Society (ED. SURINDER JODHKA) their own to grapple with the periodic changes that are introduced in the (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CS62AAW ; i mplementation of the programme. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/village-society/id640486715?mt=11) 2. Environment, Technology and Development (ED. ROHAN D’SOUZA) Continued Corruption: Despite the in- (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CS624E4 ; troduction of many transparency and https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/environment-technology-development/ accountability provisions, corruption con- id641419331?mt=11) tinues to affect MGNREGA in Jharkhand. 3. Windows of Opportunity: Memoirs of an Economic Adviser (BY K S KRISHNASWAMY) The Public Evaluation of Entitlement Programmes (PEEP) survey conducted (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CS622GY ; in May–June 2013 compared the gap https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/windows-of-opportunity/id640490173?mt=11) bet ween the self-reported number of Please visit the respective sites for prices of the e-books. More titles will be added gradually. MGNREGA work (in 2012–13) among

40 may 28, 2016 vol lI no 22 EPW Economic & Political Weekly PERSPECTIVES c ompletion of assets even after factoring their wages. Work comes to a virtual is extremely weak. Most workers are un- in the commissions paid from the alloca- standstill in the absence of electricity or aware of their right to complain. Those tion for material procurement. internet at the bank branches, forcing who do manage to take their grievance workers to make another trip to open to a government offi cial or functionary Flaws of Financial Institutions: In their account or withdraw their wages. are often turned away. The small pro- 2007, the system of MGNREGA wage pay- Often, bank branches simply refuse to portion of complaints that do get regis- ments shifted from cash to post offi ces open workers’ accounts or delegate this tered are seldom acted upon and the and banks. However, this change has task to the common service points or wrongdoers are rarely penalised. not been accompanied by an adequate pragya kendras set up in some block As per the records of the rural devel- expansion and strengthening of these headquarters and gram panchayats to opment department, the state-level help- fi nancial institutions. As a result, work- provide fi nancial and other services to line received only 425 complaints from ers have been facing hassles such as long the rural population. For example, after May 2010 to June 2015. Perusal of the distances to the nearest bank branch, waiting for about three months for the last 50 complaints received during this foot-dragging by bank employees in local Bank of India branch to open their period revealed that no systematic follow- opening their accounts, siphoning off bank accounts, about 600 workers of Sat- up was done to ensure action on the wages from post offi ce accounts, etc. gawan block of Koderma complained to reported grievances. Despite repeated Given the extensive network of post the deputy commissioner in March 2015 instructions from the state on setting up offi ces than bank branches in Jhar- about their inability to work in MGNREGA district-level helplines, only 11 districts khand’s rural areas, 70% of MGNREGA for want of a bank account. It was only had complied till July 2015. workers’ accounts are still in post offi ces. after receiving a threat of disciplinary ac- As per MGNREGA rules, up to two However, due to the weak norms of action from the district offi cial that the bank ombuds persons can be appointed for countability exercised by the postal de- opened accounts of these workers. every district. But in July 2015, only fi ve partment, it is not diffi cult for middle- To reduce the hassles of long distance ombudspersons were working in the en- men, mates and others to siphon off wages and queuing to withdraw wages from tire state, each in charge of two–three dis- from workers’ post offi ce accounts by col- bank branches in rural areas, many banks tricts. Even among these few ombudsper- luding with the local post master. Also, employ “business correspondents” to sons, only about half were active. The delays in wage payments through post bring banking services to people’s door- state has been unable to appoint more offi ces are substantial, as FTOs for post step. Users of the services provided by ombudspersons or renew the term of offi ce payments have to be processed at business correspondents authenticate their some of the existing ombudspersons as several stages before the amount is cred- identity through biometrics or smart cards. the central government is yet to nomi- ited in the worker’s account. Non- In Jharkhand, however, the experience nate its representatives for the selection computerisation of the lowest level of of payments through business corres- committee. post offi ces (branch post offi ce) adds to pondents has been riddled with diffi cul- Most of the routine social audits which the delays, as money and pay orders have ties. Internet signal required for biometric take place in the state are cosmetic exer- to be transferred manually from the next authentication is often not available in rural cises, as they are conducted by the same higher level (sub-post offi ce). As branch areas away from the block headquarters. functionaries and offi cials who are re- post offi ces are not allowed to keep large A sizeable proportion of workers are un- sponsible for implementing the pro- sums of money due to concerns of theft, able to verify their identity using bio- gramme, with little participation of the they are often unable to pay workers metrics either because of weathered fi n- gram sabha. b ecause of unavailability of cash. gerprints or due to improper capturing of Delays in processing wage payments their fi ngerprints at the time of enrolment Overdependence on Technology: Over and risks of siphoning off are lower in in the biometric system. Such workers have the past few years, there has been a the banking system. But banks have to go to the local bank branch to with- steady increase in the use of technology their own problems. Despite the central draw their wages. To reduce their work in MGNREGA. Some well-designed tech- government’s much touted Pradhan load, many bank branches entertain only nological innovations, such as the Man- Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana for fi nancial in- those with a written confi rmation from agement Information System (MIS), have clusion, opening bank accounts in rural the business correspondent about their greatly helped in increasing accounta- Jharkhand is still a harrowing experi- inability to withdraw wages using biome- bility and transparency in the imple- ence for MGNREGA workers. Due to the trics. This eliminates the option of directly mentation of the programme. However, limited number of bank branches in ru- withdrawing wages from the bank branch several parts of Jharkhand are suffering ral areas, workers often have to make in case the business correspondent is dis- because of blanket introduction of tech- long trips at their own expense to access honest or does not visit the village fre- nology without adequate preparation. the banks. The bank branches are usual- quently enough.5 The system of electronic payment of ly crowded and suffer from shortages of MGNREGA wages was introduced in bank staff and MGNREGA workers often Weak Grievance Redressal: Jharkhand’s Jharkhand a few years ago. This system have to wait for a long time to withdraw grievance redress system for MGNREGA requires all payment-related processes

Economic & Political Weekly EPW may 28, 2016 vol lI no 22 41 PERSPECTIVES —generation of muster rolls, wage lists workers. This demand has forced MGN- H owever, the results of this campaign and pay orders—to take place online at REGA functionaries to spend a signifi - were limited; a large proportion of work- the block or gram panchayat offi ces. cant part of their working hours collect- ers who applied for work did not get any However, as many of these offi ces have ing workers’ Aadhaar numbers and en- work or unemployment allowance. severe defi cits of computer equipment, tering them in the MIS. To meet the tar- The second positive initiative was electricity supply and internet connecti- gets of Aadhaar linkage, many function- conducting social audits in 50 gram pan- vity, delays in these processes are rampant. aries have even cancelled the job cards of chayats of the state with involvement of The electronic payment system also workers without Aadhaar. local activists working on MGNREGA. Al- requires workers’ bank/post offi ce ac- though the audit teams brought to light count numbers to be recorded correctly Efforts towards Improvement many irregularities, disciplinary and in the MIS. Mistake of even one digit Although the functioning of MGNREGA in remedial action were taken in only a few precludes payment. If the mistake in Jharkhand leaves much to be desired, cases. Also, the state has been unable to recording a worker’s account number is there has been signifi cant progress since carry out similar social audits in other identifi ed before she is allotted work, it 2006, when a survey of Manika block of gram panchayats as it is yet to put in has to be rectifi ed by the local adminis- Latehar and Manatu block of Palamau re- place an independent social audit unit. tration at the district level. However, if vealed that implementation of the act was The most recent effort worth men- the mistake is not corrected in time, the mainly restricted to distribution of job tioning is Yojana Banao Abhiyan, a state- FTO transaction for the worker’s wage cards. Workers as well as government offi - wide campaign, conducted in January– payment gets rejected. At the time of cials had poor understanding of the act. February 2016 to plan MGNREGA works scrutiny of the rejected FTOs, the incor- Absence of gram panchayats were also a for 2016–17 (along with works to be taken rect bank/post offi ce account numbers major hurdle in the implementation of the up with funds devolved to gram pan- are rectifi ed by a block-level functionary act. The lucky few who got some employ- chayats as per the recommendations of and new FTOs are generated for wage ment were paid with long delays and re- the 14th Finance Commission). The cam- payment. If the revised bank account ceived less than the statutory minimum paign mobilised lakhs of people to plan number is also incorrect, the block ad- wage (Bhatia and Drèze 2006). works for their village to meet needs of ministration loses the authority to rectify Today, Manika is a very different place, basic infrastructure and augment liveli- the mistake a second time and has to (Manatu less so). Most rural households hoods through better management of request the state MIS offi cer to enter the in need of MGNREGA work have a job natural resources. Over 10,000 MGNREGA correct bank/post offi ce account num- card and a large number of workers are schemes have been planned in this cam- ber. These correction measures often able to get employment in their gram paign across Jharkhand. take months as they are rarely a priority panchayat. Most people are aware of the Jharkhand has also made good use of on the MGNREGA functionaries’ task lists. basic provisions of the act and have the fi nancial support provided by the learnt to demand work, instead of wait- ministry to put in place “cluster facilita- Linkage with Aadhaar: MGNREGA working for schemes to open. These changes tion teams” in 76 blocks of the state for ers in Jharkhand are being zealously have been brought about to a large extent about three years (July 2014 to March linked with Aadhaar, for the stated pur- by the efforts of the MGNREGA Sahayata 2017). These teams comprising of people poses of weeding out “ghost” workers Kendra, operational in the block premis- with expertise in Integrated Natural Re- and enabling biometric-based payments es since 2010. The sahayata kendra is op- source Management, civil engineering to ensure that wages go in the right erated by local volunteers who help and mobilisation have been helping with hands. Although there is merit in pur- workers organise and access their enti- the planning, estimates, laying out and suing both these objectives, the manner tlements. The kendra helps workers in measurement of MGNREGA works. Mem- in which Aadhaar is being linked with tasks such as applying for a job card, de- bers of self-help groups are playing an MGNREGA grievously violates workers’ manding work, opening a bank account, active role in this project by making entitlements. tracking the payment of their wages and workers aware of their entitlements, Despite Supreme Court orders prohib- fi ling complaints. It has also been fi ght- helping them apply for a job card, work iting government authorities from deny- ing corruption in the programme by con- and bank account and supervising working public services to people for want of ducting social audits, public hearings and sites as mates. The outcomes have been Aadhaar, workers without a UID (Unique joint enquiries with the administration. quite encouraging in some of the blocks Identifi cation) number are routinely Several noteworthy initiatives in im- where this project is being implemented: d enied work. One reason for this is proving MGNREGA have been taken by the scale of work has more than doubled that allotting work to workers without the joint effort of the Jharkhand govern- compared to the previous year, some A adhaar has been made a complex pro- ment and the state’s civil society. The households have received a hundred cess in the MGNREGA MIS since April fi rst in a series of such initiatives taken days of work, many useful assets have 2015.6 The other reason is intense pres- r ecently was the Kaam Mango Abhiyan been created and participation of women sure from the ministry to increase the carried out in early 2014 to help work- in the employment guarantee program- rates of Aadhaar linkage of MGNREGA ers with large-scale demand for work. me has increased considerably.

42 may 28, 2016 vol lI no 22 EPW Economic & Political Weekly PERSPECTIVES

Finally, it is also important to mention i mpose fi nes on offi cials and functionaries Jharkhand’s block programme offi cer is amongst the lowest remuneration for these functionaries the fi ndings of a recent study of 926 violating the act, fi ll the large vacancies of in the country. Functionaries in equivalent posts MGNREGA wells across six districts of the MGNREGA functionaries and strengthen in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are paid as much state. The study found that 70% of the the monitoring of the programme. as `30,000–`35,000 a month. 5 For more on experience of business corre- sanctioned wells were complete (with or A measure which has not been tried in spondents in Jharkhand, see Bhatti (2012) and without a parapet); 95% of the completed the state but has immense potential of Yadav (2012). 6 Workers without Aadhaar who demand work wells were being used, and the estimated reviving the programme is supplement- have to seek “exemption” from the requirement rate of return on MGNREGA expenditure ing the somewhat modest salaries of of this identity number via the MGNREGA MIS. MGNREGA They are allotted work only after their request for all wells (complete or incomplete) functionaries with bonuses is approved by the district administration. was a respectable 6% in real terms which are linked to their performance, 7 An earlier study of 11 completed MGNREGA (Bhaskar and Yadav 2015).7 on the scale of employment generated, wells in Ratu block of Ranchi District also found the irrigation from the wells to substan- proportion of assets completed and rate tially increase the income from agriculture in Concluding Remarks of timely payment of wages. Taking the command area (Aggarwal et al 2012). A decade after the implementation of these much required measures will need MGNREGA, the programme is in need of strong political will and sustained pres- References s erious attention; workers’ entitlements sure from the people. Aggarwal, Ankita, Aashish Gupta and Ankit Kumar are being curtailed, work is being de- (2012): “Evaluation of MGNREGA Wells in Jharkhand,” Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 47, nied routinely without any compensa- Notes No 35, pp 24–27. tion and long delays in wage payments 1 See Singh (2015) for a brief account of delays Aggarwal, Ankita (2015): “The Slow Destruction of in wage payments in Adilabad District of MGNREGA: Evidence from Jharkhand,” India are forcing rural households to seek ex- Telangana. Together, 16 March. ploitative sources of employment. The 2 As per the Management Information System Bhaskar, Anjor and Pankaj Yadav (2015): “All’s Well responsibility for this situation stretches (MIS), workers across the country were due That Ends in a Well: An Economic Evaluation `534 crore as unemployment allowance from of MGMGNREGA Wells in Jharkhand,” Insti- from the political leadership to the local 2012–13 to 2014–15. The payable unemploy- tute for Human Development. offi cials and functionaries. ment allowance has to be approved by pro- Bhatia, Bela and Jean Drèze (2006): “Employment gramme offi cers (the district-level nodal Guarantee in Jharkhand: Ground Realities,” Jharkhand can certainly improve the MGNREGA functionary). However, this entire Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 41, No 29, amount was rejected by the respective pro- pp 3198–3202. delivery of the act by building on its posi- gramme offi cers for one reason or another. Bhatti, Bharat (2012): “Aadhaar-Enabled Payments tive initiatives. It also needs to urgently 3 The vacancy rates were 16% for gram rozgar se- for NREGA Workers,” Economic & Political vak (to be appointed one per gram panchayat), Weekly, Vol 47, No 49, pp 16–19. establish an independent social audit 39% for block programme offi cer (to be appoint- unit and draft rules for transparency and ed two per block), 45% for computer assistants Drèze, Jean (2015): “India’s Rural Jobs Programme: (to be appointed one per block), 50% for assis- A Dismal Appraisal,” Huffi ngton Post, 4 May. grievance redressal, activate its rules for tant engineer (to be appointed one per block), Singh, S Harpal (2015): “Fall in Allocations…,” payment of unemployment allowance and 45% for junior engineer (one to be appointed for Hindu, 31 May. every fi ve gram panchayats) and 38% for ac- Yadav, Anumeha (2012): “To Pass Biometric Identi- compensation for delayed payment. It count assistant (to be appointed one per block). fi cation, Apply Vaseline or Boroplus on Fingers needs to take action on complaints, 4 For example, the monthly salary of `15,300 of Overnight,” Hindu, 15 December.

Review of Urban Affairs April 23, 2016 Greenfield Development as Tabula Rasa: Rescaling, Speculation and Governance on India’s Urban Frontier —Loraine Kennedy, Ashima Sood Scaling Up, Scaling Down: State Rescaling along the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor —Shriya Anand, Neha Sami Dholera: The Emperor’s New City —Preeti Sampat Making of Amaravati: A Landscape of Speculation and Intimidation —C Ramachandraiah Reading into the Politics of Land: Real Estate Markets in the South-west Peri-urban Area of Chennai —Bhuvaneswari Raman The Politics of Urban Mega-projects in India: Income Employment Linkages in Chennai’s IT Corridor —M Vijayabaskar, M Suresh Babu Making Sense of Place in Rajarhat New Town: The Village in the Urban and the Urban in the Village —Ratoola Kundu New Regimes of Private Governance: The Case of Electronics City in Peri-urban Bengaluru —Mathew Idiculla For copies write to: Circulation Manager, Economic and Political Weekly, 320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013. email: [email protected]

Economic & Political Weekly EPW may 28, 2016 vol lI no 22 43