MGNREGS UPDATE
News for Internal Circulation No. 66/ May 1, 2017 – May 15, 2017 Foundation for Ecological Security
Centre Keen to Provide More Funds under MGNREGA in Arunachal Inside
News A Central team comprising of Joint Secretary MGNREGA, Aparajita Sarangi and director • Govt to rework baseline for paying MGNREGA wages MGNREGA, Gaya Prasad called on Arunachal • MGNREGS creating jobs, but bigger roads programme better Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday. • MGNREGS will eat into food security, claims study • Centre to tap MGNREGA funds to revive ancient During the meeting, the visiting team highlighted on rivers • MGNREGA workers return Rs 1 salary hike to their observations from their visit to Lower Subansiri Modi, Das district, who had been on monitoring tour of the • Armed with flagship socio-economic schemes, AG to defend India in UNHRC MGNREGA works being executed on the field. Articles
Informing that currently only three types of work – • How MGNREGS Can Help The Rural Poor 'Step drainage, roads and flood protection were being Out' Of Poverty And Climate Vulnerability • Govt pares MNREGA compensation for delay in executed on the ground, the Joint Secretary payment of wages • Ten Years of MGNREGA: UPA flagship chugs emphasized on the need to diversify the works. along with implementation reforms under Modi govt • A mango plantation in Jharkhand shows how She further urged on the need for orientation and MGNREGA can really empower rural families • Women labour in drought-hit Karnataka on a awareness programme for the rural people to give mission to revive water bodies them scope to diversify their works, “However, it is Government Order good that people of Arunachal Pradesh had high level of awareness on MGNREGA scheme.” • GeoMGNREGA Review Meeting with States/UTs • Regarding appointment of Ombudsman in the States “Centre is keen to provide more funds under • Rescheduling of the Training Need Assessment (TNA) workshop and VC in the background of MGNREGA,” Sarangi told Khandu, adding, “To TNA expedite the process and enable the state to receive full grants.” “Due to lack of UCs being submitted to the centre, the She also informed that about 7000 MGNREGA works state is unable to absorb funds.” in Arunachal are incomplete since the scheme started in 2006. In this regard, she requested the state Sarangi also stressed on geo-tagging of assets created government to submit utilization certificate (UC) for under MGNREGA scheme informing that PM is these works so that the centre may release more funds. personally monitoring these works.
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For successful implementation of MGNREGA in the According to the Union rural development ministry state, the Joint Secretary suggested for a full-time data, the daily wage under the MGNREGA has risen secretary or commissioner level officer to work on it as by just Re1 in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand it is a huge department, “Besides, training programmes and Uttar Pradesh, by Rs2 in Odisha and by Rs4 in for officers and staffs of the department is essential.” Bengal. MGNREGA wages have been increased by 2.7% this year compared to 5.7% rise in the last https://www.northeasttoday.in/centre-keen-to-provide-more-funds- financial year. The revised wages applied from 1 under-mgnrega-in-arunachal/ April. Govt to rework baseline for paying MGNREGA There is a huge variation between MGNREGA wages wages notified by the centre and the minimum wage of some To end the variation in wages notified by the Centre states, and MGNREGA wages are way below the and minimum wages of few states, the Centre has state’s minimum wages, a person familiar with the constituted Nagesh Singh committee to rework the matter said. To end this variation, the centre is looking baseline for paying MGNREGA wages to rework or change the baseline for paying MGNREGA wages, and a committee under Nagesh Singh, additional secretary in department of rural development, has been constituted for the same, the person mentioned above added.
As of now, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS) wages are paid on the basis of consumer price index (CPI) for agricultural labourers, which is based on the
consumption pattern of 1983. But an expert committee constituted by the centre had recommended baseline The daily wage under the MGNREGA has risen by just for MGNREGA indexation should be the current Re1 in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and minimum wage fixed by the state for unskilled Uttar Pradesh, by Rs2 in Odisha and by Rs4 in agricultural workers. Bengal. Photo: Mint The committee had also suggested that the consumer New Delhi: In the wake of lowest rise in daily wages price index for rural (CPI-rural), which reflects the of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment current consumption pattern of rural households, Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers in some states, should be the basis for revising MGNREGA wage the centre is looking to rework the baseline on the rates. The job guarantee scheme provides for up to 100 basis of which the remuneration is paid to beneficiaries days’ unskilled employment for every rural household under the employment guarantee scheme. every year. 10 crore families are beneficiaries.
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The highest rise of Rs18 in MGNREGA is reported by million people a chance to earn might seem like a Kerala and Haryana. Haryana has highest wage rate in good-enough objective to run a scheme funded by tax the country at Rs277 per day, while Bihar and revenues—after all, it is meant to be a safety net, Jharkhand have lowest wage rate at Rs168. especially in times of a drought. However, given this translates into just 12 million proper jobs, assuming an http://www.livemint.com/Politics/4J4fWgu75ifc85kRt8pNwL/Gov average worker works for 200 days a year, t-to-rework-baseline-for-paying-MNREGA-wages.html MGNREGS is not as effective as it appears—12 MGNREGS creating jobs, but bigger roads million is a small fraction of the 240 million employed programme better in agriculture and an even smaller fraction of the country’s total working population. Scheme creating jobs, but bigger roads programme better That then raises the question of whether the budgeted spends, which have been rising in nominal terms, but By: The Financial Express | New Delhi | Published: not real terms, could be better spent—especially since May 11, 2017 5:21 AM the leakages are said to be very high according to some surveys and studies. While wages paid out under MGNREGS have been rising over the years—they averaged Rs 164 in 2016-17—the good news is they have stayed well below the all-India average daily wages in agricultural occupations of Rs 248 in 2014- 15. In fact, wages were stagnant is several states like Bihar between FY6 and FY17. But there has been a significant upward revision for many states for the current year—in Tamil Nadu, wages will be Rs 205
compared with Rs 140.46 in FY17 while in Andhra MGNREGS is not as effective as it appears—12 Pradesh it will be Rs 197, up from Rs 144.90 last year. million is a small fraction of the 240 million employed In the absence of large productivity hikes, a narrow in agriculture and an even smaller fraction of the difference between MGNREGS and other wages will country’s total working population. (PTI) be detrimental to the economy at large.
While the performance of MGNREGS appears Given how experts point out the track record on reasonably good on some parameters—nearly 77 completion of projects hasn’t been very good either, it million got work in FY17, even if for just a few might be worth allocating the MGNREGS spends to days—the fact is the scheme isn’t generating the kind ministries such as roads and irrigation, where it might of opportunities it is meant to. For instance, data for be put to use more efficiently. Not only would jobs be FY17 shows that those who found work did so for just created, the assets that are built too are likely to be of 32 days in the year; just 10% of all households that better quality. Also, as a study by Ashok Gulati, worked were able to do so for the entire 100 days. In a Shenggen Fan and Sukhadeo Thorat found, while country where unskilled jobs are scarce, giving 77 every million rupees spent on fertiliser subsidies
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reduced the number of poor by 24, the reduction was states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, 335 for investments in building roads and 323 for Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh agricultural R&D. Between now and the next budget, and Rajasthan for their study. They found that the that’s something the government needs to think about. adverse impacts of the scheme would include decrease in agriculture and decline in crop incomes by 15 per http://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/mgnregs-creating-jobs- cent in these states. Already, there is a decline in the but-bigger-roads-programme-better/663060/ availability of skilled farm labour. MGNREGS will eat into food security, claims study The data showed that the workers of this scheme were TNN | May 11, 2017, 12.08 AM IST likely to opt for skilled work, which would have a Madurai: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural significant adverse implication on the employment Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), rolled generation in rural India. The probability of an average out a decade ago, has impacted households and farmer in Tamil Nadu finding skilled labour to work in individuals in a positive as well as negative way, but paddy fields was as high as 85 per cent, as skill levels the adverse impacts of the scheme could impact the had declined in places where MGNREGS was nation's food security, according to an authoritative implemented. study. Also, panchayats spend more time on implementing What may set the alarm bells ringing is the projected the MGNREGS with the result that the time spent on decline in acreage under rice cultivation in states like core functions like planning and service provision had Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh by three to eight per declined by 75 per cent in the past six to eight years. cent in the next five years. This could be a threat to the Hence it was affecting the concept of panchayat raj. nation's food security, according to the experts, Hari K Women, however, have seen the positive impact of the Nagarajan, professor RBI chair in Rural Economics, scheme. Financial inclusion has significantly IRMA, G Pazhanithurai, Rajiv Gandhi Chair for strengthened with women opening their own bank Panchayati Raj Studies, Gandhigram Rural Institute accounts without relying on their male counterparts, and Anirudh Tagat, senior researcher, Monk leading to relaxation in their budget constraints. Prayogshala, Mumbai, who conducted the study. Women have also spearheaded efforts to create common property resources like fruit orchards in The scheme is implemented in all the districts in states villages using the income from the scheme. There are and union territories. Official statistics reveal that also seeking information about market price and MGNREGS has a cumulative generation of 2235.93 acquiring gold and silver more. crore person days and a total expenditure of Rs 3,70,667 crore. As on date 67,33,214 workers are In Tamil Nadu where the government has provided expected to be working in 4,42,385 sites across the free goats, the scheme has resulted in the animals country. becoming herds and all families owning them. Herd owners have withdrawn from agriculture and are ready The study took into account 48,000 households and to participate in agricultural activities only for a 100,000 individuals belonging to 104 villages in the
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premium wage. Hence, given the current status, the palaeo-channels may not be useful for irrigation but it farmers would have no option but to reduce the could improve groundwater storage,” she said. acreage or leave the land fallow, which could seriously affect food security and impact prices.
Even as the MGNREGS is here to stay the state governments are adopting various strategies to keep the voters interested. They have suggested that the policy makers and bureaucrats ensure that failure in coordination is removed and that incentives and capacity building be given greater focus. The model agriculture produce market committee (APMC) act had to be implemented so that farmers could innovate. Panchayat raj institutions had to be strengthened, the states say. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/mgnregs-will- eat-into-food-security-claims-study/articleshow/58634491.cms Paleo-channels
Centre to tap MGNREGA funds to revive ancient Palaeo-channels are old rivers that have dried up and rivers filled with sediment. Last October, a committee of hydrologists, geologists and archaeologists — as part Jacob Koshy, NEW DELHI , May 08, 2017 21:51 IST, of a study commissioned by the Water Resources Updated: May 09, 2017 13:22 IST Ministry — reported evidence on the course of the The Centre plans to tap rural employment guarantee Saraswati, mentioned in the Rigveda and Hindu funds to recharge remnants of ancient rivers — mythology. including the mythical Saraswati — in a bid to boost K.S. Valdiya of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for groundwater reserves. Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), who led the Proposal follows a report of an expert committee on team, concluded that the Sutlej river “represented the finding the course of Saraswati river last year western branch of the Saraswati.”
Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti told The The Markanda and the Sarsuti (now called the Ton- Hindu in an interview last week that a committee of Yamuna rivers) watered the eastern branch of the river. secretaries — from the Water, Environment and Rural The branches met in Shatrana, 25 km south of Patiala, Development Ministries — had been constituted to see and “flowed as a large river” emptying into the Rann how the Rs.48,000 crore MGNREGS (Mahatma of Kutch, the report said. Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) funds could be harnessed. “Reviving such
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Across the country On the occasion of International Labours' day on Monday, 300 MGNREGA workers from 15 villages in Building on this, a committee was tasked with scouting Manika block collectively sent Rupee 1 through a palaeo-channels across the country. Wherever these postal order to the CM and PM to protest the state's channels were located, the soil was generally soft and revision of daily wage under MGNREGA. These therefore, it was easy to direct surface waters towards workers from Manika were joined by their them and raise the water table, Ms. Bharti said. counterparts in Dumka and West Singbhum.
K.B. Biswas, Chairman, Central Groundwater Board, According to the memorandum sent to the CM and PM said his department was proposing the use of , the move was initiated after the state revised the MGNREGA funds for aquifer recharge. . “There is minimum daily MGNREGA wage by Rupee 1 in greater interest to build percolation tanks and ponds comparison to last year. The daily minimum wage was that will contribute to groundwater recharge,” he said. Rs 167 in 2016. "Modi ji, one rupee will not bring http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centre-to-tap-mgnrega- Acche Din," the placards, held by MGNREGA funds-to-revive-ancient-rivers/article18410392.ece workers, read, as they gathered at Manika High School ground on Monday to protest the pay revision. MGNREGA workers return Rs 1 salary hike to
Modi, Das Economist Jean Dreze, who was present in Manika on Monday, termed the revision as unjust. "The TNN | Updated: May 3, 2017, 10.37 AM IST MGNREGA Act mandates that the daily minimum
wage must be more than the minimum daily agricultural wage in the state. Each MLA of the state gets a monthly salary of Rs 1 lakh. There is a continuous rise in their salaries besides being given luxurious cars and bungalows. On the other hand, these hard working labourers are given a Re 1 hike. Why this disparity?" Dreze questioned in his letter to Das. The minimum daily agricultural wage in the state is Rs 224 a day. "It is because of the low wages that MGNREGA workers protest against the meagre pay workers are not interested in working under the hike at Manika under Latehar district on Tuesday scheme," he added.
RANCHI: Workers from at least three districts across Balram, consultant to the state government on the the state sent Rupee 1 to Chief minister Raghubar Das Right to Food, called the pay revision a 'mockery'. and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest the "Last year, the state government had revised the daily minuscule rise in daily wages under the Mahatma wage by Rs 5. A similar complaint was lodged to the Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act CMO (chief minister's office) but clearly nothing had (MGNREGA). happened. It is not clear as to why the state
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government is ignorant about increasing the “I have also come across concerns raised regarding MGNREGA wages," he said. Indian judiciary’s ability for redressal of rights violations due to barriers to access to justice. The When contacted, state MGNREGA commissioner Right to fair trial and free legal aid up to the highest Siddharth Tripathi refused to comment on the issue. court are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in the Last year, hundreds of MNREGA workers from Constitution of India and thus guaranteed to all Manika sent a letter and Rs 5 to the Prime Minister individuals. So much so that as the Attorney General after the Centre revised the pay scale and Jharkhand of India, I was summoned by the Supreme Court at 2 received a hike of Rs 5. The letter read, "We feel that in the morning to hear a last-ditch petition, after you need the extra five rupees more than we do, since several rounds of litigation, by a convict who was your government has so many expenses". guilty of terrorism to escape punishment,” Rohatgi said in his statement at the third periodic review of http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/mgnrega-workers- India by the UNHRC in Geneva. Menon’s hanging in return-rs-1-salary-hike-to-modi-das/articleshow/58483499.cms 2015 had kicked up a storm with a section of civil society terming it travesty of justice. Armed with flagship socio-economic schemes, AG to defend India in UNHRC India will have to do some answering on the treatment of religious minorities, Armed Forces Special Power By Express News Service | Published: 04th May 2017 Act (AFSPA) and the boiling situation in the Kashmir 08:49 PM | Last Updated: 04th May 2017 08:49 PM valley. Touching upon the issue of AFSPA, Rohatgi NEW DELHI: India’s top lawyer Attorney General said: “Concerns have been raised with regard to the Mukul Rohatgi rose up on Wednesday to defend Armed Forces Special Powers Act. However, this Act India’s human rights record at the third periodic is applied only to disturbed areas where the law and review by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council order machinery is dealing with exigent circumstances (UNHRC) armed with flagship socio-economic like terrorism. These areas are very few and in schemes of the Narendra Modi government and the proximity to some international borders. Whether this previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Act should be repealed or not is a matter of on-going government. vibrant political debate in my country. The Supreme Court of India has upheld the constitutionality of the Making an opening statement, Rohatgi not only Act and laid down strict guidelines.” invoked the Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam but also the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Rohatgi began with enlisting the major initiatives 2014 poll slogan “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas” (All undertaken by the Modi government like Smart Cities, together, Development for All). The Attorney General Make in India, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao--Celebrate the underscored the strength of judiciary in India while Girl Child and Enable her Education, Swachh Bharat-- speaking about the incident where the Supreme Court Clean India, Jan Dhan Yojana--Bank Accounts for All, was convened well past the midnight to hear the mercy Digital India, Skill India, Startup India etc. that he petition of Yakub Menon, the convict in the 1993 contended “mirror the targets of the 17 Sustainable Mumbai serial blasts. Development Goals” for achieving the 2030 Agenda.
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Prime Minister Modi might have mocked the Congress for bringing the white elephant bills seeking to provide food for all and jobs for all, but at the world forum, the schemes did find a mention. The ambitious socio- economic schemes like National Food Security Act, 2013 providing food and nutritional security to 75 percent of rural population and 50 percent of the urban population; and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme securing the right to work and the right to livelihood, was highlighted prominently by Rohatgi. Subhendra Nath Sanyal Rohatgi also highlighted the recognising of transgender as a ‘third gender’ also one of the key and building community assets that support local highlights of India’s strong case towards Human livelihoods. The dual focus of MGNREGS on wages Rights. and assets, and its emphasis on natural resources management makes it an effective mechanism for co- http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/may/04/armed- creating benefits of social protection and climate with-flagship-socio-economic-schemes-ag-to-defend-india-in- resilience for vulnerable rural communities. However, unhrc-1601100.html is there scope to improve the design and
How MGNREGS Can Help The Rural Poor 'Step implementation of the program to ensure that the rural Out' Of Poverty And Climate Vulnerability poor "step out" of poverty and climate vulnerability? What measures can be taken to create new A safety net for the poorest and most vulnerable opportunities in order to enhance their resilience to populations. long-term climate change?
02/05/2017 9:12 AM IST | Updated 02/05/2017 9:12 [C]ommunity assets created under MGNREGS can AM IST, Koyel Kumar Mandal Climate Change play a crucial role by creating additional livelihood Expert, IPE Global opportunities and reducing climate vulnerabilities.
Let's first take a step back and understand the larger Recently there has been a lot of debate in academic vulnerability context in which MGNREGS operates. and policy circles about mainstreaming climate Personal assets—both physical and financial—usually concerns in development programs in order to build provide the first layer of safety net in case of a climate the resilience of vulnerable communities. One such shock such as flood, drought or a cyclone. The development initiative is the Mahatma Gandhi National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO) report on National Employment Guarantee Scheme Household Capital Expenditure in India provides data (MGNREGS), whose main objective is to reduce rural on the average value of assets held by each "household poverty by providing a legal guarantee of 100 days' asset holding class." A household asset holding class is paid labour a year to every rural household in India defined as "the 10 decile classes of the rural All-India
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distribution of households by asset holding size." This Consumer Expenditure shows that rural monthly per means that decile 1 in the chart below comprises the capita expenditure for 2011-12 was approximately poorest 10% of rural households in terms of their Rs.1279. This amounts to an annual consumption holding assets and decile 10 denotes the richest tenth. expenditure of Rs.15,348 per person. Almost all physical and financial assets are included.
Source: NSSO Source: NSSO
If we count the personal assets of the poorest 50% of Considering an average household size of five and the rural population who are more likely to opt for assuming that one person's income supports two family MGNREGS work, it is clear that there's hardly members, it's evident that the MGNREGS wages are anything to fall back on in case of a climate shock or just enough for the rural poor to "hang in" there. They disaster. In addition, the physical assets will also be do not provide any cushion for the poor and vulnerable prone to these shocks, rendering them unproductive in to "step out" of poverty and climate vulnerability. most cases.
This is where the community assets created under Given this context, the bi-focal lens of MGNREGS's MGNREGS can play a crucial role by creating wages and assets provide an important safety net for additional livelihood opportunities and reducing the poorest and the most vulnerable population by climate vulnerabilities. Several studies have shown the addressing the immediate and underlying socio- potential of MGNREGS works to generate economic risks facing them. Let's analyse each of them environmental benefits such as groundwater recharge, to understand their contribution in helping the poor soil, water and biodiversity conservation, sustaining "step out" of poverty and vulnerability. Average wage food production, halting land degradation, and rate per day per person under MGNREGS in 2016-17 building resilience to current climate risks such as was Rs.214. Assuming that a drought-affected area moisture stress, delayed rainfall, droughts and floods. gets a total of 150 days of work, income from However, for MGNREGS to systematically address MGNREGS wages will be Rs.32,100. current climate variability and long-term climate
Now let's take a look at rural consumption. The chart change, the following elements need to be reinforced below based on NSSO 68th round, Household in planning and implementation:
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1. Mainstreaming climate change in MGNREGS Agricultural Vulnerability Index in all four study planning: Choice of works should be informed districts in the range of 4–56%. The study also shows a by a vulnerability analysis of the region, reduction in Livelihood Vulnerability Index in all four preferably at the block level. districts in the range of 4– 81%. Implementing the 2. Designing climate-resilient infrastructure: With above measures is expected to further reduce projections such as more intense rainfall, salinity, vulnerabilities of the poor and marginalised people sea-level rise, physical infrastructure such as who tend to benefit most from MGNREGS. dams, farm ponds etc. can be subject to damage and therefore, technical and engineering specifications need to consider such impacts and associated risks. 3. Convergence with other development schemes: This will ensure integrated natural resource management. Convergence guidelines with various schemes have already been issued and attempts should be made to reduce the number of stand-alone MGNREGS works as much as possible.
These measures will ensure the durability and productivity of assets that are being created under While there is a growing body of evidence on the MGNREGS. There are several technical assistance climate benefits of development and social protection programs, supported by bilateral and multilateral programs, addressing climate vulnerability often organisations and research institutions, which are requires a multi-faceted approach. Such programs will coming up with innovative approaches to need to be aligned with targeted climate change implementing these measures within the MGNREGS programs in order for the rural poor to "step out" of framework. poverty and climate vulnerability.
Addressing climate vulnerability often requires a For example, a part of MGNREGS labour could be multi-faceted approach. Such programs will need to used to pay for premiums for agricultural insurance be aligned with targeted climate change programs... schemes such as the Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS), for tenant farmers and the landless So, will this create enough opportunities to bring the rural poor. Steinbach et al., in their report "Aligning rural poor out of poverty and climate vulnerability? social protection and climate resilience: A case study The synthesis report "Environmental Benefits and of WBCIS and MGNREGA in Rajasthan" suggest Vulnerability Reduction through Mahatma Gandhi such a layered approach. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme" by IISC, Bangalore in collaboration with the Ministry of The Central government as well as the administrative Rural Development and GIZ shows a reduction in machinery of MGNREGS have been flexible and
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adaptive to the needs of the beneficiaries, such as the Nitin Sethi & Sahil Makkar | New Delhi May 3, 2017 recent increase in the number of workdays from 100 to 150 in drought-affected areas. It is important to The Union government has been understating the incorporate the findings from these on-the-ground compensation that workers should get under the social experiments that have the potential to deliver Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment huge developmental and climate gains. This will have Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for the delay in payment major implications for India's climate commitments of wages. Not just that, only a portion of this under the Paris Agreement. understated compensation is being paid to the beneficiaries across the country. http://www.huffingtonpost.in/koyel-kumar-mandal/how-mgnregs- can-help-the-rural-poor-step-out-of-poverty-and-cl/ According to the job guarantee scheme, wages should be paid to workers within 15 days of generation of the Govt pares MNREGA compensation for delay in muster roll. If that is not done, then the workers need payment of wages to be paid compensation for each day of delay till the The govt has in place regulations that systematically wages are deposited into their accounts. calculate less than the payable compensation However, the government has in place regulations that systematically calculate less than the payable compensation. These rules require the government to calculate the compensation only till the date a demand is raised at the district level by officials for payment of wages (called a fund transfer order, or FTO ), and not till the actual payment of wages to the worker.
An FTO is generated at the state level as a demand to the Centre for transferring the wages. The actual transfer of funds happens much later — normally within a week after the FTO generation — from the Union rural development ministry to the worker’s account, electronically.
Government records show that Rs 441 crore worth of compensation (calculated using the method that understates the amount) was due to workers for delayed wages in financial year 2016-17. Out of this, the government approved compensation of only Rs 17.15 crore and has paid Rs 10.70 crore so far.
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For April 2017, compensation worth Rs 6.31 lakh compensation paid for delayed wages and the interest stood payable on May 1, against delayed wages of Rs paid on delayed wages. 52.80 crore. But the state-level authorities, empowered by the rules of the Centre, have so far paid only Rs Rural development ministry regulations provide room 1,734 across the country. “We are working to correct for the states to reject even the understated it. We should be able to fix this in future,” a senior compensation. In its annual master circular, it said last officer in the ministry of rural development said, year that compensation could be denied to workers for responding to questions. three reasons –natural calamity, lack of funds, and compensation not due. However, neither the rural “Currently, 44 per cent of MNREGA transactions are employment guarantee law nor its schedules have happening on time. We are trying to improve it further provisions for denying compensation. by integrating the MIS system with the help of Public Financial Management System (PFMS) and National The circular was revised this financial year to remove Informatics Centre. The part-1 (the time taken in the “lack of funds” as an excuse to deny compensation, generating muster roll and pushing the FTO to Centre) but in the computerised system states continue to use and part 2 (the time taken by the Centre to process the that as a reason to deny compensation. The other two FTO and directly transfer the amount to the reasons can still be exercised by states to deny the beneficiary’s account) would both be considered (for compensation payable. calculation of compensation),” the officer said. Speaking to Business Standard, the ministry officials The officer, however, noted that delay was largely admitted that giving reasons such as “lack of funds” to occurring at the state level and not in payment from deny compensation was not correct. But, last year the Centre, adding the government was working hard itself, Rs 257 crore was denied to wage workers solely to get states to pay wages on time. on this ground.
The issue of compensation is important because a large The problems of systematically understating percentage of wages is not paid within the stipulated compensation and then using various means to time. In 2016-17, Rs 19,455 crore worth of wages underpay even against these calculations have been were paid after the stipulated 15 days. This is 55.86% pointed out earlier in the Central Employment of the total wages paid in the last financial year, Gaurantee Council of MNREGA – the statutory apex according to a government affidavit presented to the body under the law to monitor the implementation of Supreme Court. Business Standard reviewed the the scheme. affidavit. Of these delayed wages, Rs 3,836 crore was paid after more than three months and Rs 2,578 crore The minutes of the November 2016 meeting of the after two months. council show that a member pointed out that the ministry’s regulations and methods of calculating The Supreme Court in its recent orders asked the compensation were a “violation of the act”. government to inform it about the status of both the
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The biggest challenge, officials admit off the record, in allocation of Rs 48,000 crore towards the scheme in paying proper compensation to the workers is the fact the 2017-18 Union Budget, the ruling National that state governments are required to recover the Democratic Alliance’s take on MGNREGA (Mahatma compensation amount from functionaries responsible Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee for the delay in paying wages in the first place. Programme) has seen a near about-turn in the past two years. The ministry keeps no record of how much has been collected from the officials and if any amount was The current government, many agree, has made some recovered from central government officials for delay genuine attempts at improving transparency and in paying the wages even after the FTO was streamlining implementation of the scheme. That generated. includes geo-tagging of all assets built using MGNREGA monies and putting these in the public http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/govt- domain. Already, one crore out of the 2.8 crore-plus pares-mnrega-compensation-for-delay-in-payment-of-wages- assets — water conservation and harvesting structures, 117050201458_1.html roadside plantations, livestock shelters, and various
Ten Years of MGNREGA: UPA flagship chugs other community/individual-level works — created along with implementation reforms under since the programme’s inception in 2006-07 have been Modi govt geo-tagged. Employment generation, too, has recovered from a low of 166.21 crore persondays in Underfunding leading to undermining of its demand- 2014-15 to over 235 crore in each of the last two driven character, allege activists fiscals. Also, 93 per cent of wage payments in 2016-17 were directly credited into the accounts of Written by Shalini Nair | New Delhi | Published:May beneficiaries, whose Aadhaar unique identification 4, 2017 1:11 am numbers have been seeded into the MGNREGA MIS database. This has reduced the scope for diversion/leakages inherent in cash payments. The proportion of wage payments made within the stipulated 15-day period after closure of muster rolls has, likewise, gone up from below 27 per cent to almost 44 per cent in the last two years.
Yet, critics allege that MGNREGA’s essential character — as a demand-driven social security A file photo of women labourers working under scheme guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment in MGNREGA in Ajmer, Rajasthan. PTI a year to any rural household whose members volunteer to do unskilled manual work — has been From Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it a steadily undermined in recent years. Out of the 5.11 “living monument” to the failure of post-Independence crore households provided work under the scheme last Congress regimes in tackling poverty, to the finance fiscal, not even 40 lakh (7.8 per cent) completed 100 minister Arun Jaitley taking credit for the highest-ever
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days of wage employment. The average days of deprivation and number of households dependent on employment provided per household was just under manual casual labour. Moreover, there is “nothing 46. Further, the MGNREGA wages in a majority of sacrosanct” about the approved labour budget. “It can states were below the minimum levels for unskilled be increased later and we could ask for more money agricultural workers fixed by their respective from the Finance Ministry in the supplementary governments. demand for grants, if necessary,” they add. Significantly, of the total Rs 23,000 crore of additional “The problem is mainly of underfunding. The Act says money that the MoRD had sought in last year’s that where and when there is demand for MGNREGA supplementary demands, only Rs 9,000 crore was work, it must be provided. But underfunding of the given. scheme has suppressed the demand on the ground, as wage payments aren’t made on time and local The finance ministry has also refused to accept the authorities (gram panchayats) hesitate to take up report of a committee set up by the MoRD for works,” notes Jayati Ghosh, a development economist recommending revision in MGNREGA wages. “We at the Jawaharlal Nehru University here. had said that MGNREGA workers should be paid at least the minimum wages fixed in states. We also The Rs 48,000-crore budget for MGNREGA in 2017- suggested the inflation rate adjustment for annual wage 18, in fact, includes pending liabilities from last year, revision to be done using the latest Consumer Price estimated at Rs 10,778 crore. Moreover, the labour Index (CPI) for Rural, which has 2011-12 as the base budget approved for the current financial year is for year. The existing practice of indexation using the CPI only 215.5 crore person-days of employment, against for Agricultural Labourers should be done away with, the demand of 288 crore person-days made by state as it is based on an out-dated consumption basket of governments. Taking an average 1983,” says S Mahendra Dev, vice-chancellor of the Mumbai-based Indira Gandhi Institute of Development per person-day cost of Rs 240 — covering wages as Research, who headed the panel. well as material and administrative expenses — the fund requirement based on the states’ demand would For 2017-18, the Centre has allowed an average be Rs 69,120 crore. “If, to that, you add the pending MGNREGA wage increase of just 2.7 per cent, the liability of Rs 10,778 crore for 2016-17, the total lowest-ever in the programme’s ten-year history. In requirement comes to Rs 79,898 crore,” points out five states — Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh Nikhil Dey of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, an and Uttarakhand — the daily hike is a paltry Rs 1. activist NGO. That works out to an annual increment of Rs 100, even if someone were to be provided employment for the Officials from the Ministry of Rural Development entire guaranteed 100 days. Furthermore, while the (MoRD), however, claim that the approved labour Bihar government may have raised its minimum daily budget is a “realistic and pragmatic assessment”. The wage for agricultural labourers from Rs 197 in 2016 to 215.5 crore person-days figure has been arrived at by Rs 232 in 2017, the corresponding MGNREGA wage taking into account past performance of individual increase for the state has been from Rs 167 to just Rs states in implementing MGNREGA, levels of 168.
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Activists also question the calculation of compensation Employment Guarantee Act – which guarantees 100 in case of wage payment delays beyond 15 days. The days of employment in a year to rural families. There MGNREGA rules require workers to be compensated is a lot of work to be done: pits to be dug, saplings to at the rate of 0.05 per cent of pending wages for each be planted, plants to be watered, fences to be day’s delay. But according to constructed, and a careful eye to be kept on the growing plants for signs of disease. Phulkumari Devi, Ankita Agarwal, an independent researcher working in heavily pregnant, spends the day fetching water from a Jharkhand, the Centre allows the nodal district-level nearby river to water the saplings. Kael Parhaiya keeps functionary concerned to use his discretion to reject track of the work and takes down the attendance of compensation amounts, even when automatically workers. Amardayal, a member of a Cluster computed by the MGNREGA MIS. The compensation Facilitation Team that provides technical support, itself is, moreover, only for only delays till the signing exhorts the family to complete the work. of fund transfer orders (FTO). “The long procedural delays, from the time FTOs are signed to the actual As his name indicates, Mahavir Parhaiya is a member crediting of wages to workers’ accounts, is not part of of the Parhaiya tribe, which has been designated a the calculated compensation,” she contends. “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group”. As a community still largely dependent on hunting and The MoRD officials quoted earlier admit to the above gathering for survival, they are the ideal beneficiaries flaws, but state that “our priority right now is to reduce of livelihood support through the employment delays in wage payments”. Extending compensation guarantee legislation. The remoteness of the village, for the period beyond FTO signing “will be the next rampant illiteracy, the near absence of basic public step”. services, and dependence on an ever-shrinking forest for their livelihood translates into dismal avenues for http://indianexpress.com/article/india/10-years-of-mgnrega-upa- flagship-chugs-along-with-implementation-reforms-under-modi- work and betterment. They are often extremely govt-4639585/ exploited and work as bonded labourers. For them to now be taking up a risky and complex investment, like A mango plantation in Jharkhand shows how a mango plantation, on their land is indicative of just MGNREGA can really empower rural families how far they’ve come.
Instead of wages for a short period of time, the family The employment guarantee Act had no small role to running the project in Lanka village will create an play in this. Even if the law is routinely violated, it asset for life. provides a legislative framework that, if followed, has the potential to deliver massive gains to some of the Inayat Sabhikhi , May 08, 2017. most impoverished people in the world. Mahavir Parhaiya’s household in the remote village of Looking more closely at Mahavir Parhaiya’s family Lanka in Latehar district of Jharkhand is bustling with and the plantation, there are three tangible gains – an activity. They are busy working on setting up a mango increase in bargaining power fuelled by a rights-based plantation on what was once a barren plot near their house, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
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framework, supplementary income through wages, and Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. an asset that provides a route for an investment. The plants will yield fruit for approximately 30 years, which Mahavir Parhaiya can sell in the market or use A pregnant Phulkumari Devi fetches water from a as he wishes. Third, engaging with the administration nearby river to water the mango saplings in the plot on their rights builds up the assertive political capacity near her home in Jharkhand's Lanka village. of workers. This is the institutional change that the Act is designed to bring about. Responsibilities and gains
Kael Parhaiya keeps track of the work at the mango The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment plantation and takes down the attendance of workers. Guarantee Act was initially conceived only for public works on community land, but subsequently, projects State-side story on private land were allowed for clearly defined categories. Since such works lead to the creation of an While Mahavir Parhaiya’s mango plantation is hugely asset for a household, slightly better off people who encouraging, it cannot be said to be representative of would otherwise be unlikely to do manual work on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment community land scramble for these projects. Intended Guarantee Act across the country. Government beneficiaries like Mahavir Parhaiya lose out. plantations have a notorious reputation of quickly dissolving into scams. It requires considerable state Poorer families are also hesitant to take up these capacity to plan, execute, review and monitor projects on their own small pieces of land. The nature plantations. The Rural Development Department of the of the implementation of the law has grown government of Jharkhand has invested in technical increasingly technocratic, and they don’t want to get expertise to build this state capacity. It has brought in stuck making countless trips to the block office. Their independent technical experts on horticulture, rural responsibility towards maintenance and upkeep is also development and so on. It has also implemented with significant. The mango plantation has 80 saplings, gusto a project funded by the Ministry of Rural along with chillies and tomatoes, all of which need to Development – the Cluster Facilitation Team Project. be watered daily and closely monitored for disease. This project provides technical support via civil The family has to commit to a steady investment of society organisations to fill the crucial gap at the field time and person-days for it. level, to plan and execute works.
All of this has to be overcome for a family to volunteer According to Manas Mandal, a technical expert with to take up work on their land. Once they do, the the department, there are several rounds of benefits are plenty. First, as opposed to the usual consultation to arrive at a workable model. As a result, culture of getting work only for a few days or weeks at government orders focus heavily on the selection of a time, a mango plantation opens up sustained the right beneficiary (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal employment activities for a period of three years. Group family) and the correct patch of land (fertile, Second, as economist Jean Dreze hypothesises, a irrigated). It also outlines in detail the material mango plantation is perhaps one of the highest returns procurement, aspects that are usually deliberately on investment among works under the Mahatma ignored. Through the entire exercise, the technical
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experts and Cluster Facilitation Teams provide undervalued. The outreach and facilitation work at the indispensable practical support to the block level of the family is important to begin to address administration. This helps the field functionaries layers of marginalisation. So is the leveraging of enormously as they can informally clear doubts and available technical resources to design and execute don’t resort to window dressing for bureaucratic useful works. Recent academic literature points to the superiors. need to substantially increase the capacity of state functionaries of the poorest states, to really deliver on Amardayal is a “social mobilisor” of the Cluster the employment guarantee and its entitlements. Facilitation Team and an activist with the MGNREGA Sahayta Kendra in Manika block of Latehar district. This plantation is another retort to the red herring of Given the history of the community here being “no assets” that is repeatedly brought up. Nonetheless, repeatedly misled and abused by contractors and an independent empirical national study on the government intermediaries, he says the people’s lack productivity of works under the employment guarantee of trust in government projects is huge and the chances law will be welcomed by all quarters. However, the of projects being abandoned high. He worked hard to really urgent issue is the blatant flouting of the Act, bring down their reluctance and reassure them through most egregiously through inadequate funding that the process. undermines the legal entitlement of the right to work, and the atrocious delays and complications in wage Amardayal, a member of a Cluster Facilitation Team, payments. worked hard to convince the Parhaiya family to undertake the mango plantation project on their land. In fact, everything happening in Lanka is just following the legal framework of the Act: Now, word of the mango plantation has spread within decentralising planning to select useful works, Manika, and relatives of Mahavir Parhaiya in other sanctioning of appropriate work for intended gram panchayats are volunteering to do similar work. beneficiaries, and building assets for livelihood Based on the feedback from these pilots, the state support. In a climate where legal entitlements for government plans to expand such projects to 3,000 socio-economic rights are constantly flouted, this acres this financial year. exercise shows what the Act can provide if it is followed, to systemically address poverty, unlike any National implications other socio-economic framework in the country.
So what does this mango plantation tell us about the Projects like the mango plantation require a lot of time Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment and effort. The 80 saplings, along with the chillies and Guarantee Act? Providing families in Lanka village tomatoes that are grown, all need to be watered daily with work, and a route for investment through an asset, and closely monitored for disease. is a big boon. Because of deeply pervasive social inequities, families with no alternatives are invariably https://scroll.in/article/834458/a-mango-plantation-in-jharkhand- left out from building assets for their use. Therefore, shows-how-mgnrega-can-really-empower-rural-families the role of independent facilitation and technical expertise is needed, and at present, greatly
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Women labour in drought-hit Karnataka on a similar reasons. However, a third consecutive year of mission to revive water bodies drought has led to precariously low levels of water in reservoirs across the state, with the government india Updated: May 13, 2017 07:38 IST announcing that it will only be able to provide water Vikram Gopal, Hindustan Times for drinking purposes.
These women have come together to force the Coming together administration to give them designated work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Sowbhagya is one of the 3,000 women in Mandya Guarantee Act. district, who are busy reviving lakes, ponds and irrigation tanks in 31 villages. These women have come together to force the administration to give them designated work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
MNREGAԜworkers at a lake rejuvenation project at Mandya, Karnataka.(Arijit Sen/HT Photo)
The scorching heat and glaring sun don’t seem to deter the spirit of villagers clearing weed and silt from a dry lake in Bevanahalli, Mandya district. Women working at a lake rejuvenation project at Mandya, Karnataka. (Arijit Sen/HT Photo) Sowbhagya, one of the labourers, from the 75-member group is worried about completing the task assigned on Shakuntala, a member of the group working in time. Bevanahalli, has never seen this kind of clearance conducted in lakes before. “The authorities gave us a go ahead only two weeks ago. This lake needs a lot of work and it will take at “The lake has gone dry for the first time, leaving us least a year to clear it. We will have to work on a tight with no water even for our cattle,” she said. It is this schedule because the Southwest monsoon will begin water crisis that the women are out to address. And, in next month,” she said. the lake rejuvenation project they have not just found a solution to the lack of work because of the failure of The Karnataka government’s inept administration of crops, but they are also attempting to ensure that the lakes made headlines earlier this year when Bellandur water bodies in their villages help mitigate such Lake in Bengaluru caught fire because industrial situations in the future. effluents were being let into it. Recently, an irrigation tank in a village in Hassan district caught fire for
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An alarming trend Protests to force the authorities to pay on time and to even let them continue with the work had become The women voice their concern about an alarming routine. trend of bore-wells in the village. “Action needs to be taken quickly as now bore-wells are being dug up to “None of this has been handed to us. We have had to the depth of 600ft. This was completely unheard of fight with the authorities at every stage, from asking here,” Sowbhagya said. them to pay us on time to agreeing to our demand to let us work,” Sowbhagya said. In Devipura, around 70 labourers are working on the village irrigation pond that has accumulated dry clay at the bottom.
Rathnamma, who is heading the project here, said, “This tanks served as a source of drinking water for us, our cattle and also for domestic chores. Now, we have reached a stage where some of us are using bore-wells even for drinking water purposes.”
Rathnamma added that this is the first time such work MNREGAԜworkers at a lake rejuvenation project at is being carried out. “We hope to increase the carrying Mandya, Karnataka. (Arijit Sen/HT Photo) capacity of the tank to ensure it doesn’t run dry like this again.” Rejuvenation a must
The women of Mandya are convinced that this is the S Vishwanath, an expert on rainwater harvesting, said way forward, inspired by the success of a similar the movement has arrived at the right time. “This is movement by women in Gulbarga last year, where 28 definitely a welcome step. Rejuvenating these water water bodies were revived. bodies will definitely help the groundwater table. The government must study how efficiently water is used The way forward and create awareness among local communities about the rational use of water,” he said. KS Vimala, secretary of the Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane that came up with the idea, said, “We The movement, meanwhile, is spreading to other decided to focus on these water bodies because the districts. state government did not seem to be concerned. We decided to take the lead and show them the way,” she Work has begun in Kolar, which is an arid area where said. Rathnamma said the battle had just begun and people traditionally depended on these water bodies. they would take it one step at a time. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/women-labour-in- “We have faced opposition from within the villages drought-hit-karnataka-to-revive-water-bodies/story- paqjhOAwhJKRqjlirfKHVP.html and the administration,” she said.
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This information bulletin is a part of our initiative towards improving water conservation through leveraging NREGA. Supported by: Hindustan Unilever Foundation
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………