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. Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. …………… 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. Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. …………… 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 Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. …………… 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.