MGNREGA-Its features ,impact,the journey so far and recent

developments.

1.INTRODUCTION

Nationwide employment guarantee scheme which provides 100 days of employment a

year to atleast one member of any rural household who is willing to perform a
unskilled labour for the minimum wage
NREGS enacted on august 25,2006
launched on feb 2 ,2006
Renamed MGNREGA from NREGA on oct 2,2009 on birthday of BAPU and off
course for congress hegemony!!!
NREGA is under MORD(Minister of Rural Development)
Rest details of the act we will cover as we move on in this article.
Some key points to remember in this scheme
1. Women's participation= atleast 30% of employment days to be given to the
women
Reasons for this reservation:Bring them into workforce.---->social + financial inclusion.
Social inclusion because women will then meet other women groups and
during worktime can share their problems like domestic violence,lack of
maternal care units,etc.They get a common informal platform for their
problems(Also talking saas-bahu gossips)
Financial because-they will have money in their hand and can spend in useful
avenues like SHGs,child education,etc.Most cases it was found drunkyard

husband spent all he earned in the day.Resulting poverty.After employment of

women they are singing

"kangan sone ka khankaye" (like the great AMUL ad of smita patil and
girish,just kidding)
2. Creation of assets for the community development The idea is to create assets which will be durable and create a second
round employment benefits.
Assets are like roads,irrigation projects,flood protection etc
Now say we create a irrigation project using NREGA workers ,then
tommorow that can be used for jobs relating to irrigation and flood.
Say, Ram had son a shyam.Ram was in a NREGA project for
dam.After the project is completed it will be a durable asset to the
community(.It will store water and help irrigation).Also tommorow
shyam can get a job as a helper to a dam engineer of Irrigation
Department (of course if he has done some basic courses on dam.And
govt has opened such courses at a feeble cost.)
So we can conclude that NREGA aims to provide
employment(ram)+durable community asset(dam)+second generation
employment oppurtunities(shyam)

3. It is of a demand driven nature Lets see who seeks a job under NREGA

1.Unemployed-He has not been able to find a job for quite sometime
now.May be because he was trying for a job in city but couldnt get or
the wage offered to him was not to his liking.NREGA gives him an
option .
2.Earlier self employed but now in loss as well as unemployed
eg-X was doing apiary in his village but due to diesease of bees his
dhanda is choupat now(epic fail).X has to payback the money he had
taken for honey bees.Other jobs are not paying that much like nrega.so
he joins it to payback and sustenance of his family.
Suppose if he joins as agriultural labour he only gets 70 bucks and
nrega gives 100 bucks.also atleast he will be assured of 100 days job
compared to the job as agricultural labourer which may not be 100
days.here is Mr X with his nrega job card

So we can see it is demand driven in nature.The people demand the jobs and
it is the responsibility of the govts to provide him job within 15 days of his
enrolment else he will get unemployment allowance.
NOW LETS MOVE TO OTHER ASPECTS OF NREGA

2.MGNREGA and its impact on agriculture

it has disrupted the agriculture by creating a labour shortage

attracted many agricultural labourers by rise in NREGA wage rates
going back to Mr X.He could have joined as agricultural labour also
but since NREGA was paying him more he joined it.
Also the nature of NREGA jobs are less tiresome compared to sowing
and harvesting jobs in agriculture.
Now looking at job nature and wage of Mr X more and more
agricultural labourers will be attracted to get their NREGA cards.
This is called as a bandwagon effect in economics.(people without
thinking much just copy others act thinking that it must be good)
NREGA now "pull factor"

And harvesting and sowing"push factor"

This has created shortage in agricultural seasons as a result created a
hike in agricultural wages.
Again big farmers who employed these agricultural labourers have
stopped investing much in agricultural due to-1.monsoon
uncertainity(always present).2 labour uncertainity(due to NREGA)
ANDHRA PRADESH declared a paddy holiday during 2011 kharif
season due to increase in wage cost(as a result low profit)
Not good for agriculture not good for Food Security of the country.
Instead of additional job addition NREGA has created regular
absentism in rural areas.WHAT AN IRONY!!!!
CACP(Commisssion for agricultural costs and prices) has
recommended a solution for this problem.
It has said that some NREGA card holders who were earlier
agricultural labourers or who have agricultural expertise should be
rotated from one agriculture field to another to look after
sowing,harvesting etc.
these people will be paid the NREGA rates for their agricultural jobs
and when work is not there in fields they can be brought back in
projects like dam,roads etc
4. CAG"s report on MGNREGA-How is it performing
The accumulation of job card issued and payments made to the card
holders are not in an apple pie order
Intentionaly not maintained the records so that it can open doors for
corruptions.Lack of transparency=corruption
Next it has been since that funds allotted to well off states are more
than the funds allotted to the high poverty states(which seriously
requires it)
The unemployment allowances have not been paid by 23 states.
If you are willing to work at the rate prescribed but still public
authorities cant find any job for you they have to pay an
unemployment allowance to you.This is in MGNREGA .But this is
only in letter and not in spirit.
In some states work has not been completed and the full payment has
been made.The progresss of project is shown complete in record
books.Actually some jobs were created randomly by the Political party
in the village to appease a vote bank for political gains.Now since they
have won the elections who cares about the projects.N nrega workers
are silent cause they have been paid.But you cant fool CAG.can u???
Next,it has been found that the beneficiaries of MGNREGA are
middle poor and non poor but it should have been acutely poor ones.It
was found in four states Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu and
Andhra pradesh

Delay in the payment of wages.The wages are not paid in the stipulated
time causing inconvenience.
A case study-In a village in ANDHRA PRADESH a man had worked
for 2 months and didnt get his wage for the same.He became ill next
month and didnt have the money to get some medicine for relief.He
kept waiting for his wage for next 2 weeks.But still didnt get it.And his
health further detoriated.However his life was saved by an NGO of
Guntur district.But it could have been worse.I hope you have got the
point.
Nrega says that the wages should be the paid eithin 14 days of
project completion.But it isnt always like that.
Now last but not and never never the least (atleast in India)CORRUPTION
Funds are siphoned off by public authorities like kalmadis,rajas n all.
How they do it.Lets see
1. They will create ghost account and take that amount.For ex -In
the record book they will write say 5 names of such persons who are
not there.Say A,B,C,D,E now neither of these 5 people exists but their
attendance n all will be shown as present on all days.PPP....
On the payment time the Munshi(who sees attendance and materials
account like Jagdeep in SHOLAY) will pay all the other real workers
and for ABCDE he will keep the money himself.(as they never ever
existed)
But can munshi keep all the money himself.OFFcourse not he will
keep his share and pass the rest to his superior and so on till it reaches
MORD,the progenitors of the scheme.This "ghost account" daredevil
act has done two things for those corrupt public authorities.
Firstly it has allowed them to earn by siphoning off the money and
Secondly now the DISTRICT COLLECTOR(DC) can show inflated
achievements.He will say that 45 peoples have benefitted from Nrega
but we know truth is 40 (coz ABCDE never existed).So
promotion+corruption.Simply awesome!!
2.It has been found that some people whose name are still in
NREGA records have died but still Govt gives money on their
names.But hey where does the money goes.Simple the MUNSHI
JAGDEEP.

Munshi---->Gram Panchayat--->DC---->MORD(Actually there are

many more levels in this hierarchy of corruption.I m cutting short)
3.At times these munshis give some cash to the nrega workers and
purchase their cards forever.And then start getting the payments
themselves.And for sake of job completion they will hire some other
beggars (who are not nrega card holders) and pay them half the
stipulated wage.Result :-replaced the card holder forever,inducted
a beggar who is over loaded and underpaid.Off course a rich
Munshi.
However NREGA allows for social audits to be conducted
regularly but again only for nameshake.Social audits are
done by benefeciaries themselves(here labourers like ram
and x),NGOs,Other civil societ organaisations ,etc.
5. BALANCESHEET OF NREGA
Positive Impacts-- It has created a lot of water related assets.Water storage capacity
increased.Better irrigation.More yield.As a result better chances of
Food security
Similarly other assets like roads etc have been created Better
connectivity of the villages with towns.

Water storage has lead to better level of groundwater.Good for

environment.
NREGA has put an stop on the urban migration.Now with 100 days of
work within 5 kms of village,many rural labourers will see moving to
city and towns as their Plan B .Earlier prior to NREGA it was Plan -A
or as one can say HOBSON'S CHOICE
As a result less strain on limited urban assets.
Benefitted a lot of women ,ST/SC and other marginalized societies

3/4 of workers are from ST/SC

We have also seen it has increased the agricultural wages by creating
shortage in agricultural seasons.
Lead to better positions of female.
Well overall NREGA has performed well.It can be gauged from the
fact that despite unearthing of so many corruptions scam, UPA have
came back to power.It had worked as an electoral potion for UPA1.Had its benefits not trickled down to the masses madamji n mohan
duo would not have staged a comeback.
NEGATIVE IMPACTS
Created shortage in agricultural seasons.We have seen that.
Though many assets have been created but the quality of these assets
are not upto the mark.
Some asets have been created to just give employments and not to seek
quality assets.lets take this example-look at this road

this road is built by NREGA.

It has no bitumen top on it.Why?
Because putting bitumen top on road is a skilled job and NREGA is for
unskilled jobs.So it cannot take bitumen covering jobs.A monsoon
comes and this road is washed way.
Second question is this asset durable?
c"' mon we can see for ourselves.
Thirdly will this road act as a second generation employment
creator?(remember ram and shyam example)
It has not lasted a monsoon .forget about next generation employments

There is no relation between the labour budget and poverty status of the states.

For example-Jharkhand,Bihar and ORissa have highest levels of poverty and huge
tribal population percentage.We know that out of all marginalized sections tribals are
most poor and they are also ST/SC.
As a result more fund or labour budget should have been in these states.But it has
been found that ANDHRA,MAHARASHTRA,etc staes where poverty are not that
much have better labour budgets.
Sporadic implementation of the scheme.Till now NREGA has covered 580 odd
districts.But its distribution is not uniform.It has been found the states with Congress
or Congress+ governments have more coverage.As a result more fundings
We have also see the story of JAGDEEP-THE MUNSHI.There are thousands of
jagdeeps.But why they are still existing?
One there is an unholy nexus between all Public Authorities.From munshi to MoRD
Secondly there is no Management Information System or e-governance like things to
increase transparency.That makes their job easier.
Whatever e-governance is there it is for agricultural use like ITC echoupal,Agropedia.And they too are in nascent stage
Sending money to bank accounts via UIDAI OR aadhar is an option.But neither
banking density is there nor UIDAI has been completed till now.On top of that Mr
Nilekani is busy preparing for his electoral campaign in Karnataka.So bleak chances
that UIDAI be completed by 2016.
(Go to Mrunal Sirs technically not so correct economy articles on BANKING
CORRESPONDENT +UIDAI)
NREGA only gives unskilled jobs.Right.What if people think to remain unskilled for
a long time so that they can avail the benefits of NREGA n not move up the ladder of
job proficiency.
Example-Lets go back to the story of Ram and Shyam(father and son)
Ram had built a dam in NREGA programme thinking that when the Govt will employ
supervisors or engineers for that dam his son Shyam can get the job(of course with
some training)
What if Shyam think that there is no need to study all this bullshit.After all i am going
a get a job anyways in NREGA.Why to take so much pain.
Result Shyam, another generation, remains unskilled labour instead of working as a
dam supervisor.As a result he did not move up the ladder in job proficiency.
But ideally one should slowly move up.
like agro---.>manufacturing---.>services(finally)
Next impact we know that the uniqueness of NREGA is that it is the only programme
to be implemented by Gram Panchayats
Centre gives the money but projects are to identified by the Gram Panchayats
But the gram panchayats are not given any training to select which projects they
should choose and hoe should they choose.In short responsibility added to them
without technical training given to them
Although its true that a lot of migration into urban areas is not desirable but there can
be two angles to look at this thing.If guys like Shyam and all dont go to town and

urbans areas out from their villages then they might lose an oppurtunity to acquire
some job skills which are at urban areas.These jobs skills would have given them
better wages and exposed them to multiple oppurtunities.Rather he is now happy and
complacent in his village.
Secondly migration gives the town and cities an oppurtunity to expand themselves
and accomodate the rural migrants.Isnt it.Thats how the town PUNE came around
Mumbai.
Migration has been a universal and an age old process.It will happen and in its limits
it has more positives than negatives.
Analysts have stressed this idea.'"NREGA with its easy wages is spoon feeding the
rural masses,doing little to increase their capacity or skills""
There has been an abrupt rise of liquor in the rural areas due to these.
6. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN NREGA
The wage has been proposed to be linked to the consumer prices.
Pranob Sen commitee has recommended to link the wages to the CPIRL(Rural Labourers) to combat the inflation and retain the purchasing
power of the nrega workers.
The Sen committee had 2 choices: 1.CPI-AL(agricultural labourers) 2.CPI-RL(rural labourers)
It had chosen CPI-RL
It will raise the fare by 10% every year.
like suppose in 2013 wage per days=Rs 100 ,in 2014 it will be like 110
2015 it will be 121 so on
Next KAAM MAANGO ABHIYAN(Dec 2013)
it will ask the people(still unemployed)to come forward and demand
jobs under NREGA.Only in some districts and states till
now.Jharkhand is one.
Point to ponder here why a KAAM MAANGO ABHIYAN is needed.
Is it that all people have grown so rich that no body wants a
job?????Our poverty line does not say so.Then.
Are there too many projects in villages under gram panchayats???Our
infrastructure in rural india is still not developed.Atleast there is no
visible aberration from the murky past .
Actually people have either went back to migration or some other self
employed jobs(like apiary).Reasons are-Delayed payments,non
payments,etc.They are fed up with the system.
As a result a lot of labour budget is unutilized year after year.
To use those budgets govts with the help of state govts have come up
with this abhiyaan.
Linking MGNREGA WITH NIRMAL BHARAT ABHIYAAN(jan
2014)

Now a NREGA worker can be employed for building the Toilets

IHHL(individual household latrines) and schools latrines.
Better sanitation in rural areas.
Upto 10,000 bucks will be given by govt for one latrine as per nirmal
bharat abhiyaan.
.Rest to be paid by the VIDYA BALAN the brand ambassador
individuals themselves
So Ek teer do nishaana NREGA PLUS NBA
Still Mohan could not please Madamji for a third term.what a pity!!!!!
Are yaar Congress bekar bina tere o son of sardar

Thats all folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by GEORGE SINHA

REFERENCES
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rural-sanitation-works-includedunder-mgnregs/article5549660.ece
http://indiasanitationportal.org/18477
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/rural-developmentministrylaunches-kaam-mango-abhiyan/article5414556.ece
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/mgnrega-badly-needsoverhaul/article4006100.ece
http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/what-next-for-mgnrega113020400637_1.html
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/nrega-is-money-down-thedrain/article2742118.ece
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/nregs-and-the-fastdisappearing-artisan/article2104448.ece
http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/25/stories/2007082554821400.htm
NDTV VIDEO ON YOUTUBE-TITLE-NREGA AND CORRUPTION

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/aadhaar-and-mgnrega-are-made-foreach-other/article3599261.ece
LOK SABHA Tv Show on NREGA
Indias National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as it Is
Interpreting the Official Report-By Raghbendra Jha-PDF FILEcan be downloaded easily.