Transcript Document

The National Rural
Employment Guarantee
Act., 2005
S.K. Lohani, IAS
Commissioner Special Projects-cum-Director, SIRD
BACKGROUND

Magna Carta of the unorganised manual labourer

Concept of right to work as a legal entitlement

Culmination of 3 ½ decade –old demand

An Activist’s Act
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Potential for sustainable Poverty Reduction linked to
Natural Resource Management

Need to deconstruct – unlearn the past
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Good working model has emerged
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Powerful political will for change
KEY FEATURES OF THE ACT
v 100 days guarantee for willing adult worker
v Work to be applied for and provided in fifteen
days
 Unemployment allowance for non-provision of
work
v Payment on weekly basis and not later than a
fortnight
 Delayed payment will attract penalty under
Payment of Wages Act
v Minimum wage for agricultural labour
v State Employment Guarantee Council
KEY FEATURES OF THE ACT
v
v
v
v
District Collector as District Programme Coordinatior (DPC)
BDO as the Block Programme Officer (BPO).
Central role of PRIs
Welfare provisions
 For children
 For accidents
 On-site facilities
KEY FEATURES OF THE ACT
v
Focus on following works
v Water conservation and water harvesting
v Drought proofing including aforestation and tree
plantation
v Irrigation canals
v Irrigation facility to SC/ST/BPL lands
v Renovation of traditional water bodies
v Land Development
v Flood control and Drainage
v Rural connectivity
KEY FEATURES OF THE ACT
v
v
v
v
v
1/3rd work for women
Application for 14 days work
Dated receipt to be given
Work within five kilometers – otherwise 10%
extra wages
New work for ten additional labourers
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

Primary Focus on Employment

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Additional not substituted
For Poverty Reduction – from work to skill
Ultimately self-liquidating
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Natural Resource Management
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Watershed Management
Land Development
Soil and water conservation
Micro Irrigation
Horticulture
Eco Restoration

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Forest Work
River rejuvenation
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

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Social Security
 Savings
Local Economic Development
 Development of SC/ST/BPL Lands
 Increasing Agricultural Production
 Additional Income fueling Local Demands
Women’s Empowerment
 Women’s perspectives
 Women workers
 Equal Wages
 Potential for thrift
 Improvement in intra-household status
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

New opportunity for convergent poverty reduction
 MGNREGA
 NRHM
 Health Insurance
 Nutrition
 SSA
 Pensions
 PDS
 Skill development and self-employment through\
 Basic minimum needs of People’s Plan
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL
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Social Mobilisation and Empowerment of worker
Panchayat Empowerment
 Planning Capacity
 Organization Capacity
 Ward level action
 Investment in all places
 Doubling of investment
 Corruption free environment
UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF
MGNREGA
COMPARISON OF MGNREGS & EARLIER PROGRAMMES
MGNREGS
EARLIER PROGRAMMES
Concept
Legal guarantee of right to employment –
a full blown entitlement – a new vision of
rights-based development for the poor
No grand vision – concepts incidental to
schemes – based on executive decisions
and instructions
Non-exclusive and total coverage
Limited in scope and coverage
Demand-based
Supply-based
Self-targeting
Patronage-based
Focus on employment
Focus on assets
Focus on productive sector
sustainable development
Natural resource management –
–
for
Labour perspective – voice of the worker
Focus on public works, predominantly
roads
Real estate development –
Perspective of the bureaucrat / engineer /
middleman-contractor
COMPARISON OF MGNREGS & EARLIER PROGRAMMES
MGNREGS
EARLIER PROGRAMMES
Concept
Gender sensitive
Male / machine – dominated
Off season employment
Peak season expenditure
Real participatory planning
Negotiated priorities – decision based
on local power relations
Transparent
Opaque
Accountable
Manipulative
Vision-based perspective planning
Short term priority listing
Organic, central role for PRIs
Marginal agency role for PRIs
CRITICAL FACTORS THAT NEED TO BE
STRENGTHENED
• Expanding coverage & providing 100 days
employment to maximum households :
Addressing demand & supply side issues
• Enforcing guarantee of work
• Capacity Building of PRI’s & Officials
• Ensuring minimum wage payment
• Selection & Quality of Assets
• Community Participation : Activating Gram
Sabhas
• Involving NGO’s & Other Agencies
• Social Audit
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
• Success of MGNREGA largely depends on Social
Mobilisation at the bottom
• Political Commitment at the top
• Bureaucratic Commitment
• Decentralized Participatory Planning
• Sound technical support to Panchayats in planning
& execution of works
• Capacity Building
• Transparency & Accountability at all levels of
implementation
• Active involvement of Civil Society Organizations
THANKS