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
Potential for sustainable Poverty Reduction linked to
Natural Resource Management
Need to deconstruct – unlearn the past
Good working model has emerged
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
Additional not substituted
For Poverty Reduction – from work to skill
Ultimately self-liquidating
Natural Resource Management
Watershed Management
Land Development
Soil and water conservation
Micro Irrigation
Horticulture
Eco Restoration
Forest Work
River rejuvenation
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL
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
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