the significance and limitations of indias national rural employment guarantee act 1203679784232090...

7/30/2019 The Significance and Limitations of Indias National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 1203679784232090 5 [Compatibility Mode] [Repaired]

1/22

THE SIGNIFICANCE AND LIMITATIONSOF INDIAS NATIONAL RURAL

EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT IN

ADDRESSING RURAL POVERTY

Smita Gupta


2/22

The post-1990s are marked by the pursuit of neo-liberal policies:

Deflationary macroeconomic policies and falling public

development expenditure as pc of GDP on public works,

employment generation, rural infrastructure, social services,etc.

Trade liberalization with farmers loosing protection against

international price fluctuations

Structural Adjustment Policies resulting in higher input

costs and withdrawal of the state from credit, extension

services, procurement, price support and infrastructure.

An unparalleled and comprehensive crisis took firm root

in rural India, resulting in peasant suicides, starvation

deaths, impoverishment, and hunger.


3/22

RURAL CRISISGrowing unemployment and underemployment

Falling purchasing powerDeclining per capita availability of foodgrains

Reduced farm incomes and real wage growth

Indebtedness and land alienation, esp. for

small and marginal farmers.

Deceleration in agricultural growth, productivity

per worker and rural non-agricultural employment

growthSlackening pace of poverty reduction and

worsening poverty amongst marginalized social

groups and ethnic minorities


4/22


5/22

Broadly speaking, three different positions are taken

on NREGS:

Left-Keynesian: it is both desirable and feasible

for broad-based equitable growth to reviveagriculture and the rural economy by the creation

of productive assets and the multiplier effects of

demand expansion in a situation of excess

capacity, unemployment and idle resources. Neo-liberal: It is neither desirable nor feasible on

the grounds of non-affordability, corruption, and

preference for human capital and infrastructure-

led growth models. Liberal: it is the human face of globalization, a

kind of social safety net which is desirable but

feasible only under very restricted conditions of

fiscal discipline.


6/22

The Employment Guarantee Act is a step

towards the right to work, as an aspectof the fundamental right to live withdignity

It is a recognition that the state cannotretreat from rural development and isresponsible to ensure food and

livelihood security for the masses

The neo-liberal state had begun to i ntervene more and more aggressively against the poor and r ural In dia. The NREGA is a recognition that the state cannot retreat fr om pro-poordevelopment and i s responsible to ensure food and l ivelihood security


7/22

The National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act 2005 is a law whereby

any adult who is willing to do unskilledmanual work at the minimum wage isentitled to being employed on local

public works within 15 days ofapplying, with a guarantee of 100days of unskilled manual work per

household per yearCurrently it covers half of ruralIndia, to be extended to the rest

within 4 years


8/22

NREGS is a demand driven

programme and employment is tobe provided to eligible workers on

demand, within 15 days.

Step 1 Registration

Step 2 Verification

Step 3 Issuing Job CardsStep 4 Application


9/22

Unemployment allowances

If Employment is not provided within 15 days of receipt of application,

the worker shall be entitled to a daily Unemployment allowance(7(1))

Rates (7(2))

For First 30 days

For the remaining period of theFinancial year

Employment wage +Unemployment

allowance

One fourth of the wage rate.

Not less than one half of the

wage rate

Equal to the wages for 100

days of work in a financialyear (7(3d))


10/22

Minimum Wage

A person working for 7 hours would normally earn a

wage equal to the wage rate(SchI(8))

Minimum wage fixed by the state Government

under the minimum wage Act,1948;

Centre may fix wages, at not less than Sixty rupeesper day (6(1))

The Act permits productivitylinked wages under

piece rate, with due protection


11/22

Mandatory Worksite Facilities for laborers

Safe drinking water

Shade for children and periods of rest

First-aid Box for emergency treatment andminor injuries

Depute one woman worker to look after five

or more children below the age of six years ofwomen laborers at the wage rate


12/22

Permissible works in order of priority(SchI(1))

water conservation;

drought proofing ; irrigation canals including micro and minor irrigation works; provision of irrigation facility to land owned by households

belonging to the SCs and STs or to land of land reforms andIndira Awas Yojana beneficiaries;

renovation of traditional water bodies; land development;

flood control and protection works; rural connectivity to provide all-weather access; and any other work which may be notified by the Central

Government in consultation with the State Government.


13/22

5/24/2013

OUTCOMES [field reports]

Reduction in distress out-migration due toavailability of additional income and work

creation and repair of rural infrastructure like roadsand water bodies

Retention of children in school and purchase ofbooks for them

Greater interest in local area development due to flowof funds and village meetings

Changing local dynamics in many places with therecognition by workers that they are right holders

Expansion in membership and activities of workers

and peasant organizations


14/22

NREGA and Poverty Reduc tion

Potential: NREGA holds a huge promise for poverty reduction

with a supplementary average annual household income of Rs

6000. for this, wages, work days and aggregate expenditure on

the Scheme should be high if the Programme has to make anysignificant dent on poverty. Creation of social and economic

infrastructure too would go a long way in reducing poverty.

Experience: The poverty reducing potential is severelyundermined through:

non-recognition of eligible persons as right holders;

inability to make claims due to imposition of a host of arbitrary

and discretionary eligibility conditions;

non-fulfilment of entitlements guaranteed under the Act, in

particular days of work and wages;

restrictions on the nature of permissible works;

absence of work in the most food-deficit rainy season due to

focus on manual labour and earth works


15/22

CURTAILMENT OF ENTITLEMENTS

A. Definition of Household

On the basis of common kitchen not nuclear family,number of eligible workers per household >3

This reduces per capita entitlements

Disenfranchises female headed households and

widowed/separated/estranged married daughters innatal and marital homes

B. Exclusion of Eligible Persons

ElderlyMigrants

Lack of documentary evidence not required by the law

Divorced/widowed/separated women in natal/marital

homes as se arate nuclear households


16/22

Percentage Rural HouseholdsIssuedJobcard

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

AndhraPradesh

ArunachalPradesh

AssamBihar

ChhattisgarhGujarat

Haryana

HimachalPradesh

Jammu&KashmirJharkhand

KarnatakaKerala

MadhyaPradesh

MaharashtraManipur

MeghalayaMizoramNagalandOrissa

Punjab

RajasthanSikkim

TamilNaduTripu

ra

UttarPradesh

Uttaranchal

WestBengal AllIndia

State

ercenage


17/22

C. Non-payment Of Minimum Wages

Workers are earning no more than 40 to 60 per cent

of minimum wage, ranging from Rs 16 to Rs 40 perday

Due to unrealistically high work norms under

productivity linked piece rates;Inadequate identification of the component tasks;

No differentiation for the elderly, women and ecology;

Administrative inadequacies in task specification, soil

identification, lift and lead provision, measurement,

both in terms of procedures and adequacy of staff


18/22

D. INADEQUATE WORK

GENERATION DUE TO

RIGIDITIES IN PERMISSIBLEWORKS AND

ADMINISTRATIVEINADEQUACIES


19/22

WorkDaysPer RegisteredHousehol

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

AndhraPradesh

ArunachalPradeshAssamBihar

Chhattisgarh Gujarat

Haryana

HimachalPradesh

Jammu&KashmirJharkhandKarnatakaKerala

MadhyaPradesh

MaharashtraManipur

MeghalayaMizoram

NagalandOrissa

Punjab

RajasthanSikkim

TamilNaduTripura

UttarPradesh

Uttaranchal

WestBengal AllIndia

States

orays


20/22

E. INADEQUATE WORKSITE FACILITIES

F. NON-PAYMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT

ALLOWANCE OR COMPENSATION

All these combine to result in

G. UNDERUTILIZATION OF FUNDS ANDLOW EXPENDITURE


21/22

Financial Performance During 2006-0

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Andhra

Prades

h

Arunac

halPra

desh A

ssamBiha

r

Chhattisgarh

Gujarat

Haryana

Himac

halPra

desh

Jammu

&Kashm

ir

Jhar

khand

KarnatakaKe

rala

Mad

hya

Prades

h

Maharas

htra

Man

ipur

Meg

halaya

Mizoram

NagalandO

rissaPunjab

Rajasthan

Sikkim

Tam

ilNadu

Tripura

UttarPra

desh

Uttaranc

hal

WestBenga

lAllIndia

States

Percentage

Expend

itureagainstT

otal

Avai

lable

Funds


22/22

CONCLUSION

Teething trouble apart, the same forces offiscal conservatism that earlier tried todilute the Act are now trying to curtailentitlements and minimize expenditure

However, the NREGA offers anunprecedented opportunity to initiatebroad-based growth through povertyreducing employment generation and

consequent demand expansion Therefore, the recent reports of

mobilization and struggles by rural workersfor the full and proper implementation of

the NREGA is good news!

the significance and limitations of indias national rural employment guarantee act 1203679784232090...

Documents