Review of MGNREGA

Why in News

A data analysis by LibTech India for April-September 2023 reveals a 7.5% reduction in the number of active MGNREGA workers.

About MGNREGA

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,2005 is an act to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Key Features

Significance of MGNREGA

• Employment generation: which ensured livelihood for people in rural areas.  According to the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) 2021 report, MGNREGS reduced poverty by up to 32 per cent from 2004-05 to 2011-12.
• Asset creation:  The programme mandates that at least 60 percent of the works undertaken must be related to land and water conservation. This creation of infrastructure aids in rural development.
  • For instance, the water conservation structures built under MGNREGA have potentially conserved at least 28,741 million cubic metres of water in the past 15 years. 
• Rural economic stability: The Economic Survey,2023 credited the scheme with having a positive impact on income per household, agricultural productivity, and production-related expenditure. It added that this helped with “income diversification and infusing resilience into rural livelihoods”.
• Inclusive development: MGNREGA has assured the participation of vulnerable sections such as women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) and other traditionally marginalized sections of society.
  • Eg: MGNREGA has led to the formation of the country’s largest group of trained women well-diggers in Pookkottukavu village of Kerala’s Palakkad district. 
• Transparency: Under the MGNREGA, 99% wage seekers are receiving their wage directly into their Bank/Post Office accounts. (Source: PIB)It is a big step towards transparency and timely release of wages.
• Address water crisis: The Mission Amrit Sarovar works through the States and Districts with convergence from MGNREGA Scheme.
• Prevents distress migration: As it assures 100 days of employment, it provides a suitable alternative for people who have seasonal employment.
  • For instance, distress migration has stopped in Bandlapalli village in Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapuramu district and the village is drought-proof today.
• Encourage skill development: Since 2019, the central government had decided to pay a daily allowance of up to Rs 250 to a casual labourer undergoing skill training for specialised work.
  • Eg: Under Project UNNATI, as of 15th December 2022, 27,383 candidates have been trained.(PIB)
• Promotes grassroot democracy and strengthens rural Social Cohesion.

CHALLENGES:

• Low wage rate: Despite several judicial interventions, MGNREGA wage rates in many states continue to be less than the corresponding state minimum wages.
  • For Eg: MGNREGA wages in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh  are at the lowest levels of ?221.
• Insufficient budget allocation: Union Budget allocated only ?60,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme for 2023-24. That is 18% lower than the ?73,000 crore budget estimates for the current year, and 33% lower than the ?89,000 crore revised estimates for the scheme.
• Actual working days: While the mandate is to provide at least 100 days of wage employment, the data available on the official portal reveals that as on January 20, the average days of employment provided per household is 42 days.
• Workers penalised for administrative lapses: The ministry withholds wage payments for workers of states that do not meet administrative requirements within the stipulated time period (Eg: submission of the previous financial year’s audited fund statements).
• Delay in payment of wages: Most states have failed to disburse wages within 15 days as mandated by MGNREGA.  In addition, workers are not compensated for a delay in payment of wages.
• Non-payment of unemployment allowances: Most states do not pay an unemployment allowance when work is not given on demand.  The non-issuance of dated receipts of demanded work prevents workers from claiming an unemployment allowance.
• Large number of incomplete works: There has been a delay in the completion of works under MGNREGA and inspection of projects has been irregular.
• Poor quality of assets created: There is no monitoring mechanism to ensure that assets created meet the required standards. Also, there is limited incentive for workers or local governing bodies to maintain the assets created under MGNREGA.  
• Corruption: There are several issues related to existence of fake job cards, inclusion of fictitious names, missing entries and delays in making entries in job cards.
  • Eg: In 2018, Rural Development and Panchayath Raj (RDPR) report pointed out that in FY18 alone, 596 cases were registered against officials and non-officials for violation of rules and guidelines.
• Technical Glitches in software applications like the NMMS app has led to inaccurate attendance marking and geotagging.
• Too much centralization: The real-time MIS-based implementation and a centralised payment system has left the representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions with limited role in implementation, monitoring and grievance redress of MGNREGA schemes

WAY FORWARD:

• Assure 100 days of work: The state governments should ensure that the stipulated 100 days of employment is provided to the households.
• Mandatory social audit: NITI Aayog, in its three-year action agenda, has stated that periodic social audits by an independent unit must be mandatorily held for MNREGA.
• Enhanced Budgetary allocation: The Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in 2022 had recommended increased budgetary allocation and increased person-days to MGNREGA. 
• Increase the number of working days: The government can enhance the number of days to 150-200 days depending on the vulnerability in a particular state.
  • For eg: Odisha and Himachal Pradesh have added 50 days and made it 150 days in a year.
• Frequent monitoring: Parliamentary Committee had recommended that the frequency of monitoring by National Level Monitors should increase and appropriate measures should be taken by states based on their recommendations. 
  • For constant monitoring and maintenance of water work, the government can get the support of communities and civil society organizations like the Paani Foundation.
• Punishment of offenses: Offences such as not recording employment related information in job cards and unlawful possession of job cards with elected PRI representatives and MGNREGA functionaries should be made punishable under the Act.
• Provisions for Divyang: Special works must be identified for people with disabilities and special job cards must be issued to ensure their participation.
• Capacity building: Training and capacity building of elected representatives and other functionaries of PRIs must be done regularly as it will facilitate their involvement in the implementation of MGNREGA.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q: Critically examine whether the MGNREGA scheme has been able to address the issue of rural distress.(250W)