About a year ago, when the cry of “Hisab do, jawab do (Be accountable, answer the people)” rose in Uttar Pradesh, it became clear that the path ahead was going to be littered with thorns for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). Controversies emerging from social audits in Dungarpur (Rajasthan), Anantpur (Andhra Pradesh) and Palamau (Jharkhand) and the resulting uproar showed that NREGA was prey to the usual malaise affecting government schemes. Despite the exclusion of contractors and strict regulations for payment of wages, media reports, surveys and research reports present a shocking state of affairs after three years of NREGA’s implementation.
To begin with, the conceptualization of the scheme had inherent flaws. And those at the grass-roots level are acutely aware of this. “NREGA is a shining example of decentralization of power in the age of gram swarajya (village self-rule),” says Dayaveer Singh of Behror, Rajasthan. “The gram panchayats were to play a leading role in the implementation and operation of this scheme. The policymakers believed that only the panchayat committees were capable of registering the rural workers. But they were unaware that, even after so many years of Panchayati Raj, the village panchayats are dependent on government officials right from block level to district level.”
“There is no independent Secretary or pradhan for NREGA like the block chief (Secretary). If there is no Secretary for each panchayat at the block level, one Secretary looks after two or three panchayats. He has the additional burden of NREGA,” says Harishankar Singh of Nawada district, Bihar. Employment Secretary for NREGA sounds an important post but, in fact, his inexperience in issues pertaining to rural development result in the failure of development programmes.
“The patwari takes Rs 30 to 50 per person to make a job card,” says Kedar Pande of Bhabhua. District council members in Sitamarhi have filed a complaint that officials do not issue the NREGA dues without deducting their commission. There are reports from UP about workers being paid less than minimum wages. The tribals of various blocks of Bolangir district in Orissa do not get work. “Their job cards have been kept by Village Level Workers. They are compelled by the local administration to put their signature or thumb impression saying they were provided work for 100 days and they are paid Rs 3,000 to 4,000. The remaining amount is drawn by the block-level government officials,” says Bal Gopal Mishra, ex-MLA of Luisinga.
“The main challenge is to ensure that rural workers are able to secure their entitlements under the Act, including not only work on demand but also minimum wages, payment within 15 days, essential worksite facilities, and so on,” says Kishore Sahu of Kusurla village in Kalahandi, Orissa.
One of NREGA’s major drawbacks is the household approach. It has led to much confusion, especially as the term “household” is not well defined in the Act. Taking the individual worker as the basic unit throughout the system would help to streamline NREGA records and achieve transparency. This approach would also facilitate equal participation of women in NREGA. Women would have their own job cards and bank accounts, instead of depending on the goodwill of male relatives. “One person, one job card, one bank account” should be the basic principle.
A question also arises regarding the parameters for NREGA’s success. Is success to be determined by distributing job cards to a large number of people and providing them 100 days of employment, or by providing access to sustainable means of income by optimum utilization of local resources? Can the scheme be deemed successful if the allocated amount has been spent without fraud?
Another factor hampering success is vested interests. “Over 160 districts of 14 states are in the grip of extremists. Why would these outfits let NREGA be successful when they are staunchly opposed to the system and administration?” points out Vinit Kumar of Raipur.
Also, the need for such a scheme is not uniform. “In areas like Rohtas-Kaimur-Bhagalpur, there is large consumption of manpower in paddy cultivation or other types of agrarian activities. So wage labourers come here to work. The wage under NREGA is Rs 108 per head per day in Rohtas district of Bihar, whereas the labourers are paid Rs 120 per day. There is no seasonal or other kind of migration from here, so there is no need for NREGA in our area,” says local journalist Alok Chamaria of Sasaram.
Some economists say NREGA activists are messing up the labour market by creating “artificial” employment. “NREGA is preventing labour from going to high demand markets and thereby giving rise to a shortage of labour,” laments Bal Gopal Mishra. The reality is that this is enhancing bargaining power by providing alternative employment opportunities.
“This is not a bad thing. It does mean that employers in those areas may have to pay higher wages, and perhaps even the minimum wage,” says Jean Dreze, economist and key architect of NREGA. But it is a well known fact that in far too many instances guilty officials are not punished, social audits are not followed up, payment of wages is delayed and violence against those seeking to make the scheme work goes unchecked.
“Employment guarantee schemes based on agrarian thinking are needed today. But the situation demands that they have a scientific basis,” says Dr Vijaypani Pande, a Ranchi-based social scientist. “In the absence of this, NREGA’s promise of 100 days’ employment to the uneducated and ignorant masses and its claims to benefit the poor seem to be alienated from the real needs of the common man.”
