NREGA must create sustainable livelihood, say Indian experts
A memorandum was presented to the Rural Development minister by members of Indian anti-poverty network WNTA, urging the government to address poverty through effective implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The memorandum contains recommendations emerging out of a recently held national consultation in New Delhi.
New Delhi: A memorandum with recommendations emerging from the National Consultation on NREGA held on May 16, 2008 in New Delhi was submitted by members of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan to Rural Development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.
More than 200 participants including members of the NREGA Council, officials responsible for the implementation of NREGA across states and representatives of the Union Ministry and State Departments of Rural Development were present on this occasion
The minister said that only 15 paisa goes to the poor is disproved by the effective reach of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). “Wages for NREGA works now go directly into 1.4 crore bank accounts, belonging to the workers, to ensure transparency. However, there is a need to counter the myths propagated by the ‘anti-poor, anti-rural’ lobby in the country to ensure that NREGA succeeds, he said.
Whether it is the creation of long term assets at the village level, the development of land belonging to Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes or the increased demand for work, the first phase of NREGA has been successful and our work now is to strengthen these outcomes in the second phase”, said Singh.
Challenging the veracity of the criticism that has been levelled against the scheme, Singh said that across the country NREGA has unleashed a silent revolution by forcing the government and private employers to provide minimum wages to the poorest of the poor, which no other government has been able to ensure since Independence.
K S Gopal, Director CEC and member of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan said “The consultation brings together practitioners to share what works on the ground, what the main challenges are and the ‘best practices’ that can be taken up by the government,”.
Aruna Roy social activist and member of the NREGA Council stated that NREGA has increased the bargaining power of the poorest of the poor at every stage from demanding a job card to ensuring legitimate wages for work.
The control of distress migration in villages is another significant outcome that has been achieved through NREGA. She however pointed out the need for civil society groups to work actively with local panchayats to ensure that elderly workers, disabled persons and nomadic tribes who do not fall in the ambit of the scheme, are also included.
Researcher Deepak Xavier from the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability shared that during 2006-07, NREGS created more than 90 crore person days of employment in 200 districts compared to 83 crore person days per year together by SGRY and NFFWP in 586 districts during 2001-06
Participants urged the government to increase investments for the functioning of and capacity building of Gram Sabhas for proper implementation and effective monitoring of the programme. The minister acknowledged that people’s participation in planning and pro-active role of Gram Sabhas is key to the programme.
The two-day national consultation culminated with a Policy Dialogue on NREGA and Right to Work.
Sudhakar Reddy, MP and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Labour stated that “NREGA is a well-intended Act. It has helped in preventing the migration of people to the urban areas. The rural people are now in a position to pay back all that they get from the state. This has also contributed in enhancing the quality of the life in the rural areas.”
However, he added that there are a few areas that need to be looked into, for e.g. works are given when the agricultural work is at its peak. He emphasised that the Panchayats must play key role in enhancing the NREGA work.
Chandra Mitra, MP too agreed that this is an ambitious and well intended Act but stated that “there is a need to revisit the scheme for the awareness is very low and this is not target-oriented, just demand driven".
In his opinion, there is a need for regional variations in the introduction of this scheme; it should be region-specific and all the procedures should be simplified. Any design regarding the implementation should take into consideration the topography of the land. The success of NREGA cannot only depend on central government; the state governments too take responsibility in this regard.
