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National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). Government of India Ministry of Rural Development. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005(NREGA). Structure of Presentation -Legal Design: Processes and Issues -Implementation Issues - Stepping out of/Stretching the Legal Box..? .

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National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)

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  1. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) Government of India Ministry of Rural Development Ministry of Rural Development

  2. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005(NREGA) • Structure of Presentation -Legal Design: Processes and Issues -Implementation Issues - Stepping out of/Stretching the Legal Box..? Ministry of Rural Development

  3. NREGAProcess of Law Making • Almost two years of wide debate and consultation across the nation: multiple voices, fears, hopes, myths and sober facts. • Process of debate continues after legislation • Opportunity of making NREGA a People’s Act.. Ministry of Rural Development

  4. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005(NREGA) • Enacted August, 2005 • Legal Guarantee of 100 days of employment in a financial year • To every rural household • Whose adult members volunteer • To do unskilled manual work • At the minimum wage rate prescribed in the State. • or else an unemployment allowance Ministry of Rural Development

  5. Rationale for NREGA • Opportunity for lean season support. • 100 days supplement to existing resources • Reduce distress migration through local employment • Address the ‘Geography of poverty’ • Generate employment in the most deprived areas through productive works • works that rejuvenate the natural resource base of livelihood of poor communities. Ministry of Rural Development

  6. NREGA LEGAL DESIGN Ministry of Rural Development

  7. Key Processes: Demand for Employment Rural Household Registration Application Gram Panchayat (GP) Verification- local residence not poverty, employment Registration Employment Demand GP Job Card HH Dated Receipt Work allocation 15 days of Demand Else Unemployment Allowance Facilities: Creche,medical aid,water Work- Site Muster roll with Job Card Nos. Measurement Wages-15 days Ministry of Rural Development

  8. Key Processes:Selection of Works Gram Panchayat finalises Village Plan Gram Sabha Recommends 50% Programme Officer -Block- Panchayat Consolidates village Plans:Block Plan Other agencies Programme Coordinator- District-Panchayat Final shelf of Projects • Water conservation, land development • Afforestation,roads, other works • 60:40, labour:material • No contractors,machinery Ministry of Rural Development

  9. Critical Issues:Design-Safeguarding local workforce Rights • Time Bound Action to fulfill legal Guarantee • Incentive Structure for Performance (Centre funds 90% of costs of generating employment) • Disincentive for non performance (Unemployment allowance is state liability) • Demand Triggers employment. -Checks arbitrary action of supply side in opening works heedless of employment needs • Numbered Muster rolls for each work issued by the Programme Officer (checks false muster rolls) • Muster rolls to mention Job Card number (Checks false names/Contractors) Ministry of Rural Development

  10. Critical Issues:Design-Transparency& Accountability • Right to Information -Compulsory display through public notice of all essential information -Public access to records and information • Information Technology enabled information system for easy access to critical information • Social Audit by Gram Sabha • Annual Reports on outcomes to the Parliament and the state legislature mandated • Addresses problem of no Public Accountability in early WEPs Ministry of Rural Development

  11. Critical Issues:DesignResource Availability • Demand Based Budget Allocation • Non- Lapsable National Fund • Revolving Funds at each level: sufficient funds to plan and respond • Indigenous funding. 90% by the Government of India, 10% by State Govts. Ministry of Rural Development

  12. NREGA Critical Issues: Implementation Ministry of Rural Development

  13. ImplementationEarly Trends • Central Government notified NREGA on February 2, 2006 in 200 Districts • In five years entire country • About 1.61 crore households have received job cards • About 72 lakh persons demanded employment. About 52 lakh persons provided employment. Women large share. About 72,000 works being executed. Ministry of Rural Development

  14. 1. Articulating Demand- Voice of Poor -General Awareness. Making choices. - But need for greater information specially about entitlements -Need for Work but not yet familiar with process of Demand • Strategic response: -Emphasis on Community mobilization: -Communication • Supply Vs Demand:Complex relationship Ministry of Rural Development

  15. 2. Planning for Employment-Labour Budget • Planning in Advance: Labour Budget to be ready for each successive year well in advance. Forecasting seasonality, intensity of employment demand. • Matching Household employment demands with community Works • Insufficient capacity, poor coordination. • Strategic response: Capacity Building: staff, skills, expertise, infrastructure – GP level upwards Ministry of Rural Development

  16. 3. Choice of works • Challenge: labour intensive and durable asset. What People want and what is desirable for sustainable development. • Not easy choices • Strategic response: -Making District Perspective Plans: estimating resources and benefits in terms of employment, asset and other productivity indicators. Integrating NREGA works with other livelihood and infrastructure initiatives -Designing Prototype Projects: eg. watershed Ministry of Rural Development

  17. 4. Form of Wage Payment -Cash transfer from Centre. No Food. Earlier WEP food transfers fraught with leakages. -Cheque systems being encouraged -Reading out muster rolls and payments before local community – needs to be insisted upon . Ministry of Rural Development

  18. 5. Creating a Data Base: A web-based Management of Information System being operationalised • Accessible at http://nrega.nic.in • Can work online as well as offline • Data generated at Gram Panchayat level captured at Block • Reports generated on the basis of primary data Ministry of Rural Development

  19. Critical Issues:Implementation 6. Monitoring & Evaluation • Central Council being set up: Major role in M&E • Intensive external/internal M&E initiated: Delivery structures/processes,impact on household, worksite,legal design. • Use feed back to facilitate problem-solving interventions Ministry of Rural Development

  20. 7. Transparency and Accountability • Continue to be issues • Legal design makes them central concerns. State Govts willing to partner with civil society organisations. Eg.:MKSS’S Social Audit in Rajasthan. Starting in AP. • RTI. Ministry of Rural Development

  21. 8. Equity : • As a distributive concept is intrinsic to programme: -Work Measurement: Schedule of Rural rates -. Valuing each activity.( work done by women often not counted). Work Time and Motion Studies-gender sensitive. • Equal remuneration An Area of serious concern needing concerted effort • Work site facilities Need to be more than just a flimsy overhead canopy. Ministry of Rural Development

  22. 9. Empowering Workers Leveraging the Act –Voice of the Poor • Can access to resources move towards control over resources? Negotiating local power structures on more equal terms? • More than a distributive understanding of Equity -Developing capabilities:literacy. -Converging with livelihood initiatives for sustainable employment. -Organisation of Workers • Not a welfare option. Necessary Dialectic that needs to be understood to strategise towards. Ministry of Rural Development

  23. If the Act delivers.. • Mitigate hard times • Household earnings may increase through 100 days supplement • Strengthen natural resource base of livelihood and build community assets • Quantum of fiscal resources needed for wage employment programmes may reduce • Because of better targeting-Mirror of Poverty • Possible spin off: - more schooling for children of migrant families, - Women greater participation in work force:more voice? Ministry of Rural Development

  24. If the Act delivers, then… • Step out/ Stretch the Legal Box? If the Act delivers, it should really deliver beyond itself. • Legal Design may evolve based on experience: -Open up ‘Works’ to include social services -Skill development/skilled works-to include other forms of rural unemployment: artisans? • Problem of Targeting(self-targeting through hard labour), complexities of planning (market,technology,credit) • Stay within Box: (Numbers within it may reduce with a growing economy) Strengthen integration mechanisms with the development environment Ministry of Rural Development

  25. Thanks Ministry of Rural Development

  26. Rural India • Population: 1.19 billion [total population] • %age of Rural Population: 72.22% • States:28 • Districts:602 • Villages: 638,365 Ministry of Rural Development

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