The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been pivotal in providing rural employment and mitigating income loss, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent studies, such as one conducted by Azim Premji University, highlight that MGNREGA helped compensate for 20-80% of the income losses caused by the lockdown in various states like Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. However, a significant issue arose, with 39% of households not receiving a single day of work during the pandemic, largely due to the lack of work sanctioned.
What is MGNREGA?
Background: Launched in
2005 by the Ministry of Rural Development,
MGNREGA is one of the world's largest work guarantee programs, aimed at providing
employment security to rural households. The scheme guarantees
100 days of employment per year for every
adult member of a rural household, who is willing to engage in
public work-related unskilled manual labor.
Key Features:- Legal Right to Work:
- MGNREGA is designed as a rights-based framework to combat chronic poverty. Unlike previous employment schemes, it ensures legal entitlement to employment.
- If an adult worker does not get work within 15 days of demand, they are entitled to an unemployment allowance.
- Women’s Participation:
- At least one-third of the beneficiaries must be women, ensuring gender inclusivity.
- Wages:
- The wages paid must align with the statutory minimum wages set under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
- Demand-Driven:
- The scheme is demand-driven, meaning workers can self-select for available work.
- The decentralized nature allows Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to plan, recommend, and execute works at the local level.
- Decentralized Planning:
- Gram Sabhas play a crucial role in recommending works to be undertaken, and 50% of works must be executed by the local bodies.
Challenges in the Implementation of MGNREGA
Despite its significant role in providing employment, MGNREGA faces several challenges that hinder its effectiveness:
- Delay and Insufficiency in Fund Disbursement:
- Many states fail to pay workers within the mandated 15 days, leading to delays and disinterest among workers.
- The Ministry of Finance has acknowledged that these delays are often due to insufficient funds.
- Caste-Based Segregation:
- There is a disparity in payment timelines based on caste, with Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) workers facing longer delays compared to others.
- This issue is more prominent in poorer states like Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
- Ineffective Role of Panchayats:
- Gram Panchayats face challenges in executing MGNREGA effectively due to lack of autonomy and resources, reducing their ability to deliver timely work.
- Incomplete Works:
- Delays in the completion of works and irregular project inspections have been issues.
- The quality of work and the asset creation under MGNREGA have been questioned.
- Fake Job Cards:
- There are significant concerns regarding fake job cards, such as the inclusion of fictitious names, missing entries, and delays in updating job cards, which complicate the functioning of the program.
Road Ahead
To address these challenges and improve MGNREGA’s implementation, several steps can be taken:
- Improved Coordination and Timely Disbursal:
- Better coordination between government departments is necessary for efficient work allocation and prompt wage disbursal.
- Discrepancies in payouts, particularly the wage gap between men and women (with women earning 22.24% less), need to be addressed.
- State Government Action:
- State governments should ensure that public works are initiated in every village and that workers are immediately provided with work upon arrival at the worksite.
- Local bodies should actively engage with returned migrant workers and help them secure job cards.
- Strengthen Panchayats:
- Gram Panchayats need to be empowered with adequate resources, powers, and responsibilities to sanction works and ensure timely wage payments without delays.
- Convergence with Other Schemes:
- MGNREGA should be aligned with other government schemes such as the Green India Initiative and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to create synergies and enhance the impact of rural employment programs.
Key TakeawaysBy addressing these challenges and ensuring more effective execution,
MGNREGA can continue to serve as a
critical tool for rural development, providing employment, improving infrastructure, and supporting livelihoods in rural India.