People And Their Problems

New Delhi, 17 February 2007

New Dawn For India

NREG: BOON TO RURAL AREAS

By T.D. Jagadesan

Ever since the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre launched the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme in 200 districts across the country covering 27 States, the ground realities point to conspicuous changes in the life of the rural poor. As of now, 1.36 crore people have been provided employment out of 1.40 crore who have demanded. In all, 3,663 lakh persons  have been provided employment under the programme, about which the President and the Prime Minister are most enthusiastic.

As many as 3,41,543 works have been taken up under the scheme in 85,000 panchayats.  Most of the works under the Scheme aim at upgrading rural infrastructure by reviving local ponds, creating water harvesting facilities and other such beneficial activities. The Scheme has fired the imagination of not only the languishing poor, but also the farmers.

In fact, the Scheme is opening up more job opportunities for the rural masses by upgrading essential infrastructure that holds the key to the people’s economic empowerment against mounting demand for jobs. The things would doubtlessly change for the better when the Centre extends the Scheme for all the 583 districts in the country within the stipulated deadline of five years. Seeing the usefulness and popularity of the scheme, the State Governments are already demanding the extension of NREG to more districts.

As of now, over 3,51,80,105 applications have been received for registration for employment under the Scheme in 27 States and 2,78,87,411 job cards have been issued.  The growth trend is significant when compared to the position in May 2006 when 2,44,77,877 applications for registration were received and 1,70,89,915 job cards were issued.  What is worth nothing is the shrinking gap between the demand for employment and the jobs provided. The latest figure suggests that 1.40 crore registrants asked for employment out of which 1.36 crore persons have been provided with jobs.  There is hardly any gap between the demand for employment and the availability of jobs.

Under the NREG Act, the job card is a legal document that entitles a person to ask for work and should get the same within 15 days of the demand.  If employment is not provided within the stipulated period, he is entitled to daily unemployment allowance in cash. In 2005-2006 the Union Ministry released Rs.2,367.56 crore to 27 States where the Scheme is being implemented. For the current year, 50 per cent of the funds allocated under NREG have been released to the States and half of the released funds have been utilized.

A review report of the Scheme by the Union Ministry in April had identified the problem in issuing the job cards and shortage of registration forms at the gram panchayat level. Now, there are no such problems at all. As a result, the Scheme is set to reach 1,65,70,504 people below the poverty line in 200 NREG districts.

The break-up of 200 districts identified by the Planning Commission being covered in the first phase is: Bihar 23, Jharkhand 20, M.P. 18, Maharashtra 12, Uttar Pradesh 22, West Bengal 10, Uttaranchal 13, Tamil Nadu 6, Tripura 1, Sikkim 1, Rajasthan 6, Punjab 1, Mizoram 2, Meghalaya 2, Manipur 1, Kerala 2, Karnataka 5, J&K 3, H.P. 2, Haryana 2, Gujarat 6, Chhattisgarh 11, Assam 7, Arunachal Pradesh 1, Andhra Pradesh 13 and Orissa 19.  Union Rural Development Ministry has proposed Rs.16,419 crore for NREG in 200 districts.

Notified in February 2006, the NREG Act aims at securing livelihood of the people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of employment in a financial year to a rural household.  Under the Scheme, every registrant eligible for job is given a job card that entitles him to ask for work under the NREG Act and get the same within 15 days of the demand for work.  If employment is not provided within 15 days to a person, he is entitled to daily unemployment allowance in cash.  Under the Act, Gram Sabha would recommend works, and Gram Panchayat would execute at least 50 per cent of works.

Though a recent review found as many as 12-13 States wanting in utilizing the funds under the NREG Scheme, repeated reminders and queries from the Union Rural Development Ministry under Raghuvansh Prasad Singh have shown inffective results.  These States are Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

After the review of implementation process in these States, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had found the pace of utilization of funds in these States as below average.  The Ministry had released Rs.205 lakh to these States for imparting training to NREG’s functionaries. So far, the expenditure on the NREG in all States has been 30.94 per cent against a total availability of Rs.6,048 crore.

The latest break-up of works undertaken in different States includes Andhra Pradesh, 47,156, Assam 4,065, Bihar 21,918, Chhattisgarh 11,177, Gujarat 2,970, Himachal Pradesh 3,744, Jammu and Kashmir 1,102, Jharkhand 23,261, Karnataka 7,321, Madhya Pradesh 1,23,313, Orissa 27,826, Punjab 1,153, Rajasthan 14,467, Tamil Nadu, 3782, Uttaranchal 2,685, Tripura 1,399, Uttar Pradesh 31,797, and West Bengal 11,350. The women account for over 42 per cent jobs in the NREG; SC beneficiaries are estimated to be over 23 per cent and ST beneficiaries around 43 per cent.

As per the Census 2001, there are 5,40,08,069 rural households in all the 27 States where the NREG scheme is being implemented, out of which an estimated 1,65,70,504 families are living below the poverty line.  Hence, a scheme like NREG is the need of hour to address the economic constraints of such a huge population in sustainable manner.

Since the response to the scheme by all account is overwhelming, there is no denying the fact that NREG is going down well with the target groups in rural areas. In Andhra Pradesh, 43,80,650 registrants have been issued the job cards, whereas in Bihar 17,21,655 persons have been issued the job cards against the applications of 26,06,450 for registration.

The major States where the job cards have been issued to all the genuine registrants include Chhattisgarh 16,80,902, Gujarat 6,11,026, Jharkhand 1,04,239, M.P. 43,81,801, Maharashtra 10,94,659, Orissa 22,61,284, Rajasthan 14,23,013, Tamil Nadu 20,83,205, Uttar Pradesh 30,01,818 and West Bengal 34,14,961.

It is amply clear that more and more people are coming forward to use the NREG opportunity to get themselves economically empowered. ---INFA

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