On The Job

Though it has provided only 96 lakh jobs, many of which are being disputed, the UPA Government's flagship scheme is slowly beginning to change rural life in some states

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JOBLESS NO MORE: Wage-earners at the Tilgara stopdam in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, built under the NREGA

The UPA's flagship scheme to emancipate rural India was enacted in August 2005 after two years of intense debate. Designed by the National Advisory Council (NAC), it gives a legal guarantee to every rural household that 100 days of manual labour would be given to at least one family member in a year as a safety net during lean seasons.

In the past six months, after being kicked off in February 2006 in 200 poor districts across 27 states, the allegations have only got fiercer and lost in the din are the ground realities. While the focus has been on reports of non-payment of wages, inflated muster rolls and hijacking of the funds by ruling parties which have registered their workers as job-seekers, 96.40 lakh people or more than 96 per cent of the poor who wanted, have got jobs under NREGA. Job cards have been issued to 2.62 crore rural households against 3.41 crore applications. States have used Rs 2,208 crore-a quarter of the total funds released by the Centre.

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SITA DEVI, LABOURER, MP First time in eight years, Sita Devi's husband hasn't had to migrate as they earn Rs 61 per day under the NREGA. "Under the scheme, I have been paid at the same rate as the men."

The scheme is yet to take off in Kerala and no money has been spent in the backyard of its champions, the Left. Palakkad District Collector K. Ajaya Kumar informs that Rs 50 crore has been allotted to the two districts, Palakkad and Wayanad, covered by NREGA. Palakkad has registered 1.43 lakh families and launched pilot projects in 91 panchayats where 50,000 people are earning wages at Rs 125 a day. "We lost precious time due to the assembly elections in May and have to double up," says state Chief Secretary John Mathai. Left-ruled West Bengal, though, has raced ahead at number four, having provided 12.31 lakh jobs.

Corruption is another dampener. However, Jean Dreze, the scheme's architect and former member of the NAC, says, "It would be naive to expect the NREGA to be corruption-proof from the start. But the positive experiences so far give confidence that effective and transparent implementation is possible." In a social audit in April this year, he found villagers in Dungarpur, Rajasthan were largely aware of their entitlement to 100 days of work.

GAINS AND PAINS Encouraging results and valuable lessons are emerging from states that were geared to leverage the social security scheme guaranteeing 100 days of manual work

EMPOWERMENT: The poor can demand employment when in need and also choose what community assets need to be built LESS MIGRATION: Fewer workers moved out of rural areas in search of jobs during the lean season this year SELF-RELIANCE: Supplementary incomes at Rs 45-125 a day have reduced dependence on moneylenders EQUALITY: Registration should not be refused on the basis of caste, gender, economic condition or to those already employed RESPONSE TIME: Response to demand for job cards and employment should to be quick TRAINING: Correct staffing and training at the block and gram panchayat level is a must

By augmenting rural incomes, the NREGA is gradually rooting out loan sharks from districts such as Dhar. More significantly, it has reduced distress migration. Traditionally, the Kharif harvest had agents swooping down on Bhil-dominated districts to pack labourers to construction sites as far away as Chennai. "The agents returned empty-handed this year," says Ramchandra Guniya, 40, a Bhil janpad panchayat delegate from Multhan. According to unofficial estimates, post-scheme migration of tribals in Madhya Pradesh this year has been one sixth of last year, forcing state opposition leader Subhash Yadav to admit the problem has been mitigated. Elsewhere too, in Andhra Pradesh for instance, migration has declined. The NREGA held back Palamur labourers of Mahbubnagar district who migrate to projects in other states. Maddela Ramanasaiah, 47, of the Kothapalli district used to go to Hyderabad to work during the lean season. But this year he and his wife are earning Rs 80-100 a day repairing the tank feeder channel in Warangal district.

Networked to Generate Jobs Orissa is using IT for effective and fool-proof implementation of NREGA

Though it has provided employment under the NREGA to just a tad over four lakh poor, Orissa is the only state to disclose details of each job card such as name, age and picture of the scheme's beneficiary, his daily attendance at work sites, wage payments and dues. Updated records, accessible online, of muster rolls, works undertaken, material bought, complete with costs and bill numbers, could put a bank passbook to shame. IT penetration is deepest in Orissa where all 3,672 gram panchayats covered by NREGA are equipped with broadband connectivity. As the scheme rolls out, programme officers across gram panchayats update records on the NREGA website (www.NREGA.nic.in). They send e-mail alerts about depleting funds or works that need to be suspended. On the ground too, elected village representatives were sensitised to the scheme's entitlements way back in January 2006. Districts like Kalahandi and Bolangir have seen decline in migration, but at Rs 55, the minimum daily wage rates aren't as attractive as the rates (Rs 100-150) in the brick kilns of Raipur for instance. The schedule of rates is thus under review. For the time being, the equation has been redone by reducing the amount of work by one-eighth so if a worker had to dig out 100 cubic ft of earth, for instance, to earn Rs 55, he'll now have to dig out only 78 cubic ft. By mid-October, gram rozgar sewaks are to be stationed at every gram panchayat to supervise worksites and mobilise villagers. Unless villagers are enabled to voice their entitlements, the initial euphoria may not last, says Rashid Khan, under-secretary handling NREGA in Orissa.

The scheme, in the process, has also yielded productive assets. Village tanks in Andhra Pradesh that have been dry for years, now have water and farmers are switching from dry-land crops to horticulture. More, that cannot be counted in migrating numbers or measured in asset creation, can be achieved. The poor are getting a say in community decisions regarding works to be taken up. Many are not aware of the fact that the main idea is not asset creation but employment guarantee as communicating the scheme to the poor has been difficult. Thus, "NREGA is creating no permanent assets," is a common complaint in Andhra Pradesh and there's a clamour for school buildings, new metal roads and reparation of old ones. As one-third of the scheme's beneficiaries must be women-Orissa has stretched it to 40 per cent-their emancipation and more schooling for their children could also be the spin-offs. Gayala Vijaya, 28, with her husband, a rickshaw puller, financed their son's high school education by working at the Konareddipet irrigation tank feeder channel in Andhra Pradesh for Rs 45-60 a day.

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MADDELA RAMANASAIAH, LABOURER, AP Ramanasaiah and his wife used to go to Hyderabad to find work. Now they earn Rs 80-100 per day under the scheme. "We lost a lot of money travelling earlier. We are able to save that now."

If the scheme has lent the poor a voice, they have given it a vote of confidence. IIM Bangalore Professor Trilochan Sastry, who is surveying a district each in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for MRD, got a resounding "yes" from each villager who was asked if he would like to work for the NREGA. "The scheme's strength comes from the overwhelming demand for work from the poor," he says.

The lessons from the well-performing states are that the volunteer registering demands for job cards and employment should not be a part-timer. Oral registration requests should not be refused. Work should not be denied to any gender, caste, non-below poverty line (BPL) or the already employed. Right staffing, training and readiness are the key. Madhya Pradesh is at number two because it began preparations even before the scheme was notified. The Congress, in opposition in Madhya Pradesh, has accused the state Government of siphoning off funds by issuing job cards to lower-level government functionaries and use of contractors. Leakages can be plugged by refraining from cash payments. Karnataka is one of the few states which is in talks with banks for opening savings accounts for workers for direct transfer of wages . Andhra Pradesh converted an initial lukewarm response to the NREGA into a resounding "yes" by paying full wages on-time which it is depositing directly in savings accounts at post offices.

To focus only on instances of corruption and overlook the beneficiaries such as Sita Devi and Ramanasaiah would be missing the woods for the trees. The Centre admits that the scheme still has a long way to go. But that does not take away from what it has achieved in its infancy. "Today at least some body is happier because of the NREGA," says Sharma. If targeted effectively, the NREGA could diminish poverty in deprived areas. This can be hastened by taking up works that rejuvenate the natural resource base of the livelihood of poor communities. Later, its scope could be enlarged to cover skilled work by artisans.

All that is being hoped right now is that the NREGA should be able to mitigate hard times and increase the abysmal household earnings for the poorest. Hopefully, the small but heartening gains in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh will spur other states to catch up.

-with Ambreesh Mishra, A. Ramamohan Rao and M.G. Radhakrishnan

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