[Reader-list] NREGA article

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear all

I thought in addition to the RTF, I will also put up articles on other
issues if I can. So here is an NREGA article in the Times of India by Jean
Dreze. I personally believe that if Times of India at least publishes one
article by Mr. Dreze at least once every three days, it's elitist views may
perhaps change for the better.

Do read the article.

Regards

Rakesh

Act fair, give rural workers their dueJEAN DREZE12 July 2009, 01:07am IST
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   In his recent Budget speech, the finance minister described the National
Rural Employment<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-Sunday-TOI-All-That-Matters-Act-fair-give-rural-workers-their-due/articleshow/4767722.cms#>Guarantee
Act (NREGA) as a "magnificent success". There
is a sense in which he is right. The fact that the Act is in place, and
provides dignified employment at minimum wages to millions of rural workers
every year, is a success of sorts. However, as a statement about the status
of implementation of NREGA, the minister's statement is bound to sound a
trifle heroic to anyone who is familiar with the situation on the ground.

In a series of field
surveys<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-Sunday-TOI-All-That-Matters-Act-fair-give-rural-workers-their-due/articleshow/4767722.cms#>spread
over a dozen states during the last three years, we have observed
routine violations of the entitlements of NREGA workers — whether it is
their entitlement to work on demand, or to minimum wages, or to payment
within 15 days, or to basic worksite facilities. This state of affairs
reflects the absence of any grievance redressal system worth the name. This
defeats the purpose of an Act, which is to give people enforceable
entitlements.

The Act includes many provisions for grievance redressal. However, these
provisions have been ignored or sidelined. A few illustrations may help.

One of the key accountability mechanisms in the Act is the unemployment
allowance: if someone is not employed within 15 days of applying, he or she
is entitled to an unemployment allowance. However, with a few exceptions,
the state governments have resisted this tooth and nail. A common stalling
tactic is to reject work applications, or refuse to issue a receipt when
people apply. Without a receipt showing that they have demanded work, they
cannot apply for the unemployment allowance.

Another accountability provision is Section 25, whereby anyone who fails to
perform his or her duty under the Act is liable to a fine of up to Rs 1,000.
Recent experience shows that even relatively small fines can be of great
help in keeping government officials on their toes. When a fine of Rs 1,000
was slapped on the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Karon Block in
Jharkhand last year, he spared no effort to find an escape route. Thus,
wider use of Section 25 could make a big difference — unfortunately, no
state government other than Jharkhand has used it so far.

There is also a provision, under Schedule II Section 30, for compensating
workers for delays in payments. If wages are not paid within 15 days,
workers are entitled to compensation under the Payment of Wages Act. But
this, again, has never happened, except in Jharkhand. Meanwhile, delays in
payments appear to be getting worse, causing immense hardship to NREGA
workers. What greater injustice can there be than to extract hard labour
from undernourished people and then fail to pay them for months?

State governments bear the primary responsibility for putting in place
grievance redressal systems. Under Section 19, they are bound to formulate
Grievance Redressal Rules for "dealing with any complaint by any person". To
my knowledge, no state government has done that so far. Interesting ideas
have been floated, such as the appointment of ombudsmen at the district
level, but they are yet to see the light of day.

At the national level, the Central Employment Guarantee Council was supposed
to be an active, independent watchdog for NREGA. It has a broad mandate and
wide powers under the Act. Unfortunately, the Council is not doing its job,
and nor has it been enabled to do it. Further, the government seems to
consider the Council as a purely advisory body, and to treat it like most
advisory bodies — taking on board whatever advice turns out to be convenient
and ignoring the rest. A telling example of disregard for the Council's
advice was the "freezing" of NREGA wages in January 2009, against the
unanimous advice of Council members. As it happens, this notification has
recently been suspended by the high court of Andhra Pradesh.

These are some examples of the "dormant" provisions and institutions that
could be activated to restore accountability in NREGA. The real question is
— will the Central and state governments have the courage to make themselves
accountable to the people?

The author is an eminent development economist