[Reader-list] NAREGA

[anupam chakravartty]

Bipin,

I doubt your sincerity in posting your views about NREGA. I have no idea
about other states but the scheme here in Gujarat has flopped majorly
because of the apathy of local administration. it turns out that local
administration officials, in regions such as Dahod and Panchmahal, which has
about 70 to 80 per cent of tribal population, did not pay the farmers for 18
months at a stretch. incidentally, in places such as Fatehpura taluka, where
1800 wells have been dug under NREGA, 600 just have water. the local NREGA
officials, which is usually headed by the District Development Officer (in
case of Gujarat) and District Rural Development Agency (under the state
government) who were supposed to see the feasibility of digging by
conducting soil tests and water table checks gave permission to dig up as
many wells as the farmers wished for. after all, it is a payment guarantee
scheme in which 50 percent is cost of labour and 50 percent would be the
cost of material. since the start of the scheme about 3385 farmers from
Fatehpura dug up 1800 wells in the semi arid quartzite soil where in some
places people have to dig as 100 feet to get water. so deep because, there
was a steady decline of the water table in this region and lack of
substantial rainfall in the past two years. in december, 3385 farmers under
NREGA workers' union filed a complaint to the Dahod district collector
asking why there were no payments for the wells which were being dug.

after the district developmental official lodged an enquiry into the matter
it was found that the two local sarpanchs, one lokayukta, two taluka
development officials, one bank manager (according to a police complaint
filed at the Fatehpura Police Station) was involved in removing names of at
least 1000 farmers from the rosters. in some villages, for example, Dungar,
farmers had actually pawned their lands so that they can pay for the other
workers. this proves that how popular is the scheme. Dahod district in
Gujarat which is considered as one of most underdeveloped taluka in India
according various reports, has 30,000 workers working for this scheme says
the DDO of Dahod.

Can i not infer it is because of the lack of support from Gujarat government
as local administration officials  are turning it upside down by not paying
the NREGA workers? But i would not because the some of these officials
especially in adivasi dominated regions take advantage of their innocence
and rob them everyday. it has nothing to do central/state divide or NDA/UPA
divide.

You have not studied any of the organizations which are implementing this
scheme in India. I recommend that you go through the scheme and understand
its finer points then come back with your conclusions.

thanks anupam





On Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 3:16 PM, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in> wrote:

> I request all the members to read my views on NAREGA or MGREGA. I have
> tried
> to make very brief so you cannot have to spare your much time. I also
> request to express your views.
>
>
>
> Dear Rakesh,
>
> Thanks at least you agreed that MGREGA is not a gift of Sonia or UPA, since
> in earlier discussion you gave credit to Sonia. But, UPA/she implemented it
> that is what their main election campaign and poor people comes in it.
> Politician particularly congress never thought on long term benefit since
> independent, though their few intellectual knows/warned about it
> negativity,
> but they have ignore and implemented it.
>
> Now, you rightly gave credit to others who fought for it since many years
> and same persons approached to NDA also to implement it, but NDA looking to
> long vision and benefit choose to initiate and invest in infrastructure.
> They were knowing that infrastructure development is long process and will
> get its fruit after long period and there is no short term benefit and
> probably might affect in the next election though they gone for root based
> development. THIS IS REAL VISIONARY STEP, NDA ADOPTED WITHOUT LOOKING INTO
> VOTE BANK POLITICS.
>
> By adopting countrywide infrastructure development, employment will be
> there
> to local people only in the form of labor for more than 100 days (which is
> limit for MGREGA), since they are un-educated. Since the infrastructure
> development will be with the partnership of private companies or
> contractual
> basis, the corruption level will be very low compared to huge wastage in
> MGREGA about 60/70%.
>
> We can have corruption discussion sometime later.
>
> Disadvantages of this scheme:
>
> (1)  In this scheme, you will noticed after few years that govt. officials
> and politician becomes more richer and poor remain poor only. In few years
> or decade, if poor will not improve their standard of living, who will be
> responsible and I am sure this will going to happen.
>
> (2)  ANOTHER MAIN DISADVANTAGE is non-availability of labor in AGRICULTURE
> since they will divert to this MGREGA scheme. One of the reason for reduce
> in crop production is this also and it will reduce further this year also
> leads to increment in the food prices and inflation. Think over it
> positively.
>
> (3)  By such scheme you are making people lazy. They get assurance to get
> work from govt. and did not try their own will to do something, which
> affects people self improvement, efficiency which is most necessary to grow
> and develop healthily.
>
> Any nation cannot grow healthily, unless it utilize their resources
> including skilled/unskilled man power in very efficient and disciplined
> manner. Please note that all the schemes/subsidies adopted by the govt.
> will
> do not have any impact unless and until people improve themselves. Since
> independence, many schemes/subsidies were adopted, which did not uplift
> poor
> much.
>
> You are talking about agriculture reforms not adopted by Gujarat. Please
> note that Gujarat agriculture growth is 14% and farmers here are much
> happier than anywhere else. To make something like agriculture reforms by
> way of laws is not only criteria for agriculture progress. As you mentioned
> WB, Tripura, Kerala adopted such reforms what is the progress there in
> agriculture. WB and Tripura are in worst situation. I don't say Narendra
> Modi achieved everything or what he is doing everything is right. Lots of
> thing yet to be do in many criteria.
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Bipin
>
>
>
>
>
> From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 5:51 PM
> To: Bipin Trivedi
> Cc: sarai-list
> Subject: Re: NAREGA
>
>
>
> Dear Bipin
>
> Now that you have mentioned NREGA, let me state why it is actually needed.
> And by the way, as per a constitutional amendment, it has now been changed
> to MGREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act).
>
> My response:
>
> 1) The passage of NREGA or MGREGA was not a gift of Sonia Gandhi which she
> had conceived on her own. Civil society organizations had been fighting and
> struggling over a long period of time to introduce this act. Many people
> across the country undertook struggles and all kinds of yatras to put
> pressure on the govt. and get their act passed. And leading them were
> people
> who were not involved with any political party, but belonging to civil
> society and important organizations like the PUCL, the MKSS and others.
>
> To project NREGA as an initiative of the Gandhi dynasty is to discredit all
> those who fought on the road for ensuring that this act was introduced in
> Parliament. It's a discredit to all those Indian citizens who are demanding
> their right to livelihood and are not able to live properly as they lack
> even the basic amenities of life.
>
> 2) The act obligates the Indian state to provide 100 days of employment to
> any person in rural areas who has asked for it, or give an unemployment
> allowance if it has not been able to provide employment to the person as
> demanded. Now you are stating that this act is useless. I would say not.
> Here is the reason.
>
> Many people in rural areas are employed either as agricultural laborers, or
> are seen migrating off to urban areas in search of work. Most of these
> laborers are uneducated and unskilled, and hence they will not get work in
> the formal or organized sector. They will get work in the unorganized
> sector, which is mostly under contractors working on some project involving
> construction. Or they gain employment in other areas. But most of them are
> found to work for pretty low wages. This was proved by Arjun Sengupta
> committee report which was constituted to deliberate upon a social security
> scheme for workers in the unorganized sector. They found that 77% of the
> population (2004-2005) was living on less than Rs. 20 per day, which is
> ridiculous and speaks of the inequality entrenched in our society.
>
> Most of these people were living in worse off conditions (mainly slums
> without water or sanitation provisions for them). They had no social safety
> nets (either education or health) to fall back upon. They had no land in
> the
> rural areas as well which could act as an asset for them under times of
> distress. They had no protection under labor laws as well since they don't
> come under the organized sector. And they with little wages found it tough
> to live in urban conditions with higher prices for same style of life as in
> rural areas.
>
> The biggest problems were with not only their lack of education, but also
> that their children couldn't be educated since they didn't have one place
> of
> residence. They had to move to their villages when agricultural work was
> available and then go back to cities when it wasn't. The agricultural wages
> paid were quite low, and since agricultural reforms haven't been undertaken
> in most states (including the famous Gujarat which is worshipped by some
> members in this forum, and the only exceptions being West Bengal, Kerala
> and
> Tripura where the Left has been dominant), these people were barely able to
> carry on their lives there.
>
> A social dimension related to this is that most of these people who were
> poor and working as agricultural laborers belonged to the backward castes
> as
> also the SC's, the ST's and also the Muslims. Moreover, they had to also
> face discrimination in the society, and this economic hardship put them in
> a
> more precarious situation.
>
> The best example to this impoverishment in rural areas can be seen in
> hunger
> deaths in the states of India, which the state govts. deny but these
> continue to take place, particularly in north India.
>
> There was no protection possible in any form of labor they undertook to
> earn, either at time of accidents or in the form of insurance.
>
> The NREGA or MGREGA is therefore the Right to Employment. Now every person
> can live in his/her rural background and get work or unemployment allowance
> to earn a decent standard of living. Now they can send their children off
> to
> school in the hope that their children can come up in life and become
> stronger economically so that they won't have to depend on NREGA or MGREGA.
> They will be no longe dying of the lack of food, which they can now buy as
> they have money in their hands.
>
> But the NREGA is not only ensuring that a basic human right, the right of
> livelihood with dignity can be secured. It is also sound economics. How?
>
> Simple. If the MGREGA were to be implemented well, then people can earn
> money. It's not that this money will only be spent on food, though a
> substantial portion will be spent on food. It will and can be spent on
> other
> things as well. Here lies a market for those wanting to produce goods for
> these people, like say small sachets of shampoos or toothbrushs and small
> dant-manjans. You can sell it. And they have the capacity to buy it. The
> end
> result is an expansion of markets.
>
> Sending of children can help in two ways. One, it gets the society educated
> and hence raises the ability of children to lead lives they can value
> (which
> is what development should be about, not about making power plants and dams
> which displace people arbitrarily just because they are poor. Why not
> construct power plants at Ambani's and Tata's homes? Will they agree?)
> Secondly these children can hope to get a better job tomorrow and earn more
> economically, which means they can buy more goods. In other words, a huge
> expansion of the market economics, and again it helps the economy as it
> boosts demand and hence more goods can be produced.
>
> You raise an important issue finally, that of corruption. Corruption is
> there in all departments of the government. There are only two ways to
> solve
> it:
>
> i) One way is to completely dissolve all government and administration.
> Then
> there will be no corruption, and there will be no MGREGA. But ironically we
> do need the government, even the capitalists. Under capitalism, government
> has to perform the role of enforcing certain rights like the Right to
> Property and also ensuring the rule of law so that companies are able to
> conduct their activities with full assurance of security. Otherwise they
> have to be closed down.
>
> Should we completely forsake all governance and leave it to people to
> govern
> themselves? No. The whole country and whole world will be in chaos. That's
> not what we want. We can accept anarchy (lack of order-enforcing authority)
> but no govt. means sooner or later we will be in chaos. (Disorder and
> violence and hungama all around).
>
> ii) Try to bring in steps which introduce transparency in the govt. so that
> corruption can be reduced. That is what we should try in our approach. But
> unfortunately that is not what you hint at or look at.
>
>
> So what do you want Bipin ji:
>
> Should we decide not to ever have a government, since corruption is
> inevitable wherever there is government? Is that necessary to wipe out
> corruption?
>
> Or should we try and bring about transparency measures which will remove
> and
> root out corruption and therefore ensure that this act is actually
> functioning on the ground?
>
> Let me state that the latter should be our concern. And if you want to know
> the answer why, it is very simple. On this forum, I have repeatedly used
> Aashish's words (my friend and a member of this forum), and he said it
> beautifully, that a democracy can only function, when those who have power
> can care for those who lack power. In other words, we are educated, and we
> should be concerned about those who are not and are unempowered. We should
> help them by bringing such acts because these are the social safety nets
> for
> the poor which can help them. And moreover, it's not our dole or charity to
> them, it's their right to work so that they can earn enough and get the
> basic necessities of their life. It's their basic human right, as per the
> Universal Declaration of Human rights, stated in the UN charter, to which
> we
> are a signatory as a nation-state.
>
> Mind you, MGREGA has disadvantages. It can only help those who can provide
> labor. The disabled can't work, and MGREGA can't help them. Similarly, Rs.
> 100 may be too low as a wage at a time of high inflation when PDS doesn't
> work well in villages for food distribution and the market has not reached
> the villages. But the solution is not dismantling NREGA. It is in expansion
> and orienting it with transparency measures to ensure it works,.
>
> Otherwise, governments and police machinery in India doesn't work by and
> large..And that way Bipin ji, we should remove all government and police
> machinery in India so that we can stop wasting of public funds and remove
> all corruption from society.
>
> Rakesh
>
>
>
>
>
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