Dear friends,

Perhaps you are used to deleting these updates on arrival, or to scrolling down in a hurry. Please read this one because it deals with a crucial issue – saving the “employment guarantee act” (EGA).

The crisis is explained in the Appendix below – “toothless guarantee” (a note prepared for a press conference held in Delhi yesterday). This note highlights crucial flaws in the latest draft of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development.

Among these flaws, the most destructive is the absence of any time frame for the extension of the Act to the whole of rural India. In fact, the revised Act allows the government to “switch off” the employment guarantee anywhere at any time. Needless to say, this makes a mockery of the fundamental principle of an employment guarantee.

Against this background, this Update is also a sort of appeal to join forthcoming events, especially the country-wide agitations for a full-fledged EGA on 10 December (Human Rights Day) and the display of banners in Delhi on 21 December. Further activities are likely to be planned all over the place during the next few weeks – please consider joining this effort to save the Employment Guarantee Act, if you are not at it already.

The headlines:

1. SAVING THE EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT

2. BANNER DISPLAY IN DELHI ON 21 DECEMBER

3. POSSIBLE FOLLOW-UP MEETING ON 22 DECEMBER

APPENDIX: TOOTHLESS GUARANTEE

1. SAVING THE EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT

The Employment Guarantee Act (EGA) is due to be discussed in the Cabinet on 15 December, before being introduced in Parliament sometime between 16 December and 23 December (the last day of the Winter Session). This is a crucial time for action, as the basic flaws of the proposed Act are likely to become harder to reverse after it goes through Parliament (from there it is likely to be sent to a “standing committee”, and to come back to Parliament again during the Budget Session).

This emergency has led to renewed solidarity among organisations committed to the right to work. Forthcoming events include:

(1) Country-wide local action for “employment guarantee and the right to work” on 10 December (Human Rights Day). The highlight of this event is the collection of signatures on banners, demanding the immediate adoption of a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act. Many other actions have also been planned including padyatras, dharnas, public meetings, etc.

(2) Creative display of “banners” in Delhi on 21 December. At least 2,000 banners with signatures are expected from all over the country, including at least one banner from (almost!) every district. See below for further details.

(3) Further lobbying in Delhi throughout this period, and wide consultations about further action in the months ahead.

2. BANNER DISPLAY IN DELHI ON 21 DECEMBER

The response to the signature campaign has been overwhelming and at least 2,000 banners demanding the immediate adoption of a full-fledged EGA are expected to reach Delhi by 18 December. On 21 December, these banners will be used for a creative display of “people’s voices from around the country”. Please consider joining this event in full strength, because the draft National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is likely to be tabled in Parliament very close to that date. A strong display of public demand for a full-fledged EGA could play a crucial role in reversing the impending sabotage of the proposed Act.

At least 100 organisations committed to the right to work are expected to participate in this event, including many national organisations and networks such as the All India Agricultural Workers Alliance (AIAWA), All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW), New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR), National Campaign Committee for Rural Workers (NCCRW), People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) and National Campaign for the People's Right to Information (NCPRI) – and of course many local organisations from across the country.

Arrangements for gathering the banners in Delhi are in the process of being made. The following have already agreed to act as "collection centres" in Delhi: Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (tel 2656 9773), Delhi Forum (tel 2668 0883/914), Sahmat (tel 2371 1276, 2334 4918), and the secretariat of the Right to Food Campaign (tel 9811087811). Organisations are also welcome to keep their banners and bring them in person to the display event in Delhi. IN ANY CASE PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR BANNERS REACH DELHI BY 18 DECEMBER LATEST. In case you would like to post the banners, an updated list of address will be posted in the “Banner campaign” section at www.righttofoodindia.org

A preparatory meeting to plan the details of the 21 December display will be taking place at the office of Mobile Creches in New Delhi on 11 December, from 5 pm onwards. All are welcome. Final details of the programme will be circulated immediately after that. Meanwhile, for further info please send a line to rozgar@gmail.com or call one of the following persons in Delhi: Vivek S. (3091 7116), Rajan Prasad (2371 1276), Subhash Bhatnagar (9810810365), Suneet Chopra (2307 3666), J. Somanathan (2656 9773), Sehba Farooqi (2331 9541).

3. POSSIBLE FOLLOW-UP MEETING ON 22 DECEMBER

The possibility of a follow-up meeting on the morning of 22 December, to discuss further mobilisation in the months ahead, has been floated. This will be confirmed after the preparatory meeting on 11 December.

APPENDIX: “TOOTHLESS GUARANTEE”
(Copy of a note circulated at a press conference held at the Women’s Press Corps, New Delhi, 7 December.)

The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) begins with the following promise: “The UPA government will immediately enact a National Employment Guarantee Act. This will provide a legal guarantee for at least 100 days of employment to begin with on asset-creating public works programmes every year at minimum Wages for at least one able-bodied person in every rural, urban poor and lower middleclass household.”

However, the “revised draft” of the Employment Guarantee Act (EGA), prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development, violates this commitment by allowing the government to “switch off” the employment guarantee anywhere at any time. In this and other ways, the “revised draft” undermines the very purpose of the Act:

1. No time-bound extension to the whole of India: The revised draft states that the Act “shall come into force immediately in such areas and for such periods as may be notified and shall be extended to cover all the rural areas of India after evaluating the implementation in the Districts chosen.” In effect, the revised Act guarantees 100 days of employment to every rural household but it does not guarantee when and where this will apply!

2. No minimum wage: The MoRD draft says, “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the Central Government may fix the rate at which wages shall be paid to the labourers employed under the Programme…”. This gives the government further opportunities to undermine the Programme at any time by setting the wage rate at an arbitrarily low level.

3. Unemployment allowance only for “poor” households: In practice, identification of “poor households” is likely to be based on the “BPL list”, which is known to be highly unreliable. In the absence of any penalty for failure to employ non-BPL households, these households will effectively be excluded from the entire Programme. This would defeat the purpose of the Act, which is based on the principle of “self-selection”.

The revised Act also lacks four crucial provisions that are essential for an effective guarantee:

4. At least 40 per cent of workers employed in a particular Block should be women.

5. The Employment Guarantee Programme should be fully funded by the central government.

6. In the event where the failure to provide employment is due to the lack of devolution of requisite funds from the central government, the payment of unemployment allowances should be reimbursed to the state government by the central government.

7. Panchayati Raj Institutions should be in control of the planning and monitoring of works taken up under the Employment Guarantee Programme. In particular, monitoring agencies should be accountable to elected bodies at all levels and regular social audits should be conducted by the Gram Sabhas.

Taken together, these flaws threaten to reduce the Employment Guarantee Act to a farce, as the revised EGA is neither “National” nor does it “Guarantee” any “Employment” in any meaningful sense of the term.