Employment Guarantee Act: Current Highlights

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NREGA: Back to Basics

A meeting of individuals and organisations committed to the defence of people’s entitlements under NREGA took place on 5^th August in New Delhi, under the informal banner of “People’s Action for Employment Guarantee”.* This meeting took place against a background of deep confusion about NREGA in official circles, even as the spectre of drought looms large across the country. A need was felt to draw the attention of the government, the political parties, the media and the public to the following concerns:

1. Back to Basics: The implementation of NREGA has been uneven across the country. In some areas, the Act has begun to demonstrate its potential. However, in most of the country the basic prerequisites of a meaningful legal entitlement are still to be put in place. The first priority of the government must be to ensure that the basic framework is in place across the country, and that citizens in all parts of rural India can exercise their right to work on demand, minimum wages, timely payment, etc. Short of that, it is meaningless and distracting to talk of “NREGA 2”.
2. Demand for Work: The first requirement of the NREGA is to provide work on demand, or, failing that, to pay the unemployment allowance. In practice, this rarely happens – works are opened on a top-down basis as in traditional employment schemes. If the principle of work on demand could be operationalised by ensuring that the unemployment allowance is paid when work is not provided, the NREGA could be established in all parts of the country.
3. Delayed Wage Payments: There have been massive delays in wage payments in recent months, causing immense hardship to NREGA workers. The timing of wage payments needs to be tracked by the MIS, and procedures should be laid down for compensation to be automatically paid (under Schedule II, Section 30 of NREGA) when wages are paid later than the stipulated limit of 15 days.
4. 100 days of work to every adult: We demand the immediate fulfilment of the Congress Party’s promise to expand the scope of the employment guarantee, including:
   • Individual entitlements: Expansion of the work guarantee from “100 days per household per year” to “at least 100 days per adult per year”.
   • Enactment of an Urban Employment Guarantee Act.
5. Reverse the recent “freeze” on NREGA wages: This wage freeze, especially at a time of soaring food prices, is arbitrary and unjustifiable. In fact, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has set aside the Central Government’s notification freezing minimum wages. We demand immediate implementation of a national floor level of Rs 100/day (linked to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour) for NREGA wages, as promised in the Congress Manifesto and Budget Speech. Further, as per law, minimum wages must be guaranteed even when payment is based on task measurements.
6. Fair Work Hours: Similarly, the notification stipulating a nine-hour working day needs to be reversed. NREGA wages are already very low and this effectively depresses real wages even more. It has an especially adverse effect on women workers, who already have onerous childcare and housework responsibilities. The initial clause, providing for an eight-hour day including one-hour break, should be reinstated.
7. Activation of the Central Employment Guarantee Council: In spite of wide powers and a broad mandate under NREGA, the Council has done very little work during the last three years. In fact, the term of non-official members expired in September 2008, without renewal or replacement so far. The Council urgently needs to be reconstituted, with wide representation of workers’ organisations, and enabled to play an active role in the monitoring of NREGA.
8. Grievance Redressal:
   • Conversion of Operational Guidelines into binding Rules.
   • Notifying Transparency and Grievance Redressal Rules.
   • Activation of all the grievance redressal provisions in the Act, including unemployment allowance, penalties, and compensation for delayed wage payments.
   • Appointment of Ombudsmen at the district level, as announced in the President�s Speech.
9. No major reform of NREGA without public consultation: There have been many rumours, in recent months, of possible reforms of NREGA. The fact that there is no concrete information on this in the public domain is disturbing, and against the democratic spirit of this Act. We urge the government to guarantee that no major changes will be made without wide consultation.
10. Withdrawal of the notification permitting NREGA works on the private land of small and marginal farmers: This disturbing notification has come at a time when NREGA works on the land of earlier priority groups (SC/ST, BPL, IAY beneficiaries and land allottees) has not yet reached saturation levels. This is bound to result in a cornering of NREGA projects on private land by privileged landowners. Further, this change was made without any discussion in Parliament or in public. This notification should be withdrawn until the scope for NREGA works on land of existing priority groups has been exhausted.
11. Strict enforcement of the ban on contractors and labour-displacing machines: There has been talk of allowing the use of machines in NREGA works. This would defeat the main purpose of NREGA, and provide an entry point for private contractors and other vested interests. This proposal should be dropped.
12. No top-down decision of works to be taken up: This top-down approach (which goes against the principle of PRI-based participatory planning in NREGA) is reflected in many announcements and schemes focusing for instance on plantation of Jatropha, Pongamia, construction of stadiums, cremation grounds, etc., without the proposals emanating from the Gram Sabhas.
13. Principles of “convergence”: The success of NREGA depends on firm protection of people’s entitlements, and keeping the focus on the workers. Convergence with other infrastructure and development schemes must be undertaken only with strict guarantees that NREGA norms (regarding admissible works, transparency norms, minimum wages, etc.) will be applied.
14. Concerns about public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the role of NGOs: The main responsibility for implementing NREGA must rest with the government and PRIs. While NGOs and citizens’ groups are entitled to democratic space to facilitate people’s action, the sub-contracting or outsourcing of activities such as people’s planning and social audit should not be allowed. In this context, we are also concerned at the proposed appointment of “Lok Sewaks” in every Gram Panchayat through CAPART and NGOs. We feel that the idea of the Lok Sewak needs to be carefully examined to make sure that another vested interest does not develop in the name of building people’s awareness. Alternative approaches, such as continuous training and empowerment of a pool of rural youth drawn from workers’ families (as in AP), should also be considered. In any case, a big step like this should be preceded by wide public debate.
15. Increase in financial outlays: NREGA expenditure should be raised to 2% of GDP. Further, there should be ear-marked funds for transparency measures (at least 0.5% of total NREGA expenditure) as well as for worksite facilities. This would help to guaranteed “minimum standards” for all mandatory worksite facilities and transparency measures.
16. Gender equity: Steps should be taken to ensure that women’s share of NREGA employment is at least one third in every Block, as required under the Act. Further, 50% of all posts in the NREGA machinery (PO, GRS, etc.) should be reserved for women. Separate Job Cards should be given to widows and other single women, irrespective of their living arrangements.
17. First things first:�Finally‚ we feel that the impending drought and distress in many parts of the country can best be dealt with through uncompromising implementation of the employment guarantee as per provisions of the NREGA. This should be the first priority – ensuring that the basics of the Act are in place everywhere, rather than thinking of “NREGA-2” when “NREGA-1” is yet to be put into place.