Standing Committee

On 21 December 2004, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill 2004 was referred to a “Standing Committee” of Parliament. On 21 December 2004, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill 2004 was referred to a "Standing Committee" of Parliament.

The Committee invited submissions and testimonies from the public in January 2005 and received more than 100 responses from different individuals and organizations. However the Committee did not begin substantive discussions until June 2005, when four hearings took place in quick succession. The Committee submitted its report on 27 July 2005, a few days into the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Report of the Standing Committee of Parliament (July 2005; retyped from original) [Summary]

Composition of the Standing Committee

Select submissions to the Standing Committee

Submissions by Jean Drèze and Aruna Roy

Centre for Environment Concerns

Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan

Mihir Shah

Peoples' Action for Employment Guarantee

Essential Revisions submitted to the Standing Committee

Group of Ministers

A “Group of Ministers” (GoM) has also been formed to examine the Bill in the light of recent criticisms. This GoM is chaired by Pranab Mukherjee (Defence Minister), and other members are: P. Chidambaram (Finance Minister), Sharad Pawar (Food Minister), Bharadwaj (Law Minister), Mani Shankar Aiyar (Minister, Panchayati Raj), K. Chandrashekhar Rao (Labour Minister), Kapil Sibal (Minister of Science and Technology), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (Minister of Rural Development), Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Planning Commision).

Last updated: 27 July 2005