The
Scheme
NREGA calls for the formulation
of a Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (REGS) by every State Government
within Six months of the date of commencement of the Act. Each REGS
was required to have the minimum features specified in schedules
I and II of the Act. The Section-4 of the Act also provided that
until such a scheme is notified by the state Government, the Annual
or Perspective Plan of the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojna (SGRY)
or National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP), whichever is enforce
in that area, shall be deemed to be the Action Plan for the scheme
for the purpose of this Act.
U.P. Scenario
As per guidelines issued by the Ministry of Rural Development (MOPR),
New Delhi the scheme of NREGS was initiated in the state of Uttar
Pradesh also since Feb. 2nd, 2006 in 22 district of the State through
an executive order. However, State cabinet accorded to approval
and 23rd May, 2006. The scheme, as required under section-4 of the
Act, was formulated by the state Government on 8th Feb, 2006, i.e.,
after the year of the enactment of the Act and the NREGS was designated
as Uttar Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (UPREGS) after
the gazette notification of 8th Feb. 2007. New during the current
financial year the scheme has been extended to 17 New Districts.
Salient
Features of UPREGS
- Objective
of the Scheme : Adopted the in toto the provision of the Act.
- Eligibility
:
- A
Household : The available 100 days' employment will be divided
amongst all the its willing adult members.
- The
household members must reside in Gram Panchayat area.
- The
willing members must seek registration for Job Cards.
- Must
obtain Job Cards.
- Must
apply for the manual unskilled labour.
- Must
turn up at the site for the work.
- The
registered ladies must be given preference for work atleast upto
33 percent.
The disabled registered workers must be given work to according
to their ability and capability.
Types
of Works to be executed :
According to section-4(3) of the Act the focus of the scheme shall
be on the following works in their order of priority :
- Water
conservation and water harvesting;
- Drought
proofing (including a forestation and tree plantation);
- Irrigation
canals including micro and minor irrigation works;
- Provision
of irrigation facility to land owned by households belonging to
the schedule cast and schedule tribes or to land of beneficiaries
of land reform or that of the beneficiary under the Indra Awas
Yojana of the Government of India;
- Renovation
of traditional water bodies including desilting of tanks;
- Land
development
- Flood
control and production works including drainage in water logged
areas;
- Rural
connectivity to provide all-weather access; and
- Any
other work, which may be notified by the Central Government in
consultation with the State Government.
Identification
of the Project :
- The
Gram Panchayat shall be responsible for identification of the
projects in the gram Panchayat area to be taken up under a scheme
as per the recommendations of the gram Sabhas and the Ward Sabhas
and for executing and supervising such works.
- Preparation
of Annual Action Plan or Perspective Plan by nominated agencies
who were to formulate such plans with consultation to Gram Sabhas.
Execution
of the Scheme :
- Atleast
50% works by Gram Panchayats.
- Contractors
not to be engaged.
- Machines
not to be deployed, as far as practicable.
- New
works can not be taken up until atleast 10 labourers are available.
- Facilities
of Furst aid Box, shade, cretche and drinking water to be provided
at the work site.
- Facilities
of free medical treatment to the workers injured at the work and
compensation in certain cases.
Wages:
- Minimum
Rs-80/- per day
- No
discrimination based on sex
- Weekly
payment or at the must in a fortnight
- Necessary
entry of wages on Job Cards
Unemployment allowance:
In case of failure to provide employment with 15 days of the demand,
unemployment allowance to be paid with in 15 days @ one fourth of
the wages rate for the first 30 days and one-half of the wage rate
of the remaining period of the financial year.
Organizational set up:
State level: for the purpose of regular monitoring and renewing
the scheme the state government constitution under sec- 12 of the
Act a State Council, known as State Employment Guarantee Council.
- Not
more than 15 non-official members nominated by the State representing
PRIs. Organizations of workers and disadvantages of groups.
- Gram
Vikas Vibhag the Nodal Department.
District
level:
CDO nominated as Distt. Programme coordinator and DDO as Addl. Distt.
Programme coordinator.
Block level:
- BDO
to function as Program Officer.
- The
PRIs will be the Chief Planning and Execution Agencies.
Publicity:
- Dissemination
of publicity material in local language
- Publicity
through multiple communication media
- Audio
Visual Aids and cultural programms
- Seminars
and meetings
- Application
of RTI for transparency and accountability.
Financial
pattern:
The central government will bear the following costs:
- The
entire cost of the wages for unskilled manual workers.
- 75
percent of the cost of material and wages for skilled and semi-skilled
workers.
- Administrative
expenses as may be determined by the central government will be
include, inter alia, the salary and allowance of Programme Officer
their support staff and work site facility.
- Administrative
expenses of the Central Employment Guarantee Council
The
state government will bear the following costs:
- 25
percent of the cost of material and wages for skilled and semi-skilled
workers.
- Unemployment
allowances payable in case the State Government cannot wage employment
within 15 days of application.
- Administrative
expenses of the State Employment Guarantee Council.
The
Study
While
working on this scheme since its inception through base line survey,
workshops and seminars and frequent deliberations with the district
coordinators of "NERGA campaign" UPVAN demand it to proper
to critically examine the status of Uttar Pradesh Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme. The study was conducted on sample method. Based
on certain development indicators twelve Distt under UP NREGS were
selected for detected study. From every district two blocks and
from every block two gram Panchayats were selected.
Organizational status
- No
visible impact of UP State Employment guarantee council could
be market in field.
- The
implementation of the scheme with skeleton staff and that too
on adhoc basis has adversely affected the process of work.
Applying
for the wage employment
- The
parochial dealing of gram Panchayats has deprived the needy ones.
- The
Gram Pradhans as per directives of the officials did not issue
the receipt for the application for demanding work because the
at both the levels there was fear of fixing the responsibility
for the non-payment of unemployment allowances.
Job
Cards
Neither
issued timely nor handed over to the labour with the clear intention
of mis- appropriation.
Availability of work
The
data presented at the Internet regarding the availability of work
is miscoding. In fact only such numbers have been shown as applied
who were pointed wage employment.
Wages
The
minimum wages fixed by the M.PR were Rs. 60/- per day. How the State
Government allowed only Rs. 58/- per day. Now the Gramya Vikas Vibhag
has fixed Rs.80/- as wages per day since 23rd May, 2006 based on
the wages for agricultural labour which were prevalent since Feb.
24,2006 through an order of Labour Department of the Government
of the Uttar Pradesh.
Weaker
section
- Despite
the provision in the Act the women worker could not be allocated
for manual labour. There was hardly 8% participation of women
in the selected districts under study.
- Instances
of discrimination based on sex were also found with regard to
the payment of the wages.
- The
problem of disabled of has been taken by the Implementing Department
indifferently. Even their actual numbers on works has been wrongly
reposted. Now some NGOs have come forward to plead their cases.
Transparency&
Accountability
- The
largest group is being kept unaware about the provisions of the
scheme willfully so that they could not create problem.
- The
necessary records are not made available to the stakeholders.
The records are mostly kept by the Sachive, Gram Panchayats who
always remains on wheel. The Gram Panchayats are not able to understand
that what are their duty to show the records on demand. Failing
which they can be penalized under section-14 of UP Panchayat Raj
Act, 1947.
- The
records not available was to NGOs officially deputed for Social
Audit by the Government.
Scheme
& CSOs
- Some
of the CSOs are playing praise worth role in the planning and
monitoring of the scheme on their own initiative. However, they
have not been given a due reorganization by way of monitoring
them as members of the Nigrani Samiti at various level.
- The
Social Audit works done by few CSOs is yet to make to debut.
The Inference
The
success of any programme depends namely on two factors. Firstly
how the programme has been concerned and planned. Secondly, the
implementers capable and have proceeded ahead to execute the programme
with good intentions.
As discussed earlier, the scheme has not been planned in a stipulated
manner. The implementers are ...... capable, nor their intentions
are clear. These factors have adversely affected the implementation
of the scheme, as would be evidenced from the facts stated in subsequent
paragraphs.
Intentions of the Target Group and
Implementers
The
target group has treated this scheme as a non-employment allowance
provider and that is why people of this group have always been swarming
the throng of Job Card seekers. The implementers have viewed this
scheme from another angle. They viewed it as a good harvest of the
seeds sown during preceding PRIs', elections. The officials viewed
it as an opportunity to bargain with the implementers at the time
of the release of untied funds. The fate of the scheme could be
guessed with such three-pronged intentions.
The Scheme initiated with the above-mentioned background almost
failed to make any debut, as would be evident from the inferences
given in subsequent paragraphs.
- The
government of the Uttar Pradesh could formulate the scheme of
NREGA only after a year i.e. on 8th February, 2007.
- The
perspective plan for the respective gram panchayats under the
scheme, were formulated by the institutions nominated by the government.
They hardly consulted Gram Sabhas during the formulated of the
Action Plan/Perspective Plan. Consequently the Perspective Plan
prepared could hardly be of and use.
Wage
Employment
In the absence of proper Action Plan the works could not be identified
and hence hardly 6% are the workers from amongst the job card holder,
could get wages employment in a year.
Migration
Migration at workers in rural areas continued mainly due to two
factors- short duration works and low wages.
Sustainable Development
So for the gram panchayats have not been able to create durable
public Assets Leading towards sustainable development. In 43% Gram
Panchayats under study the drains/Kharanja construction were in
prominence. The works like digg......... of ponds and or a forestation
could have been promising durable public assets, but they have been
done in a quite unplanned manner. This could be of no use.
The facts studied above testifies that the scheme could neither
provide wages employment and put a check on village exodus, nor
it has been able to generate durable public assets, promising. Scope
of rural employment hence in order to bring the scheme. On the right
track few suggestion are enlisted in subsequent paragraphs for the
active consideration of the government.
Recommendation
:
1.
Removal of Fallacies
Effort should be make to remove the fallacies of the villagers that
not this is a scheme of fetching unemployment allowance. They have
to clearly, understand that this is demand based scheme, where only
those persons should apply for the Job Cards who actually want to
work. The Gram Pradhans must also not forget that through this scheme
they be able to 'oblige' only their resource group members. The
officials must also been it in mind that they will be held responsible
and accountable in the very near future.
2.
Action Plan
The resources available in villages under ownership of gram panchayats
must be identified and proper action plan should be formulated before
initiation of work on this scheme.
3. Empowerment of Gram Sabhas
The gram Sabhas should be activated through persuasion and orientation
of the members regarding the salient features of the scheme.
4.
A Well Knit Organization
Minimum required staff must be posted at every stage of work. The
staff posted must be given proper training through initiate as well
as orientation courses at stipulated period of times.
5.
Source Financial System
The stress should be made not only on allocation but on utilisation
of funds.
6.
Types of Works
Only such works which are actually needed by the majority of villagers.
Efforts should be made to take up such works which may lead to sustainable
development. The works like afforestation should be taken up only
when proper place is available and there are arrangements for after
care.
7.
Preferential Treatments for the Weaker Section
The women and disabled and requisite conditions of works be created
for this section of the society.
8.
Transparency & Account ability
-
For transparency all the records pertaining to this scheme must
be available with the gram
Pardhans.
-
In the planning and execution of the schemes majority of the Gram
Sabha members must be
taken into confidence.
-
The necessary details of works under execution must be displayed
in villages at proper places.
-
The Social Audit Reports of Gram Sabha and CSOs must be given
due weightage by the
Government.
9.
Role of CSOs
The Civil Society Organization (CSOs.) working in the area should
be taken into confidence. Their support in creating awareness, planning
the works and implementation should be sought. However, precaution
should be taken is selecting the civil Society organizations. |
