Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

23rd February, 2022 Polity

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Context: The Union government allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) declined by 25%.

Details:

The Union Government allocated ₹73,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), in 2022-23 is 25% lower than the ₹98,000 crore revised estimate for the scheme in the current year.
Grassroots activists raised concerns about the inadequacy of the amount. They are demanding higher budgetary allocations for MGNREGA, as the rural economy is still facing the hardship of Pandemic, and low employment opportunities.
Shortage of funds has resulted in long delays in wage payments, decline in the work provided in the last few months, and pending dues wages.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005:

The MGNREGA is an Indian labor law and social security programme that aims to guarantee the 'right to work'.
It provides a legal right for 100 days of employment in every financial year to at least one member of every rural household whose adult members agree to do unskilled manual work.
The Ministry of Rural Development is monitoring the implementation of this scheme.
Women were guaranteed one third of the jobs made available under the MGNREGA.
The MGNREGA programme also helps in creating durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds and wells).
Work to be provided within 5 km of workers residence and minimum wages are to be paid.
Right to get unemployment allowance in case employment is not provided within 15 days of submitting the application.
MGNREGA is implemented mainly by gram panchayats. Adult members of rural households submit their details to the Gram Panchayat. The Gram Panchayat registers households after making enquiry and issues a job card. The job card contains the details of adult member enrolled and his /her photo.
The involvement of contractors is banned.
Social Audit of MGNREGA works is mandatory, which ensures accountability and transparency.

Significance of MGNREGA:

The programmer is providing economic security and creating rural assets.
It also helps in protecting the environment, reducing rural-urban migration and promoting social equity, etc.
It focuses on the economic and social empowerment of women.
It provides “Green” and “Decent” work.
Works under MGNREGA helps to address the climate change vulnerability and protect the farmers from such risks and conserve natural resources.

Constitutionality of MGNREGA:

MGNREGA providing a 'right to work' in accordance with Article 41 that directs the State to secure to all citizens the right to work.
It also protects the environment through sustainable rural works, which is consistent with Article 48A that directs the State to protect the environment.
Article 21 guarantees the right to life with dignity to every citizen of India, this act promotes dignity among the rural people through an assurance of livelihood security.
Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in matters of public employment and prevents the State from discriminating against anyone in matters of employment on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, place of residence or any of them.
MNREGA also follows Article 46 that requires the State to promote the interests of and work for the economic uplift of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and protect them from discrimination and exploitation.
Article 40 mandates the State to organize village panchayats and award them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.

Status of Implementation:

The scheme was introduced in 200 districts during the financial year 2006-07.
In April 2008 NREGA expanded to the entire rural area of the country.
According to a study, every year around 4.5 crore households get employment opportunities under MGNREGA. This accounts to close to 30% of the entire rural household population of the country.

Challenges:

Concerns over its efficacy. It is also criticized for its ineffectiveness and increasing inflationary pressures in the rural economy.
Many states have MGNREGA wage rates below the minimum wage floor of their respective states.
Insufficient fund allocation from the union to the states. Due to Insufficient funds, state governments find it difficult to keep up with the demand for employment under MGNREGA.
Low wage rates under MGNREGA scheme have resulted in lack of interest among workers.
Existence of fake job cards, the inclusion of unknown names, missing person.
Many states have failed to release wages within 15 days as mandated by MGNREGA, and workers are not even compensated for a delay in the payment of wages.
With limited power, gram panchayats are not able to implement MGNREGA in an effective manner.
There are concerns about delay in the works under MGNREGA and irregular inspection of projects.

Way forward:

Implementation of the program could be made more effective by addressing issues linked to administrative reforms and awareness of worker’s rights.
There is a need for better coordination between the union and state government, and between various government departments and the mechanism to allot and measure the work.

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