MGNREGA is a poverty alleviation programme of the Government of India, which provides the legal Right to Work in exchange for money to the citizens of the country. Funding is shared between the Centre and the States.

Significance

• • It is a social security scheme to generate employment for the rural poor and ensure livelihood for people in rural areas.
  • The scheme sees large-scale participation of women, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other traditionally marginalised sections of society.
  • It increases the wage rate in rural areas and strengthens the rural economy through the creation of infrastructure assets.
  • Migration has been reduced by 40 per cent because of the extensive irrigation system created through small dams constructed under the programme
  • It facilitates sustainable development which is very clear by its contribution in the direction of water conservation.
  • Over the last 15 years, three crore assets related to water conservation have been created through the rural jobs scheme with the potential to conserve more than 2,800 crore cubic metres of water.
  • It also provides rural India with vital safety, the absence of which could push labourers into distress and poverty, something which data on the latest farm and farm labourers suicides reflects.

Challenges

• • Low Wage Rate: These have resulted in a lack of interest among workers making way for contractors and middlemen to take control.
  • Insufficient Budget Allocation: The funds have dried up in many States due to a lack of sanctions from the Central government which hampers the work in peak season.
  • Payment Delays: Despite Supreme Court orders, various other initiatives and various government orders, no provisions have yet been worked out for calculation of full wage delays and payment of compensation for the same.
  • Corruption and Irregularities: Funds that reach the beneficiaries are very little compared to the actual funds allocated for the welfare schemes.
  • Discrimination: Frequent cases of discrimination against women and people from the backwards groups are reported from several regions of the country and a vast number goes unreported.
  • Non-payment of Unemployment Allowance: There is a huge pendency in the number of unemployment allowances being shown in the Management Information System (MIS).
  • Lack of Awareness: People, especially women, are not fully aware of this scheme and its provisions leading to uninformed choices or inability to get the benefits of the scheme.
  • Poor Infrastructure Building: Improper surveillance and lack of timely resources result in poor quality assets.
  • Non Purposive Spending: MGNREGA has increased the earning capacity of the rural people but the spending pattern of the workers assumes significance because there is hardly any saving out of the wages earned.

Looking forward

• • There is a need to carry out social audits as per rules and effective implementation of the delay compensation system.
  • Under the scheme’s compensation clause, agencies responsible for the delay are expected to pay 0.05 per cent of wages per day after the closure of the muster roll.
  • The participation of women and backwards classes must be increased by raising awareness and making it more inclusive.
    •  Also, the people should be sensitised to do away with the discrimination against them.
  • Reasons for poor utilisation of funds should be analysed and steps must be taken to improve them. In addition, actions should be initiated against officers found guilty of misappropriating funds.
  • Villages must also be allowed to take control of their own water security, noting that catchment areas for many villages are on land controlled and owned by the Forest Department.
  • The frequency of monitoring by National Level Monitors (NLMs) should be increased and appropriate measures should be taken by States based on their recommendations.
    • The NLMs are deployed by the Ministry of Rural Development for regular and special monitoring of MGNREGA and to enquire into complaints regarding mis-utilisation of funds, etc.