Case  study  on  Social  protection  through  Public  works  in  IndiaMahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  

Employment  Guarantee  Act    (MGNREGA)

Presenter  :  Ms.  Aparajita  SarangiJoint  Secretary,  MGNREGA  Program

Ministry  of  Rural  Development,  Government  of  India

Overview

1. Background2. Processes3. Public  works  under  MGNREGA4. Focus  on  NRM  works  for  enhancing  livelihood  

5. Key  Challenges6. Take-­‐‑aways from  this  event

Origin

• MGNREGA  passed  in  Parliament  on  Sept.  9,  2005

• Operational  in  the  entire  country  from  1st April  2008

Preamble of the ActFor  the  enhancement  of  livelihood  security  of  rural  households  by  providing  at  least  one  hundred  days  of  guaranteed  wage  employment  in  every  financial  year  to  every  household  whose  adult  members  volunteer  to  do  unskilled  manual  work

Salient  features  of  the  Act

1. Right  based  Framework  – Right  to  demand  work  -­‐ up  to  100  days  by  a  rural  household  – Right  to  employment  -­‐ within  15  days  of  application,  else  unemployment  

allowance  – Right  to  wages  -­‐ within  15  days

2. Labour  Intensive  Works– 60:40  wage  and  material  ratio    for  works  – No  contractors  or  machinery  allowed

3. Decentralized  Planning– Principal  role    of  Village  Administration  in  planning,  monitoring  and  

implementation– Gram  Sabhas  (local  councils)  to  recommend  works

Salient  features  of  the  Act                                                  …2

4. Work  site  facilities    – Crèche,  drinking  water,  first  aid  and  shade  provided  at  worksites

5. Women  empowerment  – At  least  one-­‐third  of  beneficiaries  should  be  women

6. Transparency– Proactive  disclosure  Social  Audits,  Citizen  Information  Boards,  Grievance  

Redressal  Mechanism,    Right  to  Information

Primary  Stakeholders

1. Wage  seekers

2. Panchayati Raj  Institutions  (local  government),  specially  the  gram  panchayat  (village  council)

3. Programme Officer  at  the  Block  level

4. District  Programme  Coordinator

5. State  Government

6. Central  Government  -­‐ Ministry  of  Rural  Development

Total  Coverage across  country

1. District  Covered  :     685

2. Blocks  covered  :   6,863

3. Village  councils  (Gram  Panchayats)  :    2,62,840

4. Total  Job  cards  issued  :   124.9  million  households;  250  million  workers

5. Total  Active  workers  :         100.1  Million 100.1  Millionworkers

MGNREGA:  Allocation  &  Expenditure

Financial  Year Allocation  in  Billion  $ Expenditure  in  Billion  $2006-­‐07 1.8 1.42007-­‐08 1.9 2.52008-­‐09 4.7 4.32009-­‐10 6.1 5.92010-­‐11 6.3 6.22011-­‐12 4.8 5.82012-­‐13 4.7 6.22013-­‐14 5.2 6.02014-­‐15 5.2 5.62015-­‐16 5.8 6.92016-­‐17 7.5 9.22017-­‐18 7.6 -­‐

Focus  on  vulnerable  segments

%  Scheduled  Caste  participation 25%%  Scheduled  Tribe  participation 21%%  Women  participation 56%

2.  PROCESSES  OF  MGNREGA

Activity Flow

Other  features

• Bare  Foot  Technicians  (BFTs)

• Skilling:  Livelihood  in  Full  Employment  (LIFE)

• Wall  writings,  citizen  awareness,  Rozgar Diwas etc.

Public  Accountability measures

1. Program  related  accounts  &  records  made  available  for  public  verification

2. Register  of  each  work  available  at  Village  Council  level

3. Citizen  information  boards  at  worksites  – With  details  of  work,  person  days  of  

employment,  funds  spent  etc.

4. Display  of  key  information,  in  local  language,  on  the  notice  board  

5. Data  accessible  to    public  on  MGNREGA  website:        www.nrega.nic.in

Social  Audit,  Aadhaar &  MGNREGA

1. Process  of  social  audit  shares  details  of  MGNREGA  resources  with  the  community  -­‐ held  once  every  6  months  

2. Financial  &  non  financial  resources  both  considered

3. Community  verifies  all  records,  procedures  &  expenditures  

4. Institution  of  Ombudsman  created

5. Aadhaar numbers  seeded  against  85  million  wage  workers  (85%)

3.  PERMISSIBLE  WORKS  UNDER  MGNREGA

Focus  on  public  works

1. Category  A:  Public  works  relating  to  natural  resources  management  – Water  conservation  and  water  harvesting  structures,  Watershed  

management,  Micro  and  minor  irrigation  works,  Renovation  of  traditional  water  bodies  

– Afforestation,  tree  plantation  and  horticulture  and  Land  development  works  in  common  land

2. Category  B:  Individual  assets  for  vulnerable  sections– Improving  productivity  of  lands,  by  providing  suitable  infrastructure  for  

irrigation  – Improving  livelihoods  through  horticulture,  sericulture,  plantation,  and  

farm  forestry,  Creating  infrastructure  for  promotion  of  livestock  – Development  of  fallow  or  waste  lands,  – Unskilled  wage  component  in  construction  of  houses,  Creating  

infrastructure  for  promotion  of  fisheries  

Category  of  works                            …2

3. Category  C:  Common  Infrastructure  For  NRLM  (National  Rural  Livelihood  Mission)  Compliant  Self  Help  Groups  – Works  for  promoting  agricultural  productivity,  Common  work-­‐sheds  for  

livelihood  activities  of  self-­‐help  groups

4. Category  D:  Rural  Infrastructure– Works  for  all-­‐weather  rural  road  connectivity,  Rural  sanitation,  play  fields,  

disaster  preparedness  or  restoration  of  roads  – Construction  of  buildings    for  village  counsels,  women  self-­‐help  groups’  

federations,  cyclone  shelters,  Food  Grain  Storage  Structures,  building  material  required  for  construction  works  

– Maintenance  of  rural  public  assets  

Use  of  technology  in  MGNREGA

1. E-­‐Payments  – payments  directly  transferred  to  beneficiary  account– Implemented  in  95%  of  India’s  villages– 84.4  million  bank  accounts  of  workers

2. NREGAsoft  – a  software  for  data  entry  of  details  on  works,  beneficiary,  human  resource,  funds  and  payment  processing.  – Various  modules  – one  for  each  function– Fund  Management  Module,  Bank/Post  Office  module  ,  Grievance  Redressal  

System,  Social  Audit  module,  Labour  budget  module,  Staff  Module,  Mobile  Monitoring  System,  CSO/CFT  Module,  LIFE  Survey,  BFT  Module,  DBT  Module

3. GeoMGNREGA– Each  public  work  asset  created  is  geo-­‐tagged  and  displayed  on  a   public  

website– 11.7  million  assets  out  of  27.4  million  assets  already  geo-­‐tagged

GeoMGNREGA:  Pan  Indian  coverage

Use in Planning

and Monitoring

Each  tagged  asset

4.  SPECIAL  FOCUS  ON  NATURAL  RESOURCE  MANAGEMENT  (NRM)  FOR  ENHANCING  LIVELIHOOD

Significance  of  NRM

1. India  has  large  rural  population  (68.84%)

2. Primarily  engaged  and  dependent  on  agriculture

3. With  massive  population  and  over  stressed  productive  land,  dependent  on  erratic  rainfall  for  irrigation  

4. Only  45%  of  the  net  sown  area  is  under  irrigation  out  of  total  141  million  hectares  area

5. Regional  imbalances  in  the  facilities  of  irrigation  and  lack  of  last  mile  command  area  network  and  other  suitable  interventions  are  creating  problems  in  agriculture  in  rural  areas

NRM  focus  of  MGNREGA

Create  assets  that  will  help  in  agriculture,  thereby  creating  expanding  livelihood  for  rural  households  and  future  self  sustainability

• Total  155  kinds  of  works  permitted  under  MGNREGS

• Out  of  these,  100  works  (64%)  relate  to  NRM

• Of  these  NRM  works,  71  works  are  water  related

• Water  conservation  for  water  management  and  drought  mitigation:  

farm  ponds,  check  dams,  structures  for  ground  water  recharge,  farm  ponds,  underground  dykes,  percolation  tanks,  artificial  recharge  of  wells  through  sand  filters  etc.

Outcome  of  NRM  activities

1. Increasing  NRM  focussed  expenditure:1. FY  2014-­‐15:   2.58  billion  USD  (49%),  2. FY  2015-­‐16: 4.46  billion  USD  (59%)  3. FY  2016-­‐17  : 4.96  billion  USD  (61%)

2. In  Financial  Year  (FY)  16-­‐17:– Total  of  3.15  million  works  were  completed

– 35% (i.e.  1.09  million)  works  were  irrigation  related

– Of  these,  0.57  million  were  farm  ponds

Farm  Pond,  Tamil  Nadu

Well  Created  for  irrigation,  MP

Check  Dam,  Meghalaya

Check  Dam,  Kerala

29

Thudikotukonam Pond; Village Puliveedu; District Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

30Irrigation Well: Village Naitand; Block Jainagar; District Kodarma, Jharkhand

31

Irrigation Channel: Village Bardeva; Block Padma; District Hazaribagh, Jharkhand

Path  &  Footbridge  from  PWD  Road  to  Gujrara Paristhan Block,  UkheralDistrict  Ramban (Jammu  &  Kashmir)  under  Convergence  with  MGNREGA

33

Cattle shelter: Village Mararikulam North; Block Kanjikuzhy; District Alappuzha, Kerala

34

Poultry shelter; Village Ektali; Block Jashipur; District Mayurbhanj, Odisha

Way  Ahead:

1. Mission  Water  Conservation  (MWC)  Framework  issued  last  year:

1. Convergence  with  other  government  schemes  with  common  objectives:

1. Prime  Minister’s  Irrigation  Programme (PMKSY)

2. Integrated  Watershed  Management  Programme (IWMP)  

3. Command  Area  Development  &  Water  Management  (CAD&WM)  

2. Focus  on  2264  water  stressed  blocks  where  65%  of  the  total  expenditure  will  be  on  NRM  activities.  

2. MGNREGA  2.0:  institutionalization  of  evaluations,  skilling  etc.  

Income  &  Livelihood Impacts

1. Improved  Standard  of  Living:  – level  of  living  improved  due  to  participation  in  MGNREGA  (NSSO  Survey  

Jan-­‐‑June,  2010)

2. Supplementary  Household  Income:  – Earnings  from  MGNREGA  are  used  as  a  supplementary  income  source  

during  non-­‐‑agricultural  seasons

3. Increased  Employment  Opportunities:  – Employment  in  the  post-­‐‑MGNREGS  period  had  increased  between  12  

and  18  percent

4. Increased  Food  Security  :– MGNREGA  has  benefited  and  enabled  the  lower  landholdings  in  

meeting  their  daily  food  expenses  and  has  ensured  food  security

Gender  &  Inclusion  impacts

• Participation  of  women  high  in  MGNREGA– Female  share  on  works  under  MGNREGA  is  greater  than  their  share  of  the  work  in  the  casual  wage  labour  market  in  all  states.

• Wage Parity & Improved Access to Income– Reduced difference in the male-­‐female wage rates for casual labours in rural

areas vis-­‐a vis urban areas

• Improvement in Women’s Social Status– A large percentage of the women receive wage themselves in their

accounts and have greater say in the way money is spent.

• Effective  targeting  of  marginalized  groups  – Tribal,  Below  poverty  line    

Impact  on  Agriculture

1. Improved irrigation & Increase in crop area– Irrigated land area increased by 26%– Increase in income from crop 15% to 117%

2. Creation of assets– brought about changes in cropping patterns– helped beneficiaries move from subsistence to surplus farming

3. Benefits for Small & Marginal Farmers (SMF)– Labour intensive projects benefitted SMF and landless agricultural labour– land belonging to SMF from backward communities have been developed

in the last couple of years and the– additional benefits was found to be in range of Rs 15 lakh mainly from

higher yields.

Quality  &  Durability  of  Assets

1. High Return on investment– Study of over 140 best-­‐performing MGNREGA water related assets in 75

villages across 8 districts of Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala and Rajasthan showsthat, on an average, these assets were able to recover their investmentsin a little over a year

2. Durability of Assets– Wells, check dams and Anicuts have a design life of 10-­‐15 years.

However, plantations were found to have an average life of only 2-­‐3years.

3. LowWork Completion Rate– District level studies note different reasons for non-­‐completion of works,

including inaccurate estimation of dimensions during the sanction ofwork, wrong time for starting of works, irregular flow of funds

Environment  &  Sustainability

1. Creation of Green Jobs– “Green Jobs” created as 70% works relate to Agriculture and allied

activities (water conservation, water-­‐harvesting, restoration, renovation& desilting of water bodies, drought-­‐proofing, plantation &afforestation)

2. Adaptation & Mitigation to the impact of Climate Change– Reduction in vulnerability– Increase in water availability– Improved livelihood security

3. Natural Resource Regeneration– Increase in groundwater level, water percolation and improvement in

soil fertility & land productivity.

KEY CHALLENGES

Key  Challenges  

1. Capacity  Building  of  field  functionaries

2. Quality,  durability  and  usefulness  of  assets

3. Delays  in  wage  payment

4. Shortage  of  dedicated  field  staff  for  MGNREGA

5. Improper  Planning  of  work  and  limited  availability  of  fund

6. Lack  of  Outcome-­‐based  Monitoring

Key  Challenges  

7. Lack  of  ICT  Infrastructure  at  the  GPs  (village  council)  level

8. Limited  reach  of  financial  institutions  in  rural  area

9. Poor  maintenance  of  records,  including  Muster  Rolls,  Job  Cards  etc.

10. Misappropriations/  corruption

11. Inadequate  availability  of  shelf  of  works

Take-­‐aways from  this  event

Lots  to  learn  and  a  lot  to  improve:

1. Learn-­‐Earn-­‐Achieve-­‐Progress  (LEAP)  (Phillipines)  –`100  days  of  wage-­‐work  to  365  days  of  livelihood’

2. More  focus  on  Skilling  (many  countries)

3. Holistic  approach  – adding  health  and  education  aspects  (many  countries)

4. Autonomous  institutes  for  evaluation  (Mexico)