OPINION - nregaconsortium.in with a...Shilpa Shetty, Husband Raj Kundra Go For gold Rath Yatra Comes...
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Home Opinion Columns 7 4 Comments Pramathesh Ambasta | July 3, 2014 6:03 pm Print More From Pramathesh Ambasta YOU MAY ALSO LIKE India by his book, a testament to hope Granville Austin documented the triumphs and strains of working a truly democratic constitution. Grist to the reactionary mill The above account mentions the fortress of Bihar as the target of Bakhtiyar’s attack. Missing the train Rail budget has statements of intent that are not backed Before his tragic demise, the Union minister for rural development, Gopinath Munde, gave a clear indication of the new government’s priorities on MGNREGA. Both these priorities are vital: using the programme for the creation of productive assets to combat drought and poverty and ensuring timely payment of wages. More than two decades of liberalisation and high economic growth have left India with enclaves of prosperity surrounded by vast hinterlands of deprivation which show poor human development indicators. So a thrust on social inclusion is much needed. And MGNREGA is a scheme to be justifiably proud of, despite all its shortcomings. With a total expenditure of Rs 2,53,560 crore since its inception, MGNREGA has created 1,698 crore person days of employment — half of this has gone to women and half to Scheduled Castes and Tribes. More than 10 crore bank accounts have been opened for wage disbursal, an unprecedented scale of financial inclusion. The difficulty, however, is that so long as people don’t get paid on time, a huge question mark remains over the scheme, making it unattractive to wageseekers and ineffective in stopping distress migration. The minister’s perspective allayed apprehensions of a fundamental re engineering of MGNREGA to morph it into an unconditional cash transfer scheme. Cash transfers can put money in the hands of the poor but cannot create the assets that they need, which are ultimately the foundation of an inclusive growth process. While such transfers make sense for pensions and scholarships, they are no substitute for social sector provisioning. This is what the chief ministers of states Messing with a good thing Income Tax Returns Online eFiling Made Simple on Taxsmile. Start Filing IT Returns Now! www.taxsmile.com/IncomeTaxReturns Ads by Google SUMMARY MGNREGA must be tweaked in implementation, not design. Tweet This RECOMMENDED Timeline: Narendra Modi's first 100 days While the focus will be on major policy decisions, we will also keep track of his visits and announcements. BUSINESS AS USUAL BY E.P UNNY JUL 09: LATEST NEWS Dipannita Sharma plays paranormal character in ‘Pizza’ 03:19 pm, Jul 09, 2014 Lokpal will help CVC function independently: Govt 03:15 pm, Jul 09, 2014 US pilot orders 50 pizzas for all passengers on OPINION WEDNESDAY, JUL 09, 2014 Follow 1.6m Like The perceived fall in demand for work does not stem from MGNREGA realising its goals, leading to a declining need for employment, but from deficiencies in implementation. Fali S Nariman Wed Jul 09 2014 D.N. Jha Wed Jul 09 2014 Dinesh Trivedi Wed Jul 09 2014 Express Specials FIFA World Cup Budget 2014 DU Admissions Iraq Turmoil Wimbledon EPaper Today's Paper Astrology NATION WORLD BUSINESS CITIES SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLE TECHNOLOGY OPINION PHOTOS VIDEOS ALL SECTIONS
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Transcript of OPINION - nregaconsortium.in with a...Shilpa Shetty, Husband Raj Kundra Go For gold Rath Yatra Comes...
Home Opinion Columns
7 4 Comments
Pramathesh Ambasta | July 3, 2014 6:03 pm Print
More From PramatheshAmbasta
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
India by his book, at est ament t o hopeGranville Austindocumented the triumphsand strains of working atruly democraticconstitution.
Grist t o t he react ionary millThe above accountmentions the fortress ofBihar as the target ofBakhtiyar’s attack.
Missing t he t rainRail budget has statementsof intent that are not backed
Before his tragic demise, the Union minister for rural development,Gopinath Munde, gave a clear indication of the new government’spriorities on MGNREGA. Both these priorities are vital: using theprogramme for the creation of productive assets to combat drought andpoverty and ensuring timely payment of wages. More than two decadesof liberalisation and high economic growth have left India with enclavesof prosperity surrounded by vast hinterlands of deprivation which showpoor human development indicators. So a thrust on social inclusion ismuch needed. And MGNREGA is a scheme to be justifiably proud of,despite all its shortcomings. With a total expenditure of Rs 2,53,560crore since its inception, MGNREGA has created 1,698 crore persondays of employment — half of this has gone to women and half toScheduled Castes and Tribes. More than 10 crore bank accounts havebeen opened for wage disbursal, an unprecedented scale of financialinclusion. The difficulty, however, is that so long as people don’t get paidon time, a huge question mark remains over the scheme, making itunattractive to wageseekers and ineffective in stopping distressmigration.
The minister’s perspective allayed apprehensions of a fundamental reengineering of MGNREGA to morph it into an unconditional cashtransfer scheme. Cash transfers can put money in the hands of thepoor but cannot create the assets that they need, which are ultimatelythe foundation of an inclusive growth process. While such transfersmake sense for pensions and scholarships, they are no substitute forsocial sector provisioning. This is what the chief ministers of states
Messing with a good thing
Income Tax Returns OnlineeFiling Made Simple on Taxsmile. Start Filing IT Returns Now! www.taxsmile.com/IncomeTaxReturns
Ads by Google
SUMMARY
MGNREGA must betweaked inimplementation,not design.
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T imeline: Narendra Modi's f irst 100 daysWhile the focus will be onmajor policy decisions, we willalso keep track of his visits andannouncements.
BUSINESS AS USUAL BY E.P UNNY
JUL 09: LAT EST NEWS
Dipannita Sharma playsparanormal character in‘Pizza ’03:19 pm, Jul 09, 2014
Lokpal will help CVC f unct ionindependent ly: Govt03:15 pm, Jul 09, 2014
US pilot orders 50 pizzas f or a ll passengers on
OPINIONWEDNESDAY, JUL 09, 2014
Follow 1.6mLike
The perceived fall in demand for work does not stem from MGNREGA realising its goals,leading to a declining need for employment, but from deficiencies in implementation.
Fali S NarimanWed Jul 09 2014
D.N. JhaWed Jul 09 2014
Dinesh TrivediWed Jul 09 2014
Express Specials FIFA World Cup Budget 2014 DU Admissions Iraq Turmoil Wimbledon EPaper Today's Paper Astrology
NATION WORLD BUSINESS CIT IES SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLE TECHNOLOGY OPINION PHOTOS VIDEOS
ALL SECTIONS
by a roadmap or timeline.
Chinese t akeaway:Beijing’s DiasporaThe Indians and Chinesehave, for centuries,migrated to distant cornersof the world.
such as Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have realised. These statesare among the best examples of MGNREGA being used in convergentmode to generate sustainable rural livelihoods.
To put the growth versus inclusion debate to rest, let us look at someimportant facts. The Rural Labour Enquiry of the National SampleSurvey confirms that a very high proportion (50 to 70 per cent, or evenmore if we focus on tribal areas) of agricultural labour householdsactually own land. If constraints on their productive capacities are easedby welldesigned investments, such as the creation of water harvestingstructures, land levelling and works to conserve soil and moisture,which maximise employment in the construction phase and createdurable assets, they will contribute to growth. This should help us viewthe poor not as mere passive recipients of dole, but as potentially activeparticipants in the growth process. Such growth will also befundamentally equitable and sustainable.
The debate on cash transfers also ignores the several firsts that havemade MGNREGA a cause célèbre the world over. The largestemployment guarantee programme in the world institutionalised aninnovative way of tackling corruption through social audits long beforethe Lokpal agitation. In Andhra Pradesh, these audits have helpedrecover several crores from errant personnel. The process is aided byan imaginative deployment of computer software, a tightly integratedendtoend system, itself a first in the country, which helped AP monitorall stages of work and flag delays, particularly in wage payments. InUttar Pradesh, poor, Dalit women have come out in large numbers toform federations (nari sanghs) and demand their rights of the state.Apart from gaining incomes, they are imbued with a newconsciousness, which makes them insist that their panchayat leadersand officers are accountable to them. What could define the mantra ofgovernance better than this vibrant participatory democracy led bywomen?
However, in the hurry to create productive assets, let us not forget thatthe choice of technology is of paramount importance. Thus, recentsuggestions that the labour to material ratio should be 4:6 in favour ofmaterial ignore the fact that India has a celebrated experience of durableand wellengineered assets that improve agricultural productivitythrough employmentintensive works based on a watershed approach.It is also the experience of MGNREGA that material procurement is anavenue for leakages, so such changes are an invitation to corruption.The new list of permissible works, introduced as part of MGNREGA2.0, creates enough space for a judicious mix of labour and materialintensive works, while maintaining the ratio in favour of labour.]
The perceived fall in demand for work does not stem from MGNREGArealising its goals, leading to a declining need for employment, but fromdeficiencies in implementation, created primarily by a human resourcebottleneck. The “cluster facilitation team” concept of MGNREGA 2.0correctly targets the most backward blocks of the country, deployinghuman resources and capacities to raise demand for MGNREGA work,ensure improved planning, timely implementation and disbursement ofwages. Better implementation of MGNREGA will ensure that it makesitself redundant over time, such is its beauty. To cut down the fiscalburden, therefore, there is no need to amend the act and deuniversaliseMGNREGA. Let us instead simply concentrate on the most backwardand needy blocks and make MGNREGA work better there. Morerigorous recording of demand and expeditious payment of wages willensure the programme fulfils its historic mandate
The author is convenor, National Consortium of Civil SocietyOrganisations on MGNREGA
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Seema • 6 days agoI fully agree , the usual allegation that work demand is waning is absolutely wrong as weknow in the field. It is delay in payments that has bred discontents and people prefer tomigrate though paid less and get exploited... the works under MGNREGA II has greatpotential at developing livelihood assets visavis providing doorstep wage employment.
• Reply •
Mr.Mukunda Sahu • 6 days agoCan Govt. prepared on the basis of 100 days work for for each household and annualaction plan and budget for each villages and release fund for development work for thevillage because till date 90% rural people are not aware about the basic of MGNREGA .
• Reply •
KrishnaBhagawan • 7 days agoThe problem of implementation is due to design.
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Girish • 7 days agohow about private employers being brought under the purview of NREGA?
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