TERM PAPER OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

TOPIC : -- NREGA ANALYSIS

Mr harish

Page 1 of 14
INTRODUCTION
(National rural employment guarantee act)
“The national rural employment guarantee act” came into force on February 2, 2006 and
was implemented in 200 of India’s most backward districts. The ministry of rural
development described it is a revolutionary measure to transform the rural economy. In
2007 it was extended to another 130 districts and with effect from April 1, 2008 the act
is to cover all districts. “The UPA government” enacted a national employment
guarantee act. This will provide a legal guarantee for at least 100 days of employment to
begin with on asset creating public works

Page 2 of 14
Every year at minimum wages to at least one able –bodied person in every rural and
urban poor and lower middle class household. The government, on the advice of the
national advisory council, passed the national rural employment guarantee act.

MAIN FEATURES OF THE ACT:-

Every household in rural India will have a right to at least 100 days of
guaranteed employment every year for at least one adult member. The
employment will be in be in the form of casuals manual labor at the statutory
minimum wage, and the wage shall be paid within 7 days of the week during
which work was done .
Work should be provided within 15 days of demanding it, and the work
should be located within 5 kilometers of distance.
If work is not provided to anyone within the given time, (he/she) will be paid
a daily unemployment allowance, which will be at least one-third of
minimum wage.
Workers employed on public works will be entitled to medical treatment and
hospitalization in case of injury at working site, along with a daily allowance
of not less than half of the statutory minimum wage. In case of death or
disability of a worker, an extra payment shall be made to his heirs as per
provisions of workmen compensation act.
Five percent of wages may be deducted as contribution to welfare schemes
like health insurance, accident insurance, survivor benefits, maternity benefits
and social security schemes.
For non –compliance with rules, strict penalties have been laid down. For
transparency and accountability, all accounts and records of the programmers
will be made available for public scrutiny. The district collector/chief

Page 3 of 14
executive officer will be responsible for the programmers at district level
.The gram Sabah will monitor the work of the gram panchayat by way of
social audit. Governments for providing employment as 90 per cent of the
cost for employment provided is borne by the Centre or payment of
unemployment allowance at the state's own cost and emphasis on labour
intensive works prohibiting the use of contractors and machinery. “The Act
also mandates 33 percent participation for women”. Conditions for
Guaranteed Rural Employment under the scheme:-

1. Registration to be made at the level of Gram Panchayat for issuance of job

cards.

2. Duty of the Gram Panchayat to issue the job card after making such an
enquiry as it may deem fit.

3. The registration for not less than 5 years and to be renewed from time to
time.

4. Every job card holder entitled to apply for unskilled manual work under
the scheme.

5. All registered persons belonging to a house hold entitled to employment in

accordance with the scheme for as many days as each applicant may request,
subject to a maximum of 100 days per house hold in a given financial year.

6. Such job to be provided within a period of 15 days of the receipt of an

application or from the date he/she seeks work in case of advance application
whichever is later

NREGA-as a revolution;-

Page 4 of 14
Significant emerging trends in three years of Implementation of NREGA
have been evident in the increase in employment opportunities compared
with earlier wage employment programmers, increase in minimum wages,
stemming of distress migration, implementation of a large number of works
related to soil and water conservation, a forestation 4r and plantation
resulting in increased productivity. One of the spin off benefits of the Act has
been “the financial inclusion of NREGA workers”. Works identified under
NREGA for convergence will be Planned and executed within the parameters
of NREGA including:
1) The cost of material component of project including the wages of the
skilled and semi skilled worker under the scheme shall not exceed forty
percent of the total project cost.
2) as far as practicable, a task funded under the scheme shall be performed by
manual labour and not machines
3) No contractors

Parameters :-
General Framework for Convergence
Ground water data developed by WR Department, this may be made
available for use for planning and executing NREGA related works. Joint
monitoring and supervision of activities should be planned. Baseline
assessment, concurrent appraisal and documentation and evaluation of impact
of the concerned schemes and NREGA on a set of performance indicators
and their effectiveness in responding to the needs of the community could be
initiated.

Page 5 of 14
 Planning;
The Annual Work Plan of NREGA lists the shelf of projects recommended
by the Gram Sabha and finalized by the Gram Panchayat/Intermediate
Panchayat/Zila Parishad. If the Perspective Plan has been made then the
AWP should be broadly based on the Perspective Plan. The AWP must be
endorsed by the Gram Sabha/PRIs as per the Act. The NREGA plan will be
based on the permissible works under Schedule I of the NREGA Act.
For this purpose, Block level resource persons may be trained on the
methodology of convergence between the concerned scheme and NREGA.
They will guide the Gram Sabha in preparing the village plan, so that the
AWP of NREGA accommodates the requirements of the projects to be taken
up with the concerned department in a complementary manner and the
selection of works, and their sequence is dovetailed into well-linked
programmers.

The institutional platform for such dovetailing will be the Gram Sabha at the
village level, and then the Gram Panchayat. The Programme Officer and the
BRG, DPC and the DRG will ensure that the selection of works under
NREGS and the programme for convergence are in mutual coordination. The
DRG will ensure that in converging the plans of both the programmes, the
technical quality of the plan is maintained as per the norms of programme
with which convergence is being undertaken, for instance in undertaking
convergence with the WR department the technical quality of the plan will be
as per the Water Resources department. The Department will share its
existing database, if any,
to enable the formulation of feasible water related projects as the result of
NREGA planning process.

Page 6 of 14
Work:-

An opportunity for rural renewal: An NREGA project site in

Rajasthan.

Works under NREGA is carried out at four levels:

Page 7 of 14
i. Works approved in the current Shelf of Projects but not yet started
ii. Ongoing works
iii. Works completed
iv. Works yet to be selected for the next financial year
(As part of the annual planning process).

# Convergence should be planned, keeping in mind these varying stages of

works:-
The operation may be undertaken at three levels. In case of the first scenario,
where works have been included in the Shelf of Projects, but not started yet,
the Shelf of Projects formulated under NREGA may be re-scrutinized to
assess the feasibility of works selected. The concerned department with
which convergence is being considered may share their database and other
information so that it may be assessed that the selection of works is
appropriate. If any correction is required it may be done. In case of (ii) & (iii)
scenarios, the expertise of the concerned department should be taken for
quality supervision, and in planning the next set of activities. The list of
works completed/ taken up will be shared with concerned department which
will indicate appropriate activities/technologies for each work for value
addition. In case of planning new works the suggestions given above on the
planning process may be considered.

ROLE OF THE CENTER GOVERNMENT

Central Government has to play a major role in the effective functioning of
panchayati raj institutions. Implementation of NREGA by the panchayati raj
institutions is one such example. We have to strive continuously to make
panchayati raj institutions an effective instrument. These institutions can play

Page 8 of 14
a major role as the units of decentralized governance in a more effective
manner. In addition, there is a need to provide basic facilities to these
institutions. I am happy that the year 2009-10 is being observed as the “Year
of Gram Sabha”. The people of the village get an opportunity through the
Gram Sabha to discuss, deliberate, accept or reject the proposals of Gram
Panchayat. I am also pleased that the Union Cabinet yesterday has decided to
change the name of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Come, let us
pledge together for an all-out effort to make PRIs more powerful and
effective.”

ROLE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT:-

For the implementation of the scheme, each state government shall prepare
an employment guarantee programmers with six months of enactments. The
main features to the included in the programmers are:
# Only productive works that are based on economic, social and environment
benefits, contributing to social equity, and have the ability to create
permanent asset will be taken up under the programmers.
# The works shall be provided in rural areas.
# When wages are directly linked with the quantity of material, they shall be
paid according to the schedule of rate fixed by the state government for
installed labourers’, this schedule shall be so fixed. Those seven hours of
works shall fetch wages equal to the statutory minimum wage fixed by the
state.
# Gap filling through NREGS for similar work under the schemes of the
department with which convergence is being considered
# Dovetailing inputs into a common Project

Page 9 of 14
# Area Approach
# Value addition to NREGA works
# Technical support for ensuring quality in planning, selection and execution
of NREGA works.

HELP:-
Department of Rural Development, Government of India, proposes to
establish a network of help lines under NREGA at the National, State,
District and Block levels for easy implementation of the NREGA Scheme.
The Helpline consists of a toll free MTNL number (1800110707) that will be
used by the NREGA households and other individuals and groups to raise
their questions, directly to submit their grievances and complaints and seek
guidance from the Department of Rural Development. The Helpline consists
of a toll free number. The operations will the use of latest information and
communication technology to provide solutions to queries and complainants
on a real time basis.

CONCLUSION:-
Under NREGA, there is neither a cost norm for the area nor a unit cost for
work/ activity. However, the unit cost of activities/works to be carried out
under NREGS will also be as per the cost norms/unit costs, under the
programme norms of the department with which the convergence in being
considered. The concerned Ministries jointly monitor the implementation of
the scheme and ensure concurrent evaluation through quarterly physical and
financial reports, inspection visits, and meetings with senior officers of the
State Government. Workshops for experience sharing, learning and
dissemination and impact assessment studies are being organized. The social
audit of the project(s) should be carried out by the concerned Gram Sabha.
Page 10 of 14
The monitoring of the work(s) should be done with the association of the
standing committee of the Panchayat at the appropriate level.

i. Only Job Card holders will be employed for NREGA component.

ii. Muster Rolls to be maintained on worksite, with copies in the Gram
Panchayat and to be electronically maintained.
iii. Social Audits should be done through Gram Sabhas.
iv. Wage payments will be through no frills accounts in banks/post office in
selected districts pilot projects on convergence may be taken up. These will
be operationalised in accordance with the processes suggested above.

AREA OF NREGA:-

1) Water
2) Forest
3) Agriculture
1) Water
Majority of works related with water conservation and water
management are handled by the Ministry of Water Resources and
Department of Land Resource. As more than 50% of NREGA works
relate to water conservation, the possibilities of convergence between
NREGA and water conservation and watershed development
programmes of majority of work related and ministry of land resource
will optimize the sustainability of assets created under the programme.
Joint convergence of initiatives of partner Ministries will further

Page 11 of 14
 expand the coverage area.

2) FOREST;-
Page 12 of 14
 More than 8% of NREGA works relate to drought proofing. The
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOE&F;) has the task of achieving
one-third of the land area under forest and tree plantations as envisaged in the
National Forest Policy, 1988. This cannot be accomplished by MOE&F;
alone due to the enormity of the task. Convergence with NREGA is therefore
beneficial in terms of additional resources and new possibilities of holistic
development. The integrated area development approach with ecological
concerns will also benefit NREGA in quality planning and selection of works
that generate sustainable employment

3) AGRICULTURE

In the proposed pilot initiative between NREGA and ICAR, the latter can
play a substantial role in improving the quality of planning and execution for
NREGA works. Appropriate technology solutions have been mapped by
ICAR to provide a rational database for preparing NREGA plans, and its
technical norms and designs, so that the choice of works is guided not just by
the expediency of immediate employment provisioning but also by the logic
of sustainable natural resource development. The wide-ranging ICAR
repository of appropriate technologies enables a holistic project approach
whereby works selected under NREGA are conceptualized as projects that go
beyond natural resource management to strengthen livelihoods as well.

Page 13 of 14
Page 14 of 14