Follow the manifesto, don't forget the CMP

The UPA government’s Common Minimum Programme, prepared in partnership with the CPI(M), included flagship schemes like Bharat Nirman, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP). This meant targets set for primary school admissions, assured income for every family and roads, water, housing and electricity. And yearly spending of over Rs 1,20,000 crore, up from Rs 36,000 crore in the last year of the NDA government.

The NREGP got Rs 30,000 crore in the recent interim Budget, while allocation in 2008-09 was above Rs 18,000 crore. The scheme, which provided employment to 3.31 crore households in the past financial year, provides for 100 days of work at minimum wages for each rural household without any pre conditions.

The Congress has promised in its election manifesto to improve on this law by extending the guaranteed 100 days of work to every adult member of the family. So, five members would mean 500 days of work at a daily minimum wage of Rs 100.

The record of the NREGP was the most visible contribution of the party-led government in the past five years -- average income benefits of Rs 4,000 a year per per beneficiary family. The NREGP is also plagued with allegations of corruption. It has overshadowed the ongoing housing and road building activities which were being carried out under the head of Bharat Nirman.

The latter was meant to set targets of 1.5 million houses for every year and similar targets for taking drinking water to every village. Unlike NREGP’s universal visibility, these haven’t made a visible impact.

The SSA saw large-scale recruitment of teachers, and with the mid-day meal scheme, had been used to improve attendance and admissions in primary school. The scheme is being extended to secondary level, so that secondary education is universalised in the coming five years.

Before the elections, the government had already given approval to the Right to Free Education Bill, which is aimed to bring equity in access to quality education. It makes it mandatory for schools to provide seats to poor students on demand, and voers private schools also in this regard.

On thing which helped the UPA government was the unprecedented 45-50 per cent increase in minimum support price of all foodgrains, including pulses, last year. This is beside the Rs 80,000 crore doled out as loan waiver for indebted farmers, slowing the chronic suicides in rural belts.

Says Vijay Jawandia, farmer leader from Vidarbha: “The government should improve on what it has done by revising the MSP at realistic levels and extending NREGP to agricultural farmers, especially small farmers on unirrigated land, right from sowing to harvesting. That would encourage farmers, especially the sorgum (jowar and bajra) croppers and thus reduce the risks of growing these. At present, the farmers on unirrigated land, who are in a majority, are exposed to the vagaries of both nature and the market.”

What is needed is a policy for unirrigated land.This is the challenge before the new government, he says.

Apart from the NREGP and Right to Information Acts, the government had to its credit an Unorganised Sector Social Security Act which was notified this week. The procedure to identify unorganised sector workers and creation of infrastructure to link these to social security schemes is set to begin.