Sreelatha Menon: NREGA's social in-security net

NREGA has been in a year-long coma in Andhra Pradesh, re-affirming faith in its dysfunctionality

The net of social security promised by labour laws and pro-poor entitlements has a quality of keeping beneficiaries enmeshed for eternity, either due to delays or litigation or plain cheating by employers.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is an instance of this “security” mesh.

The three most common scenarios under the scheme are: A. You never get work. B. You work and don’t get paid for months as your work keeps adding up. C. You are underpaid.

The dysfunctionality of this well-meaning scheme does not seem to be deterring the government, the employee unions or anyone else from advocating it as a form of social security for those who are jobless and poor. The annual Indian Labour Conference last week pinned hope on Nrega to generate jobs and provide social security. It sought doubling the entitlement from 100 days’ work to 200 days’ work a year per household.

This is almost like saying that since there is no social security for the jobless, they can as well do without anything.

In a state like Andhra Pradesh, where the scheme was said to be working fine all these years, there was no work for the whole of this year (2010-2011), coinciding with the spate of suicides in the state. In fact, there have been surmises within the state government if suspension of Nrega work has played a role in the rise in suicide cases in Andhra Pradesh.

NREGA workers’ unions in Belgaum has been on a protest for a week asking for job cards for the people and payment of the unemployment allowance. Last month, the union was protesting in Raichur for dues worth Rs 80 lakh, pending for more than six to nine months.

The state government said last year’s payments were being made against this year due to a technical problem. The unions said more work was done last year before the panchayat elections and this was being adjusted against work days this year, keeping villagers idle.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district, activist Richa Singh says NREGA works only when there is someone to take up the cause of the workers. In Rajasthan, which has several activists, people have been getting wages that range between Re 1 and Rs 50 per day. That the Union rural development minister belongs to the state is no help either.

Recently, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan led workers in many districts for a month-long satyagraha for payment of minimum wages under the scheme. The government has agreed to set things right and the agitation has been called off.

In West Bengal, the scheme has not been able to arrest the flow of migrants to cities. According to the state’s former land reforms commissioner, Debarata Bandhopadhyay, the reason for NREGA providing just 14 days work per household per year and job cards only for 40 per cent poor households is that the scheme is run by the landed peasantry, which hates to let the landless take advantage of higher wages and employment.

So, when the labour ministry last week made a case for 200 days work almost as a substitute for unemployment benefits, it amounted to betrayal of their cause.

In fact, it could have asked for, and got, 365 days of employment, without making any difference to the condition of the villagers.