Poorest states record lowest work-days under NREGS

It is not just the Schedule Castes/Schedule Tribes who are failing to benefit from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Some of the states with the largest number of poor are also falling far behind in claiming benefits from the scheme, which is supposed to guarantee 100 days of wage labour to anyone who demands it in a village.

A parliamentary standing committee on rural development has expressed surprise that the poorest states have recorded the lowest number of work days under the scheme. The committee has called for a revamping of the scheme and wanted skilled and semi-skilled works to be taken up under NREGS.
 

The committee observed that year-wise average workdays per person during 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 (as on January 31, 2013) were 43, 42, 48, 54, 47, 43, and 36 respectively. The committee was dismayed to note that average number of workdays provided per household in states with a significant Below Poverty Line (BPL) population like Bihar (22 to 38 days) and West Bengal (14 to 35 days) were less than the national average in the period between 2006 and now. (LEFT BEHIND)

The committee said it was at a loss to understand the logic of poor demand for work in states which have a significant BPL population with less employment opportunities as compared to better developed states.

The committee said that delay in payment of wages, and alleged corruption in registration and giving actual work are discouraging people from demanding work under NREGS.

The committee therefore recommended that the ministry of rural development should analyse reasons for poor performance of all states and take corrective steps so that people in rural areas find it easy to get work under the scheme.

The committee further cited several negative trends in the working of the scheme and said the scheme should be revamped immediately. And as a first step, it suggested capacity building of Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). It called for engaging PRIs and gram sabhas for formulation of district perspective plans for effective utilisation of resources allocated for implementation of NREGS.