National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Introduction

• Government of India under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched NREGA on 25th August 2005. 
  
• NREGA aimed to provide work to people living below poverty line in rural India.
  
• The NREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wages. 
  
• Central Government shall meet the cost towards the payment of wage, 3/4 of material cost and certain percentage of administrative cost. 
• State Government shall meet the cost towards unemployed allowance, 1/4 of material cost and administrative cost of State council.
  
• Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with photo to the Gram Panchayat. The Gram panchayat registers households after making enquiry and issues a job card. 
  
• The employment will be provided within a radius of 5 km: if it is above 5 km extra wage will be paid.
  
• TATA Consultancy Services, India's largest IT/ITES sector company has designed the software solution for the state of Andhra Pradesh. NIC, a government of India undertaking, developed solution has been implemented in other areas.
  
• Wages paid would be through a saving bank account in local bank or post office. Government is trying hard to ban wages payment through cash.

Facts

Under NREGA, rural labourers have a legal entitlement not only to work on demand but also to minimum wages. To prevent corruption, a wide range of transparency safeguards has been built into the Act. For example, muster rolls are supposed to be kept at the worksite, displayed at the Panchayat Bhawan, and read out in public at the time of wage payments. Employment and wage details also have to be entered in the labourers’ 'Job Cards', to enable them to verify the records for themselves. Contractors are totally banned.

At the gram panchayat level, the main responsibility for implementing NREGA works lies with the Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO). Another key actor is the Village Labour Leader (VLL), who is supposed to be selected by the gram sabha for the purpose of 'supervising' a specific worksite.

VLLs were there with Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), a predecessor of NREGA. At that time, the VLL was a de facto contractor. He or she received the work orders, spent the funds, arranged the works, and filled the muster rolls. Under NREGA, funds are routed through the panchayat and the VLL is supposed to be a mere worksite supervisor, who earns wages at the same rate as other labourers.

Current Status of NREGA

• Barely 3.2 per cent of the registered households could avail of 100 days of employment in one year '06-'07.
  
• Average employment provided under the scheme was just 18 days in the same year block.
  
• Rural population, even Government not aware of the scheme.
• Discrepancy in muster roll prepared by the team leader.