1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)-The Journey so far and
the Future
Hyderabad

2. Background
Large under-employed and surplus labour force in rural areas with little or no skills
Livelihood insecurity for millions living in rural areas
Little or no participation of poor in development programmes
Heavy dependence on agriculture for livelihood
Low agriculture productivity
Low & unequal wage rates between men & women
Environmental degradation

3. Transition from “Allocation based welfare program” to “Rights based, Demand driven, people centric, bottom-up, self selecting” strategy
5th Sept., this historic legislation was passed

4. Mahatma Gandhi NREGA
Preamble
“For the enhancement of livelihood security of rural households by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work”

5. Objectives
1) supplement wage-employment opportunities in rural areas – provide a safety net for rural poor 2) create sustainable rural livelihoods through rejuvenation of natural resource base – land, water, forests 3) strengthen grassroots democratic processes and infuse transparency and accountability in rural governance

6. MGNREGA: Basic Features
100 days' wage employment assurance
Unemployment allowance if work not provided
A fixed timeline for payment of wages, compensation for delayed payments
Transparency & Accountability
Wages to be credited to Bank/ Post office accounts

7. Primary Stakeholders & Roles
Central Govt: Provide funds, ensure that the spirit of the Act is observed
State Govts: Preparation of Scheme & Implementation
Panchayats: Planning & Execution
Workers: rights & entitlements
Community: Planning & Oversight

8. Mahatma Gandhi NREGA: Processes

9. Works Workers Fund Transfer Work Flow Of MGNREGA
Works proposed by Gram Sabha
To Apply for Registration
Fund transfer from Center
Gram Panchayat
Feasibility examined
Fund transfer from States
Job card Issued
Technical , Fin. and admn approval
D.P.C.
HH demands for work
Shelf of work prepared
P.O.
Admn. Exp.
Other Impl. Agency
Work allocation by Panchayat
Transfer fund
Work completed and assets created
issue
pay
Blank muster roll forms having unique no.
Unemploy.
allowance
Work provided, muster roll filled and wage paid
Expenditure on material

10. Application for Registration
Unit of Entitlement is the Household.
Registration application to be made to local Gram Panchayat.
Application may be in a form prescribed or a plain paper or oral
Prescribed form is free of cost & easily available at GP

11. Verification of the Registration Application
The Gram Panchayat verifies the application on the basis of:
local domicile
All household members applying for registration are adult
No discrimination is made in registration in terms of caste, creed, gender
Single Women living alone may register independently
After verification, the house hold will be registered & issued Job card

12. Registered households receive a Job Card

13. Provision of Work
If work is not provided within the prescribed time limit, workers are eligible to get unemployment allowance
Panchayats to prepare a shelf of works which can be offered on demand
Work to be provided to only adult members
Work to be provided within 5 km radius
If worksite is beyond 5 km, 10% additional wages paid
Persons older in age & women to be given preference for work nearer to village
Each work should have at least 1/3rd of women workers

14. MGNREGA: Works & Employment

15. MGNREGA- Works
Focus
Conserve & Improve Natural resource base
Non negotiable- No contractor, No labour displacing machines
Category of works
Water conservation and water harvesting
Drought proofing, plantation and afforestation
Irrigation canals, Micro and minor irrigation works
Renovation of traditional water bodies
Land development, flood control and protection
Rural connectivity

16. MGNREGA- Works Water & Soil
Catchment Area Treatment (Contour trenches & bunds, graded bunds, bench terracing, field bunds
Check dam construction
Ponds (irrigation pond, dugout sunken pond, percolation tank, farm ponds)
Water harvesting structures
Ground water recharge (contour trenching, recharge shafts, low height check dams)
Irrigation provisioning and improvement (dug well, canal renovation, canal construction, desilting, field channel etc.)
Renovation of traditional water bodies

17. MGNREGA- Works Land Development, Drought Proofing & Flood Control
Land Development (conservation bench terracing, contour and graded bunds, field bunds, pasture development)
Drought Proofing – Afforestation (tree plantation, boundary plantation, agro forestry, block plantation, agro-horticulture, fencing etc.)
Flood control (diversion channel, peripheral bunds, surface drainage, field drains with culverts, renovation of drainage

18. Workers Entitlement
Workers are entitled for basic worksites facilities like:
Safe drinking water
Shade for children & for workers during rest
First aid box for emergency treatment of minor injuries
One maid to look after 5 or more children below the age of six years
Workers are entitled to check the muster rolls at any time
Workers have a right to ask the measurement details
If wages are not paid within 15 days, workers are entitled to receive compensation as per the Payment of Wages Act

19. MGNREGA : EMPLOYMENT PROVIDED Employment provided to H.H.
F.Y.
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
Employment provided to H.H.
4.51 cr.
5.26 cr.
5.49 cr.
5.04 cr.
3.24 cr.
Persondays
(in Cr.)
Total
216.32
283.59
257.15
216.34
92.65 SC
63.36
(29%)
86.45
(30%)
78.76
(31%)
47.70
(22%)
21.21
(23%) ST
55.02
(25%)
58.74
(21%)
53.62
39.59
(18%)
14.02
(15%)
Women
103.57
48%)
136.40
(48%)
(48%)
103.81
50.55
(55%)
Avergage Persondays per H.H.
48 days
54 days
47 days
43 days
29 days
Average wage per day
` 84
` 90
` 100
` 115
` 130

20. MGNREGA : TYPES OF WORK F.Y. (2008-09) (2009-10) (2010-11) (2011-12)
Work Details
F.Y.
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
(Aug – 2012)
Total Works taken up (New + Spill over)
(in lacs)
27.75
46.17
50.99
82.51
71.68
Works completed
12.14
22.59
25.90
18.56
4.83
Water Conservation
39%
43%
42%
44%
Drought Proofing 7% 8% 9%
11%
13%
Provision of Irrigation facility (Category IV)
20%
17%
18%
12%
Rural Connectivity
22%
19%
Land Development
15%
14%

21. Transparency & Accountability

22. Social Audit: Concept & Practice
Not fault finding exercise
Not another layer of “Inspector Raj”
Tool for empowerment of stakeholders
Management tool for planners and implementers
Comprehensive verification of records & field, done by Gram Sabha & facilitated by trained youth.

23. Social Audit & Mahatma Gandhi NREGA
Social Audit is a process in which the details of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS resources (financial & non financial) are shared with the community.
In Social Audit, the community scrutinizes/ verifies the authenticity of all records/ procedures of works & expenditure incurred
Social Audits shall be held at least once in every six month
The Programme Officer or Gram Panchayat to provide all necessary documents for conduct of social audit
Social Audit Unit to cross check the documented information with facts & read the findings before the Gram Sabha

24. Public Accountability
All accounts & records relating to the Scheme are to be made available for public scrutiny
A copy of muster rolls of each work has to be made available at Gram Panchayat & to Programme Officer
Citizen information boards at worksite indicating the details of work, persondays of employment funds etc
Display of information on the Gram Panchayat notice board
Key information will be disclosed in local language at gram Panchayat office & Programme Officer’s office
All data are available freely accessible to the public at

25. Social Audit : Current Status
Core Resource persons (10 to 30) of 20 states trained at SSAAT, Hyderabad.
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh have set up independent Social Audit Unit.
Punjab, Gujarat, Sikkim have outsourced the responsibility of Social Audit.
One pilot district, one pilot block (preferably highest spending block) to be selected for social audit.
8 states have completed pilot social audit (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sikkim, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Karnataka)

26. Impact

27. Positive Trends & Findings
Increase in Agriculture Minimum Wages , wage earned per day & annual income. (Source: IIM Lucknow,CSD) Bargaining power of labour has increased
NSSO 64th round survey, : There was no gender differential in wage rates for MGNREG works. Considerable wage disparity in other types of work
Financial Inclusion: > 10 crore accounts opened
Distress migration has reduced in many parts (IIM[Shillong], CSE, CSD)
Effective targeting of marginalized groups SC/ST/BPL (Source: IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow, Administrative Staff College of India 27 27 27 27

28. Positive Trends & Findings
MGNREGA is used as a supplementary income source during non-agricultural seasons (Source: IIM Ahmedabad)
“Green Jobs” created as nearly 70% works relate to water conservation, water-harvesting, restoration, renovation & desilting of water bodies, drought-proofing, plantation & afforestation (IIFM Bhopal, GTZ)
Productivity effects of MGNREGA reported
- Improvement in ground water (Source: ASCI, IIS,IIFM)
- Improved agricultural productivity & cropping intensity (Source: IIFM, IIT Roorkee)
- Livelihood diversification in rural areas (Source: IIM Shillong, IIFM) 28 28 28 28

29. Measures to Improve MGNREGA Performance
ICT based MIS operationalised-job cards, muster rolls, fund management, grievance redressal etc.
Operationalisation of eFMS (Electronic Fund Transfer System) and eMMS (Electronic Muster & Measurement System).
Payment through Bank and Post offices: State Government has been suggested to roll out Business Correspondent (BC) Model to make wage payment through Banks with Bio-metric authentication at village level
Social Audit – Audit of Schemes Rules notified on 30th June 2011
5. Focus on IAP districts: Following initiatives have been undertaken for effective implementation of MGNREGA in IAP districts:
Wage disbursement in cash
Additional human resources: Panchayat Development Officer & Technical Assistant in Gram Panchayats of IAP districts.
Construction of Play Ground
Prime Minister Rural Development Fellow in IAP districts
6. Convergence with other Schemes.
7. Revision of MGNREGA Guidelines under finalization.

30. Road ahead…. To improve mechanism for capturing demand for work
To improve quality of assets and create more green jobs
Deeper engagement of community in Planning, Implementation, Monitoring, Concurrent evaluaton
Strengthening linkages with
Livelihoods
Natural Resource Management

31. THANKS