How is NREGA doing? (200 districts, ) Jean Drèze and Christian Oldiges

NREGA: Fundamental Principles Employment on demand. Legal right. Universal entitlement. Participatory approach. Accountability to PRIs. Full transparency.

NREGA: Basic Entitlements Employment within 15 days of application. Unemployment allowance. Work within 5 kilometres. Minimum wages. Payment within 15 days. No gender discrimination. Basic worksite facilities.

NREGA: Employment Generation, Total: 90 crore person-days Per job card:24 person-days Per rural household: 17 person-days Minimum “requirement”: a 200 crore person-days a NAC estimate, 2004.

NREGA Expenditure, Total: Rs. 8,813 crores Per district: Rs crores Estimated requirement for 200 districts: Rs. 20,000 crores Budget allocation for (330 districts): Rs. 13,000 crores

Number of NREGA works, Taken up: 8.3 lakh Completed:3.8 lakh In progress: 4.5 lakh Approximate number of villages in NREGA districts:2 lakh

NREGA Employment, : Person-days per rural household Rajasthan 77 Uttar Pradesh 11 Assam 70 Andhra Pradesh 10 Madhya Pradesh 56 Haryana 9 North-East a 45 Tamil Nadu 9 Chhattisgarh 34 Bihar 8 Orissa 21 Gujarat 7 Himachal Pradesh 20 Punjab 7 Uttarakhand 20 West Bengal 6 Karnataka 17 Maharashtra 4 Jharkhand 14 Kerala 3 Jammu & Kashmir 13 INDIA 17 a Except Assam (approximate figure, based on incomplete data).

Person-days per rural household Person-days per rural household

Share of Disadvantaged Groups in NREGA Employment Women:40% Scheduled Tribes (ST):36% Scheduled Castes (SC):26% SC/ST Combined:62%

Share of Women in NREGA Employment National average: 40% Highest shares:Tamil Nadu 81% Rajasthan 67% Kerala66% Andhra Pradesh55% Lowest shares: Bihar 17% Uttar Pradesh17% Uttar Pradesh17% Himachal Pradesh 12% Himachal Pradesh 12% Jammu & Kashmir4% Jammu & Kashmir4%

Share of Women in NREGA Employment

Average Expenditure and Labour Costs Average Expenditure per Person-Day Rs. 98 Share of Wages in Total Expenditure a 66% Average Wage Cost per Person-Day a Rs. 64 a Unskilled labour only. a Unskilled labour only.

Average Wage Cost per Person-Day Kerala 121Jammu & Kashmir 69 Maharashtra 104Assam 67 Haryana 97Karnataka 67 Punjab 94North-East a 63 Andhra Pradesh 86Chhattisgarh 63 Jharkhand 80Madhya Pradesh 59 Tamil Nadu 80Uttar Pradesh 56 Uttarakhand 72Gujarat 56 Bihar 70Orissa 53 West Bengal 70Rajasthan 51 Himachal Pradesh 69INDIA 64 a Except Assam (approximate figure, based on incomplete data).

NREGA: Employment and Wages,

CDE-IHD Survey, 2007 A field survey of NREGA was recently conducted by the Centre for Development Economics (CDE) and the Institute of Human Development (IHD), with students from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Date:May-June 2007 Survey Districts:Ranchi (Jharkhand) Surguja (Chhattisgarh) Number of Gram Panchayats:23 Number of worksites:47

Surguja: Positive Findings Most families have a job card. Awareness levels have improved. Employment on a massive scale. Minimum wages are being paid. Contractors have disappeared. Most of the works are productive. Corruption levels have gone down. Where there is work, NREGA is a lifeline for the rural poor. Massive progress compared with earlier years!

Surguja: Areas of Concern Work is not “demand-driven”. Long delays in wage payments. Shortage of staff at all levels. Poor worksite facilities (e.g. creches). Violations of the transparency safeguards. Corruption persists.

Survey Findings: Application Process Were most labourers at this worksite employed in response to an application for work? RanchiSurguja Yes4%11% No96%89%

Survey Findings: Wage Payments Proportion (%) of worksites where: RanchiSurguja Most labourers earned the minimum wagen/a84 Wages were paid in front of the labourers a 5479 Wages were paid within 15 days3216 Labourers had complaints about wage payments7190 a Excluding payments through Banks

Survey Findings: Worksite Facilities Proportion (%) of worksites with the following facilities: Ranchi Surguja Ranchi Surguja Drinking water64100 Shade for periods of rest a 68(16) “Medicine kit”6859 Crèche 411 a Not including natural shade.

Survey Findings:Vigilance Committees Proportion (%) of worksites with: Ranchi Surguja Ranchi Surguja Vigilance committee8984 Active vigilance committee1121

Survey Findings:Estimated “Leakages” Earlier surveys: Dungarpur, April 2006:(negligible) Garhwa, October 2006:85% CDE-IHD survey: Ranchi 33% Surguja a 5% a Gram Panchayat works. a Gram Panchayat works.

The Future of NREGA: Critical Issues Activating the work application process. Implementation of transparency safeguards Timely wage payments. Timely wage payments. Need for a wage policy. Women’s participation. Redressal systems!

NREGA and Party Politics

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