Review by Hon’ble Prime Minister ( 20 th JUNE 2007 ) National Rural Employment Guarantee Act notified in 330 districts

Structure of Presentation Outcomes Critical Issues & Initiatives Constraints Road Ahead

OUTCOMES

Demand for Employment met (until March 2007 ) Employment Demanded: 2.12 crore HHs Employment Provided: 2.10 crore HHs

Significant Increase in Person-days Generated 1234 Person-days generated SGRY in 586 districts ( ) Average Person-days per year in 586 distts: (SGRY+ NFFWP). ( ) NREGA in 200 districts ( ) Total Average per District More than three times increase in employment generation per district under NREGA Primary Objective of NREGA to augment employment generation met Person-days in crores

Major Share of SC/ST HHs in Employment Share of ST & SC >61. 77% ST > 36.38% / SC > 25.39%

WOMEN 40% OTHERS 60% At least 1/3rd of the beneficiaries shall be women who have registered and requested for work under the Scheme (NREGA ACT, Schedule II, Section 6) Actual achievement Better than target

Significant Share of Women in Workforce National Average

Highest Priority to Water Conservation in choice of works under NREGA (54%) (10%) (21%) (11%) (4%)

TAMIL NADU, Cuddalore

ASSETS CREATED UNDER NREGA Type of Work Total works taken (no.) Works completed (no.) Ongoing Works (no.) Benefit Created Water Conservation and Water Harvesting Lakh Cu Mt.of water storage capacity through Digging new tanks/Ponds,percolation tanks,Small Check Dams Flood Control and Protection Lakh Km of Drainage in wager logged areas through Construction & repair of embankment Micro Irrigation Works Lakh Km of canals Provision of Irrigation facility to Land Owned by SC/ST Lakh Hectares of land provided with irrigation facilities Renovation of Traditional Water bodies Lakh Cu Mt. of water storage capacity through desilting of tanks/ponds,desilting of old canals,Desilting of traditional open wells Land Development Lakh Hectares of land leveling & bunding Drought Proofing Lakh Hectares of land Afforestation and tree plantation Rural Connectivity Lakh Km of Roads Any Other activity TOTAL

Initial Positive Trends Field Reports yield nascent evidence of: Reduction in distress migration: Rajasthan, AP, Chattisgarh, Orissa Impact on land productivity: Second crop on SC/ST farms in Chattisgarh, MP, Rajasthan Increase in workforce’s awareness of minimum wages and task rates Increase in Wage earnings of workforce in wage employment programme : AP,TN, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand. Wage negotiation capacity of wage earners developing vis a vis private employment: Rajasthan, TN, Haryana. Increase in Women workforce participation as compared to 26.24% in SGRY

West Bengal, Purulia (Worksite )

Initial Positive Trends Financial Inclusion: Savings accounts of wage earners in Banks/Post Offices in some States: AP( more than lakh Post Office Accounts), Karnataka ( entire Gulbarga NREG workforce with Bank Accounts), Jharkhand, TN Insurance of wage earners in some districts: Pakur, Gumla, Ranchi ( Jharkhand) Developing Literacy skills among wage earners (Raichur in Karnataka) Convergence with other development programmes: Jetropha ( Chattisgarh, MP) Forest Nurseries ( Udaipur in Rajasthan, Khandwa in MP)

MADHYA PRADESH, Sidhi (Jatropha Plantation - Nursery)

(Self Help Group at Nursery under NREGS, Chattisgarh)

Assessment of States’ performance against critical programme indicators Ability to respond to demand and provide employment: All States. Rajasthan, MP, AP, Chattisgarh, could handle large scale demand. Outreach Able to involve women in the workforce: (At least 1/3 rd) ): All States. Exceptions: Bihar, H.P, J&K, Jharkhand, Punjab Reach out to at least all BPL households. All States. Exceptions: Bihar, Maharashtra Transparency Using MIS to place critical information in public domain: Exemplar States: Orissa, Andhra Pradesh lead. Followed by Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal. States requiring greater effort: UP, Punjab, HP. Social audit and Muster Roll verification : Exemplar States: AP, Rajasthan lead. Greater effort required by other States:

Assessment of States’ Performance against Critical Programme Indicators Focus on Works conservation: Exemplar States: Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, MP,AP, Karnataka, Major States that need greater focus on water conservation: Bihar, UP Training: Exemplar States: AP, Rajasthan, MP, TN, W. Bengal, Chattisgarh, Karnataka, States that need greater effort: Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam Staffing: Critical staff in place: AP, MP, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, W Bengal, Gujrat, Karnataka, TN Staffing in process: UP Major States that need to expedite staffing: Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam Reporting: Most States report on time. Delay by Maharashtra, Bihar.

What the Media has to say…..

Hindu, July 13,2006 Savita Lahur, an Adivasi of Badli village (Udaipur), asked if she would still migrate to Gujarat if work at even Rs.40 a day were available in Badli itself said: "Yahan 40 mile to Gujarat jaane ka kya kaam hai? Bimaar ho jaate hain — phir kya karen? (If I can get Rs.40 here, then why would I go to Gujarat? If one falls ill there, what would one do?)" The Hindu Rural job scheme satisfactory: NGOs ANANTAPUR( AP) The non-governmental organisations which have participated in the social audit of NREGS in the district have felt that the implementation of the scheme has been by-and-large satisfactory. Magsaysay award winner Aruna Roy of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan, working in Rajasthan, termed the social audit of NREGS an extraordinary exercise. NREGA Work Report, AID-India, April 30, 2007, Gosani Block of Gajapati District, Orissa Prof. Dhanada Mishra of AID-Orissa reports the success of street plays -- jobs are being given to applicants. In Gandahati Panchayat the NREGA works have started at Adagawan,Gandahati, S.Laupur villages, which has employed a large number of job seekers who applied. The Street Theater made an impact on the villagers and they started asking work at the panchayat office in Gandahati Panchayat.

Financial Express May 24,2007: Chattisgarh. In Bilaspur, they’ve started dreaming again. Signposts of the Gramin Vikas Yojana (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) abound in this district, nearly 150 km from state capital Raipur. And daily wager Sadho Ram appears to be the protagonist of a piece that the Centre’s ambitious rural jobs scheme is trying to re-write. Ram is hopeful of getting some canal-building work under the NREGA, as jobs are happening. “I know I’ll get work,” he says Financial Express: May Dungarpur (Rajasthan) They don’t trust private jobs anymore. “Until NREGA happened, we had to ensure only the regularity of casual workers. But now, since they are provided jobs under the scheme, we find it difficult to bring them to our plant,” joint managing director of Sri Rajasthan Syntex Vikash Ladiya told FE. This is despite the company offering them almost double of what is being offered under the government scheme

CRITICAL ISSUES & Initiatives to address them

New strategies for Generating Awareness ( ) One day orientation of all Sarpanches at the Block level Gram Sabhas Use of local vernacular newspapers, radio, TV, films & Local cultural forms Leaflets, brochures in simple local language with more of Graphics Fixing one day as Rozgar Diwas in a fortnight. Village Camps by District teams Information/Publicity Centres in Local Weekly Markets (Hats) Village Information Wall NGOs/SHGs participation in awareness generation

Improving Planning & Execution of Works  Shelf of projects in each village with technical and administrative approvals.  Instructions to indicate plot numbers of the sites  Precise location identity for each worksite  Outcomes expected from the works to be indicated -Estimated benefits in terms of person days - Physical improvement envisaged ( land/water conservation etc)  Pre-Mid-Post Project condition to be recorded  Asset register at GP

Ensuring Quality of works Facilitating Technical expertise in designing and supervising works at District, Block levels Prototype Works Manual/training films developed on Watershed and Natural Resource Management. Comprehensive Rural Works Manual planned Impact Assessment of incremental benefits through remote sensing techniques being considered

Transparency and Vigilance

Maximum Transparency Ensured  Comprehensive Web-based MIS places all data in public domainwww.nrega.nic.in  Workers’ entitlements: Registration, job cards, muster rolls, Employment demanded and provided  Work data: sanctioned shelf of works, work estimates, work in progress, measurement.  Financial indicators: funds available/spent, amount paid as wages, materials and administrative expenses.  Data software engineered, for cross verification of records and report generation.

Further Improvements in use of MIS oComputerisation of the Blocks Computers Personnel Training Connectivity. oData Analysis for consistency and Alerts for District/State functionaries oA Geographic Information System being planned for NREGS: Plotting precise location Planning

Special Focus & Key Concerns for Vigilance Muster Rolls: - Campaign for 100% Verification of muster rolls from June1st, 2007 in all districts -All muster rolls to be on the NREGA website -Enlisting civil society organisations for muster roll verification Works: Putting up a Citizen Information Board on each work site with the details of works taken up Wages paid: Constant vigilance of the average amount of wages paid through field visits to work sites and reviews with State Secretaries. States directed that task rates applicable to NREGA are to be uniformly applicable to all similar labour intensive works implemented without contractor/ machinery.

Monitoring and Evaluation ›Field verification by external and internal agencies ›Field visits of Central Employment Guarantee Council members to different States coupled with social audit. ›National Level Monitors’ visit to all Phase One NREG districts. Scheduled to visit new ones from end June ›Five Independent Concurrent Studies completed &shared with States. ›District Visits by Area Officers of Ministry ›States to undertake 100%, 10%, 2% verification at Block, District, State levels ›District and Village level Vigilance & Monitoring Committees for better transparency. ›Comprehensive Evaluation ( WB ) under consideration to assess Socio Economic Impact at household level and the quality of assets created in select States. ›CAG Performance Audit in all States for Phase-I districts, 69 districts (at least one in each state)

People’s Participation  Minister’s appeal to all CMs, MPs, District Panchayat Presidents to monitor the implementation of the Act  Special appeal of Minister to all MPs to randomly check Muster Rolls in any GP  Minister’s letter to District Programme Coordinators to place all information on NREGA before District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee

Public Accountability > Proactive Disclosure: Annual Reports on outcomes to the Parliament Annual Report for the year tabled in Parliament. Minister Rural Development has tabled a suo-moto statement on NREGA in every Parliament session, since the enactment of the Act. > Social Audit: First time ever large scale Social Audit processes initiated by States, with support from the Ministry for capacity building. Two major workshops held: Hyderabad and Udaipur. Social Audit Manual shared with States Exposure visits to district functionaries from different States to Rajasthan and AP that have taken the lead in social audit Resource support from organisations like MKSS on building capacity on social audit among district functionaries and civil society organisations held. Involvement of Civil Society Organisations in Dungarpur, Udaipur, Banswara, All AP districts, Kalahandi, Gulbarga, Hardoi, Ranchi, Pakur

Constraints Processes: Unintended Hierarchical roles assumed by PRIS in approving plan of works in NREGA in some states oCauses delay in work plan approvals by District and Intermediate Panchayats as reported by State RD Secretaries of Bihar, UP oSuperceding priorities of Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayats reported in several states oLegacy mindset of SGRY and tendency to follow Allocation based instead of Demand driven approach Delivery Systems: No PRIS in Jharkhand creates problems of institutional delivery at the most critical level. Recruitment of Personnel by States has taken time in some States due to election processes

Strategy for Strengthening Management Support to NREGA Action Initiated Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) set up. CEGC members actively involved in field visits, social audit along with the State Government, District officials: Jharkhand Ranchi, Lohardaga, Pulamao) Chattisgarh (Sarguja, Bilaspur). Proposed to cover other States: TN, MP, Orissa. Executive Committee set up to expedite implementation of Council decisions Technical Secretariat to bring in multi -disciplinary professional expertise outside Government systems to provide resource support to the Ministry in critical areas, inter alia Works design, National Data System, Social audit, Monitoring evaluation

Strategy for strengthening Management support to NREGA Need to adopt a Mission Mode to support implementation Strengthening of Programme Division in the Ministry –National Programme Coordinator –Adequate Officers for close monitoring and supervision –National Data Centre –Key Functions Conformity to statutory processes Grievance Redressal Follow up with States

Road Ahead Action to be taken

Linkages with other Development Initiatives Linkages with Development Programmes: National Rural Health Mission: ASHA for awareness generation about NREGA and health among NREGA workforce National Literacy Mission: Prerak of Literacy Programmes for mobilising workforce and developing literacy skills in NREGA workforce Linkages with other Livelihood and Infrastructure initiatives Horticultural Projects Watershed Management Income Generation Projects to enable workers to move from wage employment to self-sustaining employment: eg. Tank excavation with pisciculture development by SHGs

Insurance for NREGA workers Increasing NREGA workers’ security thresholds by extending cover of various life and health insurance schemes Act provides Rs compensation for death on work site Aim is to extend insurance cover beyond worksite to the whole family. Discussion on with LIC.

Opening Savings Accounts of Wage-earners. Savings Accounts of workers’ in Banks and Post offices to ensure greater transparency in wage payment and encourage thrift and small savings Dept of Posts has indicated need to strengthen its Sub Post office/ Branch Post Office through computerisation of Sub Post office Service charge proposed by Dept of Posts for opening wage earners’ accounts - matter still under discussion