1. Impact of NREGA on rural labour market in Kerala: preliminary findings on women’s work Ratna M Sudarshan ISST Sept 16-17 2008

2. Caveats Work in progress Based on fieldwork in Palakkad district only, Malampuzha block

3. Women’s participation NREGA provides that one-third of those given employment should be women; over 40 % of total person days to women Great variation across states: (2007 data)  Out of 26 states we find 10 states have between 25 – 38 % female work days as share of total.  Five states have less than 25 %  11 have over 40 %  At the two extremes we find Jammu and Kashmir with 5 % and Himachal with 13 % on the one hand and Tamil Nadu (82 %), Tripura (76 %), Rajasthan (68 %) and Kerala (66 %) on the other.

4. Palakkad Location of Palakkad district in Kerala upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/L...

5. Palakkad > 60 % of the geographical area of the district is devoted to farming FWPR 21.1 (Kerala 15.4) Rural BPL families 45.25 % of rural families No of women/ total in NREGA 85 % for Palakkad, 87 % in Malampuzha (2007-8 up to March 2008) (Range 64 % to 95 % within Palakkad) www.shubhyatra.com/gifs/palakkad-field.jpg

6. Rural female labour Farming Micro enterprise (through Kudumbashree) Urban informal work (given contiguous nature of rural-urban in Kerala)

7. Wages Market wages for men range upwards from Rs 150/ 170 a day For women Rs 70 (agriculture), Rs 80-100 (other wage work) Minimum wage for men and women Rs 125 per day

8. Rs 70 L L2 L1 Rs 125 Dfl Minimum wage W Wage Labour Rs 170(?) Sfl Dml L3 Sml

9. Kudumbashree Kudumbashree responsible for implementation – Area Development Supervisor (ADS) as manager – ward level Volunteer Each Gram Panchayat has a Community Development Society Ward level – Area Development Society – 30-40 NHGs Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) and self help groups – 10-20 persons

10. NREGA Wages - Rs 125 (depending on work done, but people reported receiving this wage) Payments each fortnight and into a bank account Sites are open for 9 hours, six days a week, workers take an hour off for lunch Tea etc prepared by the group and paid for out of wage

11. Impact of NREGA - women With higher wages, shift out of agriculture into NREGA; Some women not previously in labour force now on NREGA sites; (near to home; government work) Some shift out of non viable or less viable Kudumbashree activities

12. Impact of NREGA - men Few men access NREGS; market wage for men higher, timings and benefits differ; daily wage payment is preferred to lump sum periodic payment

13. Wider Impact of NREGA Some small increase in wage offered to women for agriculture work ( not fully confirmed; in some places NREGA temporarily stopped, to induce women into agricultural labour) Wages paid into bank: encouraging savings, only a percentage is withdrawn for consumption + higher contribution of men to daily expenses Elimination of contractors – ADS takes on managerial role; no corruption? Migration: uncertain at present

14. Some issues Work sites – few men; few young women with young children (no demand for creche) Marginal and small farmers adversely affected Do social hierarchies inhibit poorest groups