How is NREGA doing 200 districts, 20067 Jean Drze and Christian Oldiges

1
How is NREGA doing?(200 districts,
2006-7)Jean Drèze and Christian Oldiges
2
NREGA Fundamental Principles

• Employment on demand.
• Legal right.
• Universal entitlement.
• Participatory approach.
• Accountability to PRIs.
• Full transparency.

3
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.

4
NREGA Employment Generation, 2006-7

• Total 90 crore person-days
• Per job card 24 person-days
• Per rural household 17 person-days
• Minimum requirementa 200 crore person-days
• a NAC estimate, 2004.

5
NREGA Expenditure, 2006-7

• Total Rs. 8,813 crores
• Per district Rs. 44.06 crores
• Estimated requirement for 200 districts
  Rs. 20,000 crores
• Budget allocation for 2007-8 (330 districts) Rs.
  13,000 crores

6
Number of NREGA works, 2006-7

• Taken up 8.3 lakh
• Completed 3.8 lakh
• In progress 4.5 lakh
• Approximate number of
• villages in NREGA districts 2 lakh

7
NREGA Employment, 2006-7 Person-days per rural
household
a Except Assam (approximate figure, based on
incomplete data).
8
Person-days per rural household
9
Share of Disadvantaged Groups in NREGA Employment

• Women 40
• Scheduled Tribes (ST) 36
• Scheduled Castes (SC) 26
• SC/ST Combined 62

10
Share of Women in NREGA Employment

• National average 40
• Highest shares Tamil Nadu 81
• Rajasthan 67
• Kerala 66
• Andhra Pradesh 55
• Lowest shares Bihar 17
• Uttar Pradesh 17
• Himachal Pradesh 12
• Jammu Kashmir 4

11
Share of Women in NREGA Employment
12
Average Expenditure and Labour Costs

• Average Expenditure per Person-Day Rs. 98
• Share of Wages in Total Expenditurea 66
• Average Wage Cost per Person-Daya Rs. 64
• aUnskilled labour only.

13
Average Wage Cost per Person-Day
a Except Assam (approximate figure, based on
incomplete data).
14
NREGA Employment and Wages, 2006-7
15
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

16
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!

17
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.

18
Survey Findings Application Process

• Were most labourers at this worksite employed in
  response to an application for work?
• Ranchi Surguja
• Yes 4 11
• No 96 89

19
Survey Findings Wage Payments

• Proportion () of worksites where
• Ranchi Surguja
• Most labourers earned
• the minimum wage n/a 84
• Wages were paid in front
• of the labourersa 54 79
• Wages were paid within 15 days 32 16
• Labourers had complaints
• about wage payments 71 90
• a Excluding payments through Banks

20
Survey Findings Worksite Facilities

• Proportion () of worksites with the following
  facilities
• Ranchi Surguja
• Drinking water 64 100
• Shade for periods of resta 68 (16)
• Medicine kit 68 59
• Crèche 4 11
• a Not including natural shade.

21
Survey FindingsVigilance Committees

• Proportion () of worksites with
• Ranchi Surguja
• Vigilance committee 89 84
• Active vigilance committee 11 21

22
Survey FindingsEstimated Leakages

• Earlier surveys
• Dungarpur, April 2006 (negligible)
• Garhwa, October 2006 85
• CDE-IHD survey
• Ranchi 33
• Surgujaa 5
• a Gram Panchayat works.

23
The Future of NREGA Critical Issues

• Activating the work application process.
• Implementation of transparency safeguards
• Timely wage payments.
• Need for a wage policy.
• Womens participation.
• Redressal systems!

24
NREGA and Party Politics
25
gj gkFk dks dke nksdke dk iwjk nke nks