Awaiting India’s Rural Revolution
UPA’s flagship Project NREGA has, to a Certain Extent, succeeded in Empowering The Rural Poor, but The Government needs to also address The Larger issues that Hinder India’s rural Development.
Date published- 03/03/2011
Five years have passed since the launch of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) from Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh on February 2, 2006. Ever since it started, it has faced criticism from various quarters over its shortcomings and innumerable allegations of corruption levelled over its implementation methodology across the district, block and gram panchayat levels. As it crosses this important milestone, it is certainly worthwhile to analyse the extent to which this act has worked and where it has critically failed.
The Act has definitely established its pan-India presence and has been successful, to a certain extent, in its agenda of providing employment to the rural poor. Aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work, NREGA has been touted as one of the major swing factors in UPA-II’s thumping return to power in May, 2009. However, the bigger concern is whether we are looking at only providing an employment opportunity to the rural poor or are we also looking at long-term solutions and creating sustainable assets for the country by efficient management of these employed human resources.
The Act, the government claims, has been instrumental in raising productivity, increasing purchasing power, reducing distress migration, creating durable assets while also ensuring livelihood opportunities for the needy and poor in rural India. Highlighting the achievements under NREGA, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh noted that a total of 8.8 billion persondays work has been generated so far under this programme, of which 52% beneficiaries are from SC/ST while 47% beneficiaries are women. At the same time, it is notable that the Centre has released a total of Rs.1.08 trillion to states under the NREGA Scheme since February 2006. According to official figures compiled for the calendar year 2010-11 ending December 2010, 41 million households have been provided employment and 1.45 billion persondays have been generated. The average wage earned has risen from Rs.65 per personday in 2006 to Rs.100 by early this year.
NREGA is already the biggest rural development scheme India has ever had. The sum of Rs.401 billion allocated for it in 2010-11 is more than the money spent on any other single social welfare programme in a year ever. But the huge amount being spent should warrant an explanation on why we are not worried about the better utilisation of the manpower being generated. Maybe, the government needs to look at creating sustainable assets and also adopt some sort of strategy to put the human resources to better use. On the occasion of the Act completing five years, the Secretary, Minister of Rural Development (MoRD), and the Prime Minister, all acknowledged the growing threat to NREGA due to corruption, diversion of money, misappropriations in wage payment and the consequent need for an independent and stronger social audit process. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also sought the involvement of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) to increase land productivity. While recognition to the fact that there are gaps that need to be filled is optimistic, it should also be a constant reminder of how much more there is to be done.
The problem in India lies in the fact that most of the government programs like NREGA, when planned, look good only on paper. Most government schemes function through a Public Distribution System like the usual ration shop, where loopholes become a part and parcel of the whole execution process and real beneficiaries are very few. The government always gets a good all-round perspective from relevant people for a nationwide project but fails when it comes to execution. The first point to note is that the funds allocated under NREGA were never fully utilised, with less than 75% used so far. Furthermore, there have been several reports of wage disparities and funds not reaching the households intended for.
Moreover, NREGA, when conceptualised, was more of a stop-gap measure by the government considering India’s rising levels of poverty, hunger and unemployment. Five years on, it is time to focus on the larger national interest of quick, substantial & sustainable rural development. Banking on NREGA to bring about the kind of far-reaching development that rural India requires is not reasonable; hence there is the need for a wake up call to shift focus to bigger problems. The Act, in its initial stages, did not include the component of creating durable assets, since the primary concern was to provide employment, B. K. Sinha, Secretary, MoRD, tells B&E. “We did include it later and will be focussing on creating durable assets also. I do agree that it is important, but this transition will take time,” comments the 1975-batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.
India’s integration into the global economy has been accompanied by an impressive economic growth that has brought significant economic and social benefits. At the same time, disparities in income and human development are on the rise. A large section of the population – especially the poor, SC/ST/OBC, minorities and women – lack basic access to the resources and opportunities needed to reap the benefits of growth. Between 1980 and 2010, India’s Human Development Index (HDI) has risen by 1.6% annually from 0.320 to 0.519 today, which ranks us 119th out of 169 countries with comparable data.
Considering that most of the Indian poor live on agriculture, removing poverty and improving agriculture are two sides of the same coin. While there is an elaborate structure of schemes and institutions relating to agriculture, it is not clear who will finally interface with the farmer and ensure the support required. Forecasts by analysts that poverty will decline steadily can be no consolation to those living in poverty. There is an urgent need to add value to the life of the Indian poor. As of 2010, over 37% of India’s population of 1.35 billion still lives below the poverty line (22% rural and 15% urban, based on UN data). Government schemes are slow with the delivery systems weak and inadequate. The never ending blame game over the onus of implementation and monitoring that ministries and the Centre and state governments repeatedly indulge in, further paints a bleak picture.
All said and done, NREGA was not initiated as a scheme to create public assets to help the nation and society at large. In fact, until recently, the preamble of the Act did not even include the concept of building durable assets. Development in the true sense has to go much beyond giving cash. Answerability is of utmost importance. Strict laws should be put to place to ensure utmost accountability from all sections involved. Conceptualising a well-intended concept and taking no onus for its implementation isn’t an example of good governance. Skills training for those involved in such schemes and proper guidance for correct utilisation of money are equally important. While India needs to grow at a phenomenal rate to truly transform the employment and poverty scenario, NREGA has set upon an important task towards a more equitable distribution of this wealth. Needless to add, we have a long way to go till we see the real rural revolution that India truly aspires for.
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