IMPLEMENTING NREGA Ministry of Rural Development Krishi Bhavan

IMPLEMENTING NREGA Ministry of Rural Development Krishi Bhavan New Delhi 1

n n n NREGA is designed as a safety net to reduce migration by rural poor households in the lean period through A hundred days of guaranteed unskilled manual labour provided when demanded at minimum wage on works focused on water conservation, land development & drought proofing 2

Key Processes Application for job card Selection of works Approval of shelf of projects Verification Issue of job card Informing village PRI Demand for employment Acknowledgement of demand Preparation of estimates And approvals Work allocation Maintenance of muster roll Payment of wages 3

Issues critical to fulfillment of NREGA objective Generating and processing applications for job cards -to ensure that rural families likely to seek unskilled manual labour are identified -to verify against reasonably reliable local data base so that nondomiciled contractor’s workers are not used on NREG works n 4

Issues critical to fulfillment of NREGA objective n n Issue of job cards Ensuring job card verification is done on the spot against an existing data base Reducing the time lag between application and issue of job cards to eliminate the possibility of rentseeking, and creating greater transparency etc Ensuring that Job Cards are issued prior to employment demand work allocation rather than being issued on work sites which could subvert the aims of NREG 5

Issues critical to fulfillment of NREGA objective Obtaining and acknowledging applications for employment -to ascertain choices and perceptions of households regarding lean season employment -to ensure exercise of the right to employment within the time specified of fifteen days -to ensure that works are started where and when there is demand for labour, not demand for works the process of issuing a dated acknowledgement for the application for employment needs to be scrupulously observed. In its absence, the guarantee cannot be exercised in its true spirit n 6

Issues critical to fulfillment of NREGA objective. Selection of works by gram sabha in villages and display after approval of shelf of projects-to ensure public choice, transparency and accountability and prevent material intensive, contractor based works and concocted works records Execution of Works At least half the works should be run by gram panchayats • n Maintenance of muster roll by executing agency -numbered muster rolls which only show job card holders must be found at each work 7 -to prevent contractor led works n

Issues critical to fulfillment of NREGA objective Regular measurement of work done according to a schedule of rural rates sensitive n Supervision of Works by qualified technical personnel on time. n Reading out muster rolls on work site during regular measurement -to prevent bogus records and payment of wages below prescribed levels n 8

Issues critical to fulfillment of NREGA objective Payment of wages through banks and post offices -to close avenues for use of contractors, short payment and corruption n 9

Issues critical to fulfillment of NREGA objective Provision of adequate quality of work site facilities for women and men labourers Creation and maintenance of durable assets Adequate audit and evaluation mechanisms Widespread institution of social audit and use of findings § n n n 10

Fund for NREGA n n NREGA Central Fund rules in process of finalisation Fund to be maintained in the form of nonlapsable public account and budget to be transferred to this account as desired by ministry Incremental fund release on demand by States and districts on 60% utilisation and On the basis of performance report on physical and financial parameters 11

Procedure adopted for fund release Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of demand for employment and fund requirement is being made based on -reported number of those seeking employment Checked against n Job cards demanded and issued & n employment provided and average turnout at work sites (as reported by State and observed by field visits) n Manner in which job card registration and demand for employment are being processed at field level (as seen from reports of area officers and NMs) n fund availability (as reported by State) The endeavour is to place at once funds to meet up to 100 days of employment for those reported to be seeking employment at district level Fund allocation and utilisation and mandays generated in same districts under wage employment programs last year is looked at for placing some funds on ad hoc basis in States for which there is no demand little data to ensure adequate fund availability, up-front. n 12

IT interface to the programme n n n NIC developed generalised software being used by States with appropriate modification. Andhra Pradesh: IT solution being used to register households and generate formats for implementation of works at mandal level. Problem areas are: n n Connectivity Last mile IT outreach at the cutting edge level of the village Non familiarity of the beneficiary workforce with IT usages. Committee set up to suggest hardware alternatives at the village level: n n Handheld devices utility is being assessed. A group set up for accreditation of IT software that private IT experts may wish to develop for NREGA that can then be recommended to States for their consideration. 13

Visits of National Monitors and Area Officers to Major States • 58 monitors made field visits in March, 2006 and 30 Area Officers visited States/districts in April, 2006 Another 90 NLMs are visiting the remaining districts. No. of visits by monitors No. of visits of area officers A. P. 4 3 Bihar 7 2 Chattisgarh 2 2 Jharkhand 3 2 Maharashtra 2 2 M. P. 3 4 Orissa 7 1 Rajasthan 2 6 14 U. P. 6 2

Qualitative monitoring and studies by professional institutions *Five institutions of repute identified to undertake studies in 12 States n Report to be submitted in 90 days n Covering roughly 10 villages over 2 blocks and 20 households to be covered in each village 15

Details of Institutions Indian Institute of Women’s Studies Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability IIM Bangalore Institute of Human Development Centre for Development Alternatives Objective Analyse women access to NREGA, assess State Schemes, document labour market conditions, assist design gender sensitive works. Monitor implementation of NREGA, identify implementation challenges faced by State Gov, Local admn and PRIs, increase awareness of NREGA, Identify Practical issues of implementation, management and coordination through quick surveys at the worksites, village, conformity with Act & Guidelines Process documentation; assess impact of NREGA on wages, employment, durable assets; policy, recommendation s; sensitise stakeholders Suggestive corrective measures, assess strengths and weaknesses in Schemes Coverage 2 distts of Orissa, Maharash tra, TN, WB 1 distt. In AP, 2 each in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP 1 in AP and 1 in Karnataka 6 districts of Bihar 6 districts of Gujarat 16

Institutional systems n n NREG Council rules formulated and notified Council structure decided n n n Process of nomination initiated Technical secretariat being set up Technical Advisory Group consisting of experts set up to advise on implementation of NREGA n two meetings held, 17

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