MNREGA is a public welfare employment scheme of the Government of India, which provides for at least 100 days of employment to every adult in rural areas. But on the surface of reality, this scheme seems to be failing. The reason for this is government apathy as well as widespread corruption in the government department.
MNREGA is neither getting 100 days of employment nor is getting wages on time. In Bihar, Sanjay Sahni, a social worker associated with an institution called ‘MNREGA Watch’, says that the average employment in MNREGA is barely 40 to 50 days in Bihar. That too in the area where the labor organization is strong and struggles about it. In Muzaffpur too there was a conflict over MNREGA due to which the situation changed. He says that people are not aware of their rights. There is a need for awareness among the people about the government scheme. There is also corruption in the scheme but corruption has come down significantly in Bihar as compared to earlier.
The question of low wages and low day employment in MNREGA also raises the issue of social workers associated with Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. Nikhil says that there has been a change in rural areas from MNREGA, there has been a rise in general wages but wages in MNREGA are very less. Due to this, often workers avoid it and look for better employment options in cities.
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Nikhil says that due to lack of budget, 100 days of employment is not available everywhere, but where the labor organization is strong, then there is 100 days of employment. Another major problem is delay in payment due to which laborers do not like to work because they have to pay every day. On the question of corruption, Nikhil says that the MNREGA has more transparency than other schemes.
The reason for the failure of Amjad MNREGA, the former head of Bhulua Panchayat of Gaya, is due to the widespread corruption and low wages. Amjad Mukhiya says that there is very little money in MNREGA, people create job cards and go to work elsewhere. These are commission accounts and feeds on their job cards. The work of development is also nominal, the work is made more than the bill. The motive which the MNREGA government had brought is not being fulfilled.
But Hafiz, a member of the Chakand Panchayat Samiti, tells a different reality, saying that capital has to be set up in the MNREGA. The workers give money in cash and the money in the account comes very late. Also, material money has to be pocketed. He praises the scheme but complains that he has to visit the MNREGA office for payment.
Tabassum, the head of Bara village in Gaya, says that MNREGA has changed the social and economic status of the village. This scheme has made the work of making pans, drains and puddles in the village, but the wages are so low that no one wants to work, hardly the laborers get paid from above. It takes months for the workers to get the payment. There is even more delay in the payment of the material.
Many studies on MNREGA scheme have clearly underlined that instead of 100 days employment in MNREGA, only 40 to 50 days of employment is available. The situation is worse in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Similar findings have also come to the fore in recent research conducted at the University of Punjab. Corruption is also spreading due to lack of proper monitoring and social auditing. Due to which the benefits of this public welfare scheme are not fully reaching the lower levels.
Low wages in MNREGA is a major problem. Only one state of Nagaland has higher wages than the minimum wage in the MNREGA. All other states and Union Territories are paid much less than the minimum wage. While the minimum wage in Bihar is 268 rupees per day, the wages given in MNREGA is only 171 rupees. Normally, in cities of Bihar, the normal wage is 350-500 per day. Wages in MNREGA have not been increased for a long time.
Menageries in rural areas are usually forced to migrate to cities due to wages being given below the market price in MNREGA, in addition to daily wages in cities. In contrast to this, women like MNREGA more than men because their wages are much less in the market than men and they are not employed in hard work, so they work at less than the market price. are willing to.
Nikhil also says that women have got the most benefit of MNREGA, this is a women’s program. Women opened accounts in the bank due to MGNREGA, this increased their political consciousness and participation. Only 70 percent of women in Rajasthan are engaged in this scheme. This is the first time that such a large number of women have joined a formal work force.
According to ‘MNREGA Watch’ in Bihar, the participation of women can be up to 90 percent because the man has either migrated for better employment or seeks work in cities.
This is very interesting in itself, it is called the helplessness of women that they have to work for less money or opportunities for them in MNREGA that they are getting work in the village itself. But the biggest impact of MNREGA has been on the lives of rural women. Due to MNREGA, they have got 40 to 50 days of work in a year, but now the wages in the village have increased many times already. Earlier, a day’s wages in the fields used to be raw for one day, now it has increased to 5 kg of rice and the daily wage is 350-500.
Due to the recent agricultural crisis and economic downturn, the demand for MNREGA is continuously increasing, which is also being confirmed by the Ministry of Rural Development itself, but despite this, the budget of MNREGA is being cut.
The Finance Ministry has set the budget of MNREGA at only 61,500 crores in FY 2020-2021 which is 13 per cent less than the budget of 71,001 crores for FY 2019-2020. Whereas its demand is more than before. MGNREGA was a good initiative in public welfare schemes, whose impact was seen at the grassroots level, but the scheme continues to be a victim of government apathy and neglect.
