IMPLEMENTATION OF NREGA - EXPERIENCE OF KERALA

S.M.Vijayanand, IAS

Principal Secretary [LSG]

Government of Kerala

V.N.Jithendran, IAS

Mission Director

NREGA, Kerala.

Introduction.

Kerala has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. But most of the

unemployed are educated. Thus NREGA has only limited application in tackling

the problem of unemployment among the poor of Kerala. Yet it has a niche ideal

for about 4 to 5 lakh people who are willing to do physical labour and for whom

an addtitional annual income of Rs.12,500/- obtained from the Employment

Guarantee Scheme would be a substantial boost in income and purchasing power.

Therefore right at the beginning a political decision was taken to target the

eligible families, visualising NREGS as the nucleus of a concerted and convergent

anti-poverty initiative.

Innovative features.

The following are the innovative features in the organization of the Employment

Guarantee Programme.

1) The agriculture workers of Kerala are fairly well organized into trade unions.

Therefore primacy is given for the organization of meetings of registered

workers. This enables proper assessment of demand and in inculcating the

workers perspective in the design of the programme - in choice of the works

in preference of locations and in deciding the schedule.

2) Kerala uses trained facilitators in the workers meetings as well as in

subsequent Grama Sabhas. This ensures that these fora are used effectively to

convey the principles and features of NREGA to the lay citizen. These

facilitators help in the conduct of these meetings in a semi-structured and

orderly manner.

3) Panchayati Raj Institutions are in the central place in the planning and

implementation of NREGA. They are the sole agencies responsible for this.

Since Kerala has a very strong decentralization experience, Panchayati Raj

Institutions have considerable capacity in the planning and implementation of

local development works. They have used this capacity to full advantage in

the implementation of NREGA. It is significant to note that as of now the

entire implementation is in the hands of Village Panchayats.

4) A strong engineering support system has been put in place. In addition to one

diploma/degree holder working on contract at the level of the Village

Panchayat, there is a system of accredited engineers. Such engineers are

drawn from amongst retired engineers, staff working in Engineering Colleges,

Polytechnics/ ITIs, engineers working in NGOs etc. These engineers are paid

for their work, at rates fixed by Government. Further, if any engineer from a

government department or agency is willing to help the Village Panchayat

over and above his normal work, he is also allowed to do so and is paid at

50% of the rate applicable to others.

5) Technical Sanction is given not by individual engineers, but by a Technical

Committee of engineers. The Committee normally includes a government

engineer, a retired engineer and an engineer working in an academic

institution. This has introduced transparency in the issue of Technical

Sanction.

6) Since disputes are common regarding measurements, an appellate system has

been put in place at the district level. This has facilitated speedy sorting out of

disputes.

7) In order to mobilize the workers and the public and to assist the panchayat in

carrying out its duties, Village Panchayats have been given the freedom to

identify one public servant of their choice having the time and inclination to

do social work from any government department and such persons are posted

on working arrangement as NREGA co-ordinators.

8) The most radical feature of implementation of NREGA in Kerala is the central

place given to Kudumbasree in the implementation of the programme. Under

Kudumbasree every family below poverty line is organzied into a

Neighbourhood Group (NHG) at the local level consisting of 15 to 40 families

with each family being represented only by a woman. The NHGs are

federated into an Area Development Society (ADS) at the level of the Ward of

the Village Panchayat (a Village Panchayat Ward in Kerala has a population

of around 1500 to 2000). The ADSs in a Village Panchayat are federated into

a registered body called the Community Development Society (CDS). Each

NHG, ADS and CDS has five volunteers carrying out different functional

roles.

The ADS has been entrusted with the task of organizing public works under

NREGS. Muster Rolls and other records are maintained by the ADS,

implements are provided to labourers by them and the transparency and

monitoring requirements are also carried out by them. Welfare amenities to

the workers are also provided by the ADS. Since ADS is an organization of

the poor and is basically a woman's group, there has been greater sensitivity

and community participation in the implementation process.

9) In order to promote transparency, it is mandatory that the estimates are

summarized in the local idiom as understood by ordinary people. At the

beginning of every work, the nature of work, expected out turn and the likely

wages are explained to the workers' groups.

10) Since Kerala has limited public land, it has been decided to take up eco-

restoration works in degraded forest lands. It is significant to note that Village

Panchayats would implement the programme in forest areas with the technical

supervision being done by field level officials of the Forest Department

representing a new kind of relationship between a Panchayat Raj Institution

and a government department.

11) A conscious decision has been taken by Government in keeping with the spirit

of NREG Act to limit road works to 10% of the total expenditure and to give

special priority to integrated watershed development works.

12) Another unique feature of implementation of NREGS in Kerala is that there is

total financial inclusion of each and every worker; that is, the wages are paid

only into the individual bank accounts of workers, and no exception has been

made till date.

Achievements

Compared to the earlier wage employment programmes there have been

significant achievements under NREGS. They are:

1. So far through a combination of transparent processes and procedures, local

action and constant vigilance it can be proudly be claimed that

implementation of NREGA has been totally corruption free. The factors

contributing to this situation include: -

a) A clear political decision was conveyed to the Panchayats that the

scheme has to be implemented strictly according to the letter and spirit

of the Act. There were several pragmatists arguing for an asset focused

programme ignoring the processes and conforming to the procedures

on paper, and it was argued that Kerala would lose out as the demand

for unskilled labour is very limited and as the wages are much higher

than the statutory minimum wages in more than 90% of the State, it

would be better to go for public works. But this opinion was firmly

rejected.

b) The work is organized through the Kudumbashree system and the poor

have a stake in the work right at the beginning.

c) The technocratic power to accord Technical Sanction, measure works

and recommend payments has been made more spread out and

accountable through the Committee system and in case of difference of

opinion the appellate system.

d) A lot of social activists have been motivated to keep constant vigil as a

kind of continuous concurrent social audit.

e) Special emphasis have been given to the rights of workers and they

have been made fully aware of their entitlements. In a state where

workers are fairly well organized this has resulted in their jealous

guarding of their privileges.

f) All the payments are made only through the individual bank accounts

of workers. This is the ultimate preventer of corruption.

Yet there are apprehensions that once material purchase starts, corruption

would come in, in some form or the other. The state is earnestly trying to

put in a system which deters corruption and the details are being worked

out. Till then the focus would be on labour-intensive works.

2. Implementation of NREGA has contributed to very high levels of women

empowerment, particularly in the following aspects.

i) As the work is organized by women’s groups, the gender perspective

gets built in automatically.

ii) As women are comfortable working along with their neighbors, nearly

80% of the workers have been women.

iii) For the first time equal wages are really paid and this has boosted the

earnings of women.

iv) As the wages are paid into Bank accounts the habit of thrift which was

already inculcated through the Kudumbashree experiment has further

been strengthened.

v) As the Bank deposits are increasing, the intra-household status of the

woman has also been improving commensurately as she controls

substantial cash resources and withdrawal can be only on her decision.

3. NREGS has given rise to a new work culture. Hitherto workers were

controlled by contractors and their middlemen who knew how to extract work.

When NREGS began the out-turn was very poor as the workers could not be

supervised properly. But soon the workers themselves realized that they

would be losing collectively and a new internal dynamics evolved with peer

pressure forcing workers to put in their maximum effort. At the same time a

kind of social responsibility also became evident as more capable workers

became more than willing to put in extra effort to make up for those who

genuinely could not do hard work beyond a point, like the women and the

elderly.

4. Public works have gained respectability. Hitherto they were seen as

highjacked either by a contractor or a local leader. Now the workers see it as

their right. They tend to distinguish between wages provided by a contractor

and wages directly given by the Panchayat. The latter is almost equated with a

salary. This has motivated a large section of people who were hitherto

unwilling to work into join the work force. There was an interesting instance

of a penurious descendant of the erstwhile Kollengode royal family in

Palakkad taking an active part in NREGS and even motivating her relatives to

join on the logic that self-help and access to legally entitled emoluments from

a public source is better than charity from relatives.

5. NREGS has suddenly increased purchasing power of the poor and there is

visible local economic development. This is particularly true of Wayanad

which was ridden with farmer suicides. The peasants have managed to get

substantial relief from NREGS by getting over their inhibition in working as

labourers in richer farmer’s lands by moving on to the now-respectable public

works.

New Initiatives

Now that a working model for operationalization of NREGA has stabilized

certain new initiatives have been started. They are:

(1) A National Rural Employment Guarantee Mission has been approved and a

Mission Director posted.

(2) A convergent Anti-Poverty Sub-Plan is to be prepared using the

Kudumbashree network. The components of the Anti-Poverty Sub-Plan would

include:

NREGS - for wage employment

SGSY and Kudumbashree programmes – for skill development and self

employment

SSA

NRHM for Human Development

ICDS

o Including nutrition for children in the age group 0 – 3 and

adolescent girls

Annapoorna and Anthyodaya Anna Yojana for food security

IGNOAPS

Asraya of Kudumbashree Social Security

Health Insurance

IAY Minimum needs infrastructure

People’s Plan

The detailed methodology has been developed and firmed up in about 100 Village

Panchayats whereby at the local level Neighbourhood Groups of the poor prepare

micro plans focusing on individual and family needs and at the level of the ADS

these are consolidated and components relating to community assets added and

thereafter the plans are integrated by the CDS at the level of the Village

Panchayat by bringing in elements related to human development and economic

development. The plan prepared by the poor is negotiated with the Panchayat and

approved.

(3) A strong natural resource management focus has been given to NREGS. One

of the topmost environmentalists in the country has been recruited as a

consultant and agricultural graduates are being taken as young professionals.

It has also been decided to take up a mega scheme for Bharathapuzha River

rejuvenation with action plans emanating from the Village Panchayat as

building blocks.

(4) A methodology is being developed to integrate NREGS and People’s Plan.

Village Panchayats get more than Rs.1 crore on an average under People’s

Plan. If intelligently dovetailed it is expected that substantial improvement in

quality of assets can be attained.

(5) In order to meet the problems due to shortage of technical staff it has been

decided to rope in voluntary services of reputed non-government

organizations. Already in one district a firm offer has been received and in

principle clearance given. The details are being worked out.

(6) Using the excellent network of Kudumbashree it has been decided in the State

Employment Guarantee Council to develop a cadre of bare-foot technical

volunteers from among the poor women.

(7) In order to develop the skills of the workers it has been decided to set up

Labour Banks. A pilot has been launched in one Village Panchayat. The

Labour Banks would be supported under People’s Plan to take up other public

works and even private works.

(8) It is well-nigh impossible to identify works in the plantation areas as well as in

the coastal areas. It has been decided to seek the expert support from

Government of India to come out with a shelf of projects which can be taken

up in such geographical areas.

(9) An innovative form of training has been developed by KILA where there is a

shift from the cascading model to a “ripple” model, according to which

outstanding Panchayats become the master trainers and the neighbouring

Panchayats formally learn from the experience of the best performers.

(10) Monitoring has been strengthened with the decision of the State

Employment Guarantee Council to put in a system of State level and District

level quality Monitors by identifying persons with reputation for integrity and

competence. The State level Monitors would be of two categories –

outstanding individuals whose views are widely respected by society and

senior Technical Experts capable of giving authoritative feed back on the

quality of implementation. Further the State Employment Guarantee Council

has decided to request a team consisting of eminent experts like Smt. Aruna

Roy, Prof. Jean Dreze, Shri P. Sainath and Shri Nikil De to conduct an

independent assessment of Kerala’s performance and offer suggestions for

improvement.

Conclusion

Though there were several teething problems it is clear that the policy focus on

natural resource management and corruption-free implementation and the

administrative measures introduced to operationalise the policy especially the

involvement of the Kudumbasree network have resulted in a strong foundation

being laid and opened up space for pro-poor innovations.