National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - 2005

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National RuralEmployment Guarantee

Act, 2005 – AnOverviewPresented by,RAVI SHAHGujarat National Law University



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Introduction.

• The economist of Belgian (whobecame an Indian citizen in 2002) Dr

Jean Dreze had conceptualised and

drafted the first version of theNREGA.

• The Mahatma Gandhi Rural

Employment Guarantee Scheme(MNREGS), initiated in 2005, hasreceived priority policy attention in

India’s Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–



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• Received the assent of the' President

on September 5, 2005.• was notified on September 7, 2005.

• It extends to the whole of Indiaexcept the State of Jammu andKashmir.

• The Act came into force on February2, 2006 and was implemented in aphased manner.

• Phase – I it was introduced in 200 of the most backward districts of the



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• Phase – II It was implemented in anadditional 130 districts.

•

Phase – III The Scheme wasextended to the remaining 274 ruraldistricts of India from April 1, 2008.



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OBJECTIVE

• The objective of the Act is toenhance livelihood security in ruralareas by providing at least 100 days

of guaranteed wage employment in afinancial year to every householdwhose adult members volunteer to

do unskilled manual work.



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GOALS

•

Strong social safety net for thevulnerable groups by providing a fall-back employment source, whenother employment alternatives are

scarce or inadequate.

• Growth engine for sustainabledevelopment of an agricultural

economy. Through the process of providing employment on works thataddress causes of chronic poverty

such as drought, deforestation and



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EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEEAND THE RIGHT TO WORK



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Employment Guarantee Act: The Basic Idea

• The Employment Guarantee Act is astep towards the right to work, as anaspect of the fundamental right to

live with dignity.



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The right to work as a“fundamental right”

• The “right to life” is a fundamentalright of all citizens under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

• “Right to life… includes the right tolive with human dignity, it wouldinclude all these aspects which would

make life meaningful, complete andliving.” (Supreme Court)



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e r g o wor n e“Directive Principles” of the

Constitution• “ The State shall… direct its policytowards securing that the citizen,men and women equally, have the

right to an adequate means of livelihood…” [Article 39(a)]

• “The State shall … make effectiveprovision for securing the right towork…” (Article 41)



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NREGA 2005 in a Nutshell

The National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act 2005 is a lawwhereby:

any adult who is willing to dounskilled manual work at theminimum wage

is entitled to being employed onlocal public works within 15 daysof applying.



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The UnemploymentAllowance (sec-7)

If employment is not providedwithin 15 days, the applicant isentitled to an unemployment

allowance:•At least one fourth of theminimum wage for the first 30

days.•At least one half of the minimumwage thereafter.



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WORKERS’ ENTITLEMENTS

• Who is eligible?

• Is there a limit on the number of days

of work?• Where will the work be provided?

• What is the minimum wage due to

NREGA labourers?• How and when are wages to be paid?



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Who is eligible?

Anyone above the age of 18

who resides in rural areas.



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Is there a limit on thenumber of days of work?

• Yes: 100 days per household peryear.

• Each nuclear family counts as aseparate “household”.



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Where will the work beprovided?

• Within 5 kilometres of the applicant’sresidence, as far as possible.

• If work is provided beyond 5kilometres, a travel allowance has to

be paid.



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a s e m n mumwage due to NREGA

labourers?• A person working for 7 hours wouldnormally earn a wage equal to thewage rate(SchI(8))

• Minimum wage fixed by the stateGovernment under the minimumwage Act,1948; unless the Central

Government “notifies” a differentnorm.

• Centre may fix wages, at not less

than Sixty rupees per day (6(1))



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How and when arewages to be paid?

• Weekly, or in any case not later thana fortnight.

• Directly to the person concerned, infront of the community.



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Mandatory worksitefacilities

• Drinking water

• Shade

•

Medical aid• Creche if more than five children

below age 6 are present

Note: These facilities are to beprovided by the implementing agency.



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Gender-relatedprovisions

• Equal wages for women and men inall circumstances.

• No gender discrimination of any kind.

• Priority for women in the allocation of work: at least 33% of labourersshould be women.



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EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEESCHEME



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Employment GuaranteeScheme (EGS)

• Each State has to launch an “employmentguarantee scheme” within six months of the Act coming into force.

: as c



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: as cImplementation

Principles• Block is the basic unit of implementation.

• In each Block, a “Programme Officer”is to coordinate the implementationof EGS

• Gram Panchayats are the mainimplementing agencies.

• Accountability to Gram Sabhas.



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EGS: Decentralisedplanning

• Programme Officer to maintain shelf of projects, based on proposals fromthe implementing agencies.

• Gram Panchayats also supposed toprepare a shelf of works based on therecommendations of the GramSabha.



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EGS: Permissible works inorder of priority (SchI(1))

• water conservation;

• drought proofing ;

• irrigation canals including micro andminor irrigation works;

• provision of irrigation facility to land

owned by households belonging tothe SCs and STs or to land of landreforms and Indira Awas Yojanabeneficiaries;



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EGS is a “demanddriven” programme

• Employment to be provided ondemand, within 15 days.

• Programme Officer sanctions projectsto ensure that all applicants getwork.

• Programme Officer to arrangepayment of unemploymentallowance to those who don’t getwork.



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EGS: Applying for work

Step 1 (Registration): GramPanchayat to “register” interestedhouseholds, to facilitate advance

planning.

Step 2 (Application): Adultmembers of registered householdsapply for work.



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EGS: The RegistrationProcess

• Unit of registration is the household.

• Gram Panchayat to issue a “jobcard” to each applicant.

• Special meeting of Gram Sabha tobe held to invite applications.



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EGS: The ApplicationProcess

• Any adult member of a registeredhousehold can apply for work at anytime.

• Applications should be for at least14 days of continuous work.

• Advance applications are allowed.



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EGS: Cost sharing

• Central Government to pay for:

– wage costs,

–

75% of material costs, and – some administrative costs.

• State governments to pay for:

– 25% of material costs

– other administrative costs,

– unemployment allowance.



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TRANSPARENCY ANDACCOUNTABILITY



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Hamara Paisa, HamaraHisaab!

• All NREGA-related documents to beavailable for public scrutiny.

• Copies of documents to be madeavailable at nominal cost.

• Muster rolls to be pro-activelydisplayed at Panchayat Bhawan.

• Documents can also be obtainedunder the Right to Information Act.



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Social Audits

• Gram Sabhas to conduct socialaudits of all works taken up withinGram Panchayat

• All relevant documents to beprovided to the Gram Sabha by theGram Panchayat and otherimplementing agencies



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Beware the “anti-corruption clause”!

• Section 25 Whoever contravenes theprovisions of this Act shall onconviction be liable to a fine which

may extend to one thousand rupees.• Section 27 of the Act allows the

Central Government to stop release

of funds if there is any suspicion of corruption.

This means:

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National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - 2005

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