MGNREGA 2020 :- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act [ Aadhar link With MGNREGA Account ]
Indian Government said: “Let there be work”! That wasn’t literally said but that was the idea behind the implementation of MGNREGA which was formerly known as NREGA. MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The part ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ was added later and initially it was just National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
What is MGNREGA and when was it implemented?
The government was nice enough to recognize that every rural citizen have a right to employment. It was recognized that every person in rural India has the constitutional right to at least 100 days of work in a financial year. However, this right holds true only and only if he or she is actually willing to work. This means that if a person want to willingly stay unemployed, there is nothing government or anyone else can do anything about that.
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With this being recognized, the government said:
Fine! We will guarantee 100 days of employment on a wage-based model to every rural household in every financial year provided, people need to volunteer in and are very much willing to do unskilled labor jobs.
This is what MGNREGA is! It guarantees 100 days of wage-employment.
But the question is, why did the government say that people need to volunteer?
Glad you asked! We mentioned earlier that people should be willing to work. If they want to stay unemployed, they are more than welcome to do so and no one will take any responsibility for those people. Now, if the government forces everyone to get employed under MGNREGA, there will be no way to understand who is willing to work and who is not! Only those who volunteer are the ones who are willing to work even if the work requires no skills.
What else did the government say?
The government also said that if it fails to provide guaranteed 100 days of work (even unskilled labor jobs) to those who volunteer in, government will pay unemployment allowances to them. Anyone who willingly stays unemployed will not be eligible for unemployment allowances.
What is a wage-based model?
It is a model of work where every worker is paid a certain predefined amount of money on work-day basis. There is no monthly salary. A person will work for a certain number of hours in a day and at the end of the day, he or she will be paid for the labor he or she provided. There are several factors that are used for calculating the daily wage. Some of them include:
- Number of hours of work.
- Difficulty level of the work.
- Daily sustenance cost according to recent economic conditions.
There are many other factors that pitch in while calculating daily wage but discussing them in details is beyond the scope of this article.
So, when was MGNREGA implemented?
The MGNREGA Act was implemented in September 2005 and all states in India were informed about the same.
MGNREGA in details
Now that we have a fairly good idea of what MGNREGA stands for, let us dive deeper and learn some details about the Act.
The primary objective of MGNREGA was designed for increasing livelihood security of Indian rural areas through:
- 100 days of wage-employment guarantee.
- Such employment opportunities to be provided in every fiscal year.
- Only willing adults from rural households will be provided with employment. ‘Adults’ refer to people in household over the age of 18 year.
- Willing adults should be open for unskilled manual or labor work.
- Willing adults need to apply for employment under MGNREGA.
- Government will provide employment within 15 days from the date of application.
- If government fails to provide work within promised timeframe, applicants will receive unemployment allowances.
- Every applicant will be provided work within 5 kilometers of the address of his/her residence.
- Minimum wages will be paid to employed people for 100 days.
Though government promises to pay unemployment allowances in case no work can be provided within stipulated timeframe, the State Governments have the authority to withhold the allowance payments under following circumstances:
- The applicant doesn’t show up during the employment period.
- The applicant or the adult family members of the applicant have received 100 days of work in a financial year (even if the employment was not at stretch).
- The applicant has already earned enough (through unemployment allowances and wages) which is equal to the total wage for 100 days in a given financial year.
MGNREGA aims towards creation of durable assets such as well, ponds, canals, roads etc. by employing the willing people from rural sectors.
Through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the government aimed for achieving the following final objectives:
- Ensuring economic security for rural people.
- Creation and maintenance of rural assets.
- Environmental protection.
- Women empowerment.
- Creating social equity.
- Lowering of rural-urban migration.
While MGNREGA aimed for employment generation and rural asset creation by employing people for unskilled manual work, a specific set of guidelines were provided that defined the nature of work that will be allowed under MGNREGA. Here is the list of different types of work that are offered under MGNREGA:
- Gram Panchayat Bhawan and Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra construction.
- Water harvesting and water conservation.
- Rural connectivity that will open access to rural areas in weathers.
- Tree plantation, afforestation and other drought-proofing work.
- Flood control and draining of areas that are water-logged.
- Minor and micro irrigation works and development of irrigation canals.
- Land development.
- Tank de-silting and traditional water bodies renovation.
- Any other work that Central Government may notify after properly consulting with State Governments.
Here are few other key features of MGNREGA:
- Under MGNREGA, the wage list is notified by the Center but is State-specific.
- Schedule of Rates (SoRs) are State-specific. State determines the Piece rates and Time rates.
- Under no circumstances, wages can fall below ₹ 100 in a single day.
- Unemployment allowance will be 1/4th of wage rate.
- Both females and males have equal right to work and are entitled for equal wage rates.
- MGNREGA takes a demand-based approach. This means that the willingness to work is first assessed and work is planned out and estimated. Beneficiaries (rural people) decide the time when they need work.
- Since 2008, beneficiaries have been receiving their wages directly in their post office or bank accounts.
- 33% of the total workforce has to be women.
- All people enrolling for MGNREGA will be given Job Cards.
Some interesting data on MGNREGA
Implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act started since February 2, 2006 with 200 selected districts. By April 1, 2008, all districts all over India were covered under MGNREGA.
- 25 billion USD or ₹1,10,000 crore has been spent till date for wage payment since February 2, 2006.
- Employment of 12 billion or 1200 crore person-days have been generated so far.
- Since inception, 100 million or 10 crore new post office/bank accounts have been created.
- There has been an 81% increase in per person-day wage since the inception of MGNREGA. Minimum wage however varies from state to state and lies within the range of ₹ 122 and ₹
- 51% of total generated person-days came from SCs and STs and women accounted for 47% (well above 33% mandate).
- Total number of Job Cards issued till date stand at 120 million or 12 crore. Total number of muster rolls used till date for uploading on MIS or Management Information System is 90 million or 9 crore.
While that’s something to be proud about, MGNREGA has not really turned out to be as efficient as expected. Why? Continue reading!
Shortcomings/Problems of MGNREGA Scheme
Despite being a highly ambitious scheme with millions and millions of Indian money spent for the primary purpose of increasing economic security for MGNREGA has some serious problems. To start with, MGNREGA stands for more than just offering economic security. It is also about creating sustainable rural assets. It is also about bringing social equity. But, MGNREGA failed dramatically in these areas.
The major problem with MGNREGA was onset of leakages and corruption that killed the idea of social equity. Here is what happened:
- Fake bills and fake muster rolls were generated. This only drained the money of Indian tax-payers right through the drain. People who were supposed to get the money didn’t get it.
- Payments turned in significantly late. This happened because work measurements were delayed, which delayed the release of payment to the workers.
- 850,000 differently-abled people enrolled for work. Only 19% of these people were actually given work.
- Some so-called elite groups popped up. These groups grabbed majority of the Job Cards issued under MGNREGA, thereby depriving many others.
Unfortunately the workers did not engage in those activities. Rather, they moved on to digging pits in the name of creating ponds. Unfortunately, these pits fail to hold water for long as water quickly evaporated, leaving behind dry pits. The government was billed even for those useless pits!
All these reports came from Planning Commission which is in charge of monitoring the implementation and execution of this flagship program.
Application for employment under the MGNREGA scheme
Anyone who is a Job Card holder and is a resident of a rural area in India may get the benefits of the MGNREGA scheme and may register himself/herself as unskilled labor. For joining the project one has to submit an application to the concerned authority.
An applicant wanting to join the MGNREGA scheme should apply for contractual employment of more than or equal to fourteen days which should be continuous in nature. This means there is no maximum number of days of employment under the scheme. So all registered rural household members can apply for the employment guarantee scheme by the central govt. and get full benefits under it.
There are several modes one can opt to make application for getting included in the MGNREGA scheme and get deserved employment as a contractual worker. One can submit a written applicant to the Gram Panchayat official or the Block authority for this purpose. Some block offices also entertain verbal requests from the eligible beneficiaries and note them down. Govt. has also provided IVR system for making application for the MGNREGA scheme. Apart from this, one may also register online to the project through the dedicated website: http://nrega.nic.in. In some regions, kiosks are provided by the govt. to enroll for the MGNREGA scheme and receive applications from the eligible beneficiaries.
An applicant with a valid job card number can also apply with an offline form / proforma which are available with the Panchayat office or Block office for free. Details such as type of work and duration of employment required are to be mentioned clearly in the application.
To implement the MGNREGA scheme to its full potential, the Gram Panchayat or the Block officials will have to appoint agents who may be Angawadi workers, school teachers, ward members, voluntary services to assist in the registration and enrollment process of the project. The Panchayat authorities have also provision for CSCs which are service centres for the beneficiaries which access their applications and act as per demands.
Under the MGNREGA scheme, a beneficiary can apply for multiple employment opportunities and there is no restriction in that. An unskilled labour is free to work in two simultaneous projects under the MGNREGA scheme. But the work hours should not overlap, which is the basic criteria. In fact, one who is already working may also submit an advanced intimation for employment opportunity which will be provided soon after the completion of the ongoing job. Rural workers also have the choice to make joint application which includes names of other employees at a time. They can take help of the Ngo workers appointed for this purpose for making applications.
During work allocation process carried out by the Gram Panchayat, the beneficiaries who have applied for employment will be notified through a letter or notice. Also those who have provided a mobile number along with the application will get SMS notification of work allotment under the MGNREGA scheme.
There will be a Program Officer who will be appointed to monitor the work implementation under the MGNREGA scheme. They will keep liaison with the Gram Panchayat and local bodies and will keep track of all the applications submitted and the allocations of work. In case an applicant has not bagged any employment opportunity, similar employment opportunity should be created in neighboring block. A technology named NREGA Soft will be applied to carry out the process.
- The process of rural household registration will be carried out on regular basis throughout the year to provide maximum employment benefits to the rural population under the central govt. MGNREGA scheme.
- CSCs will be operational in every rural area which will receive the applications for employment and the same will be sent to the Gram Panchayat or Block Office for further course of action.
- The definition of a rural household is a group of people staying as a family in a rural area who are either connected by blood relation or marriage or adoption. An adult member of the family can easily apply for the MGNREGA scheme with the names of family members included.
- The minimum age criterion to join the scheme is 18 years. But there is no upper age criterion.
- The application will include details such a name of applicant, sex, Aadhar number, BPL status, mobile number, caste, etc.
Registration and Verification under the MGNREGA scheme
A verification process will be carried out by the Gram Panchayat on receipt of the applications for employment under the MGNREGA scheme. This process will take around 14 days from the date of receipt of filled in application. Below are some of the points which will be verified:
- Crosschecking the household mentioned i.e. whether it is authentic or not.
- Verification of the Gram Panchayat where the household belongs to.
- Authentication of the applicants being the members of that particular household.
Issue of New Job Cards / Updating existing Job Cards
After full verification of the application for the MGNREGA scheme, the Gram Panchayat will provide job cards to the beneficiaries. This will be done after 14 days period which is required for the verification process to get over. Another copy of the job card will be kept at the Gram Panchayat office. This job card will have details such as a unique Job Card number, name, age, sex, work allocation and completion details with dates, wages earned, etc. In addition to this, it will also have information such as Voter Card number, bank account details, etc. A job card is valid for 5 years from the date of new issuance. There is also a provision of special job cards with unique color for some category of beneficiaries such as old aged, single women, tribal groups, disabled, etc.
One software named NREGASoft will be implemented which will store all the data related to the MGNREGA scheme. In case there is any need of updating of records or correction in job card, the same can be done through this portal after necessary verification by the Gram Panchayat officials.
Aadhar link With MGNREGA Account
The government has started a programme to bring all the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) workers under Aadhar system. This is being done to stop leakage of funds due to the duplication of the scheme.
Date of implementation
The government had earlier decided upon 31st December 2016 as the deadline to link all NREGS accounts with Aadhar card. However they missed that deadline and now it is being organized once again. The new dates are between July 25th and September 10th 2017. Within this time, the camp is getting organized.
What is NREGS?
NREGS is a very recent employment scheme in India. It provides 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to all the seekers. Anyone who is above 18 years of age and willing to work can participate in this scheme. One of the things that put NREGS at a greater achievement than previous schemes is its transparency. Constant vigilance and local authority are also some of the things that have kept NREGS stay comparatively corruption free so that it can reach the masses.
But then how is the leakage of funds happening?
There are 10.7 crore NREGS workers at present – out of which only 50% of them have linked their bank accounts with Aadhar number. The worrying part is that the ministry of rural development has details only about 85 per cent of them. Moreover, around 1.12 crore NREGS cards were removed from the system since they were fake.
One of the major criticisms the scheme faced is that it was delaying payments. Perhaps this is the reason why over 10 lakh workers surrendered their jobs to the government and withdrew from the scheme – although they stated various reasons for the same.
But the worst part of the issue is the improper allocation of funds. If 1.12 crore Aadhar cards are fake, then the payments for the scheme are reaching the wrong people. They are not reaching the people they should. This is the issue of leakage of funds that the scheme is facing.
How to implement this?
In order to clear the this discrepancy the government is taking the following steps –
- The government has set up several camps in the villages. These camps will help them fasten the links to Aadhar and their NRGES accounts. These camps are only for a fortnight.
- The government shall conduct these camps in link with rural development ministry and the department of financial services. They are conducting major steps to help people understand how to link Aadhar to their accounts.
- With the Aadhar links, the government will know who has been given the benefit and who has been rightfully excluded. Hence the potential duplication error of the system can be stopped.
The ministry is also conducting an audit report which is due to be submitted by September. After it is done, they can release the amount to the states. Hopefully, till that time, through the camps, more authentic wage workers shall link their Aadhar card to their bank accounts.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Embraces Electronic Wage Transfer
Indian central government has implemented the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme or MGNREGS, under the Ministry of Rural Development for offering poor villagers with training and better occupational opportunities. Over time, the department has incorporate electronic salary transfer mode for all individuals who work under this scheme. Around 99% of all wages are paid via automated bank transfers. This electronic wage transfer has allowed the department to keep corruption away and bring about better transparency in the payment procedure. It will ensure that the right people get their hard-earned money. Around Rs. 16185.49 crore has been paid as wages for the rural workers, under this scheme.
Wages revision under national rural jobs scheme
Under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the government has thought of revising wages before the coming general election. The minimum wage of the workers vary from one state to the other, and there have been significant increases in the same since 2018 April. The quantum of the hike would be analyzed by Shivraj Singh Chauhan of Madhya Pradesh for immediate implementation of the same. According to other committees, wages of workers would depend on consumer price index for agricultural labourers. There was a slight difference in the opinion stated by Dev committee and Singh committee.