MGNREGS UPDATE - Foundation for Ecological...

Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………

Arun Jaitley gives highest ever allocation for

MGNREGS in Budget 2017

By Ruchika Chitravanshi, ET Bureau | Updated: Feb

02, 2017, 10.03 AM IST

Budget allocation to MNREGA increased to a record

Rs 48,000 cr: FM

NEW DELHI: The government's flagship Mahatma

Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee

Scheme (MGNREGS) is likely to begin the next fiscal

with a clean slate, unlike a year ago when it faced huge

arrears.

The government has allocated Rs 48,000 crore to the

scheme in this year's Budget. The rural development

ministry is expecting more funds at its disposal for the

next fiscal, having managed most of its dues for 2016-

17.

In 2016-17, NREGS had been allocated Rs 47,499

crore, which included Rs 38,500-crore allocation in the

Budget and the remaining through supplementary

budgets. The rural development ministry had to release

MGNREGS UPDATE News for Internal Circulation No. 60/ February 1, 2017 – February 15, 2017 Foundation for Ecological Security

Inside

News

• Budget 2017: Highest Ever Allocation For MGNREGA At Rs 48,000 Crore, Says Jaitley

• Budget 2017-18: MGNREGA gets highest ever allocation, FM eyes 100 pc rural electrification by May 2018

• Highlights Union Budget 2017-18: Highest ever allocation to MGNREGA at Rs 48,000 crore

• NREGA fund hike only 1%, not 25%, claims Aruna Roy

• Budget pro-poor, pro-farmer: Sonowal • Rights groups call for resources for MGNREGS to

provide work on demand • Geo-tagging keeps fraud off MGNREGS • Aadhaar leeway hope on job scheme • Aadhaar enrolment date for MGNREGA

beneficiaries may be extended: Government • Centre ensuring transparency in MGNREGS

through Aadhaar: Minister • Wages under MNREGA likely to increase: Rural

Development Min • Farmers unhappy over linking of MNREGA with

water conservation works in Budget

Articles

• Government on the job for cleanup of NREG

scheme • Resources misallocated under rural employment

scheme: Survey • The rise in allocation to MGNREGA is not 25%

but just 1%, say activists Rural employment scheme gets highest-ever funding

Government Order

• Provision for additional employment over and above 100 days per household under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in notified drought affected 268 Mandals of 7 Districts of Andhra Pradesh – reg.

• Invitation for participation in the ‘National workshop on Integrated Natural Resource Management’

• Advisory on GeoMGNREGA for States/UTs


Rs 13,000 crore to the states immediately after the

budget allocation for payment of pending dues.

The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the

Centre for delayed payment to workers under the

scheme last fiscal, the second consecutive year of

drought. Following this, the rural developmentministry

had pushed for national electronic finance

management system for direct transfer of wages into

the beneficiary accounts.

As of now, only 46% of payments have been made

within the stipulated period of 15 days. "The number

has come down because of a significant sum that has

been given to states in pending wages for last year...in

the next financial year, we should be able to make 75%

payments on time," a senior official said.

The ministry is expecting a further allocation in the

last supplementary budget later this month which will

bring more clarity to its arrears position for the next

fiscal. Jaitley on Wednesday announced the

construction of 500,000 farm ponds in 2017-18. He

said the government has reoriented NREGA to support

its resolve to double farmers' income.

"MGNREGA should create productive assets to

improve farm productivity and incomes. This single

measure will contribute greatly to drought-proofing of

gram panchayats," Jaitley said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/highest

-ever-allocation-for-mgnrega-at-rs-48000-crore-arun-

jaitley/articleshow/56907695.cms

Budget 2017: Highest Ever Allocation For

MGNREGA At Rs 48,000 Crore, Says Jaitley

February 1, 2017, 2:24 pm February 1, 2017, 12:08 pm

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the

Union Budget 2017 in Parliament on Wednesday said

the allocation towards the Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has

been increased to Rs 48,000 crore for financial year

2017-18 from Rs 38,500 crore in the last fiscal.

This will be the highest ever allocation for the rural

employment program, Jaitley added.

The government had spent Rs 47,000 crore on the

scheme in the previous fiscal.

There were expectations of higher allocation to

MGNREGA following the government’s decision to

demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in

November last year. After the note ban, a large number

of migrant workers returned home as small businesses

were unable to pay wages on account of the cash

crunch.

The finance minister said that the participation of

women in the program has gone up from 48 percent in

the past to 55 percent in financial year 2016-17.

The MGNREGA program aims to provide at least 100

days of employment to every rural household by

engaging them in rural infrastructure building.

http://www.bloombergquint.com/union-budget-

india/2017/02/01/budget-2017-highest-ever-allocation-for-

mgnrega-at-rs-48000-crore-says-jaitley

Budget 2017-18: MGNREGA gets highest ever

allocation, FM eyes 100 pc rural electrification by

May 2018

India TV News Desk, New Delhi [Published on: 01

Feb 2017, 14:56:03]


Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that the pace

of construction of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak

Yojana (PMGSY) roads has accelerated to reach 133

km roads per day in 2016-17, as against an average of

73 km during the period 2011-2014.

He said, that the government is committed to complete

the current target under PMGSY by 2019 and a sum of

Rs 19,000 crore has been provided in 2017-18 for this

scheme.

He said that one crore houses would be completed by

2019 for the houseless and those living in kutcha

houses as the Government has stepped up the

allocation for Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin

from Rs 15,000 crores in BE 2016-17 to Rs 23,000

crores in 2017-18.

Presenting his fourth budget, Jaitley expressed hope

that 100 per cent village electrification would be

achieved by May 1, 2018. He added that an increased

allocation of Rs 4,814 crores has been proposed under

the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana in 2017-

18.

The Finance Minister Jaitley said that the government

has proposed to increase the allocations for Deendayal

Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission

for promotion of skill development and livelihood

opportunities for people in rural areas to Rs 4,500

crore in 2017-18.

The allocation for Prime Minister's Employment

Generation Programme (PMEGP) and Credit Support

Schemes has been increased more than 3 times. The

Finance Minister informed the members that the

Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) has made

tremendous progress in promoting safe sanitation and

ending open defecation.

Sanitation coverage in rural India has gone up from

42% in October 2014 to about 60% and such villages

are now being given priority for piped water supply.

He said, for imparting new skills to the people in the

rural areas, mason training will be provided to 5 lakh

persons by 2022, with an immediate target of training

at least 20,000 persons by 2017-18.

http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india-budget-2017-18-

mgnrega-gets-highest-ever-allocation-fm-eyes-100-pc-rural-

electrification-may-2018-367265

Highlights Union Budget 2017-18: Highest ever

allocation to MGNREGA at Rs 48,000 crore

Feb, 01 2017 15:08:34 IST

India will ramp up spending on rural areas,

infrastructure and fighting poverty, Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley said as he unveiled his annual budget on

Wednesday, adding the impact on growth from the

government's cash crackdown would wear off soon.

Addressing parliament, Jaitley called his fourth budget

one for the poor. Yet, while vowing prudent fiscal

management, he also raised his 2017/18 federal deficit

target to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product to cover

his spending promises.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise decision last

November to scrap high-value banknotes worth 86

percent of India's cash in circulation has hit consumer

demand, disrupted supply chains and hurt capital

investments. The worst of the cash crunch is now over,

however, and Jaitley said he expected it would not

spill over into the fiscal year starting on 1 April. A

private manufacturing survey on Wednesday showed

business was slowly returning to normal.

Here are the key takeaways from the Union Budget.

* Highest ever allocation to MGNREGA at Rs 48,000

crore

*Merger of Railway Budget with Budget 2017 a

historic step

* Transform, Energize and Clean India - #TECIndia -

our agenda for the next year

* Advancement of budget will enable all ministries,

departments to operationalize all schemes right from

beginning of next fiscal

* Demonetisation aims to create a new normal, where

the GDP would be bigger, cleaner and real

* Effects of demonetisation not expected to spill over

to next year

* Firmly believe that GST, Demonetisation, built on

JAM, will have an epoch-making impact on the lives

of our people

* Demonetisation aims to create a new normal, where

the GDP would be bigger, cleaner and real

* Recalls #MahatmaGandhi's words: A right cause

never fails

* 3 challenges in current global scenario:Monetary

stance of US FED Reserve, Commodity prices

specially crude oil & retreat from globalization

* We have moved from a discretionary administration

to a policy-based administration

* Expectations included burning issues like inflation

and price rise, issue of corruption & crony capitalism

* Our government was elected amidst huge

expectations of people, the underlying theme of

expectations being good governance

* Hope to resolve all issues regarding GST via

consultations

* We are moving from informal to formal economy

and the government is now seen as a trusted custodian

of public money

http://www.firstpost.com/business/highlights-union-budget-2017-

18-highest-ever-allocation-to-mgnrega-at-rs-48000-crore-

3241666.html

NREGA fund hike only 1%, not 25%, claims

Aruna Roy

TNN | Feb 2, 2017, 10.33 AM IST

(Representative image)


Social activist Aruna Roy slammed Union budget for

ignoring MGNREGA. She claimed that at first glance,

it looks like that the government has increased 25%

allocation for NREGA in the budget but in reality, it is

just 1% over previous year.

"At first glance, it would seem as if the finance

minister's announcement of an allocation of Rs 48,000

crore for MGNREGA is a dramatic increase of nearly

25% over last year's allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. In

fact, the increase is a mere 1%, of Rs 500 crore, as two

supplementary allocations during the course of the

year made the total budget of 2016-17 Rs 47,500

crore," said Roy of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan

(MKSS).

She pointed that regard less of the budget, for

MGNREGA to work as legislation, it needs to have

adequate resources to be made available for work to be

provided on demand. According to MKSS 22 out of 34

states have negative balances.

"As per the ministry's own data, a total of Rs 3,469

crore in pending liabilities have already piled up even

as they have spent 93% of the funds available for this

financial year. This is likely to dramatically go up over

the next two months as traditionally demand for work

has peaked during this season," noted MKSS in its

statement.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/nrega-fund-hike-

only-1-not-25-claims-aruna-roy/articleshow/56928831.cms

Budget pro-poor, pro-farmer: Sonowal

Guwahati, Feb 1 (PTI) Hailing the 2017-2018 Union

Budget as "pro-poor, pro-farmer, welfare and growth-

oriented", Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal

said it had something for every section of the society.

In a statement, he praised the budgetary provision of

Rs 10 lakh crore as credit to farmers with a 60-day

period for interest waiver and stated that the increase

of funds to NABARD and the dedicated micro-

irrigation fund for it will greatly help the farm sector.

Lauding the move to create a dairy processing

infrastructure fund, Sonowal, who heads a BJP-led

government in the state, said the mini-labs in krishi

vigyan kendras for soil-testing will give a further boost

to the process of issuance of soil cards.

The government's target to pull one crore households

out of poverty by 2019, take up five lakh farm ponds

under MGNREGA during 2017-18, of over Rs 3 lakh

crore for rural India and using space technology in a

big way to plan MGNREGA works would help double

the income of farmers, he claimed.

Referring to the allocation of Rs 19,000 crore under

the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in 2017-18 to

complete one crore houses for the homeless, the chief

minister said it will immensely boost the government's

'Housing for All' dream.

Further appreciating the government's flagship

programmes, Sonowal lauded the Union Finance

Minister's statements in the Budget Session that the

'Swachh Bharat' mission had made tremendous

progress and sanitation coverage had gone up from 42

per cent in October, 2014 to 60 per cent now.

Sonowal also praised the introduction of a system of

measuring annual learning outcome, innovation fund

for secondary education, the budgetary proposal to

focus on 3,479 educationally-backward blocks, setting

up of 100 India international skill centres across the

country to maximise the Skill India mission,


introduction of courses on foreign languages and steps

to create 5,000 PG seats per annum.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/8357852_Budget-pro-poor--pro-

farmer--Sonowal.html

Rights groups call for resources for MGNREGS to

provide work on demand

JAIPUR: February 03, 2017 00:00 IST, Updated:

February 03, 2017 03:42 IST

Civil rights groups spearheading a campaign for

employment guarantee have demanded allocation of

adequate resources to the Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)

for work to be provided on demand in the light of the

Union Budget's allocation of Rs. 48,000 crore for the

flagship scheme.

Social activists Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey,

representing the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan,

said while 22 of the 34 States had negative balances, a

total of Rs. 3,469 crore in pending liabilities had

already piled up as per the Finance Ministry’s own

data. Even as the States had spent 93% of the funds

available for this financial year, this was likely to

dramatically go up over the next two months, as

traditionally demand for work has peaked during this

season, said the groups, including the Jan Jagaran

Shakti Sangathan and the National Federation of

Indian women, in a statement.

Ms. Roy said the increase in the allocation to

MGNREGS was a mere one per cent, as two

supplementary allocations after the last year's funding

of Rs. 38,500 crore had taken the total budget to Rs.

47,500 crore in 2016-17.

Distress

The rights groups pointed out that MGNREGS,

intended to provide livelihood security the poor, could

help out the casual workers suffering from the distress

of demonetisation. “But with pending liabilities

already piling up, the situation is likely to get worse in

the next two months as the Budget releases will only

be made in April.”

“At present 54% of the wage payments continue to be

delayed, and as a result Rs. 231 crore of compensation

to workers also remains due,” said Ms. Roy. On the

other hand, the Supreme Court has emphatically stated

that delayed wages were unacceptable and amounted

to violation of workers' rights.

Besides, the notification for requirement of Aadhaar

cards for accessing work under MGNREGS from the

next financial year, in violation of repeated Supreme

Court orders to not make Aadhaar mandatory, was

likely to have massive disruptive and exclusionary

effects.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-

newdelhi/Rights-groups-call-for-resources-for-MGNREGS-to-

provide-work-on-demand/article17156232.ece

Geo-tagging keeps fraud off MGNREGS

By A Chandrashekar | THE HANS INDIA | Feb

04,2017 , 12:35 AM IST


Kothagudem: There will be no scope for committing

fraud in the MGNREGS works in Pinapaka mandal

following the introduction of geo-tagging by the

Centre to ensure transparency.

It will ensure that the day-wise works are uploaded on

to the website by the staff, making it easy for officials

to view the status of work from anywhere.

In the past with no supervision of higher officials,

there were allegations that people’s representatives

were exploiting their power for committing frauds.

There were also accusations that workers were not

paid on time.

With geo-tagging in place, the works are being taken

up in a transparent manner and a new trend has been

introduced with the people getting information about

various works by click of a mouse. However, there

appears to be no scope for identifying the irregularities

committed in works last year as also in those

completed since 2006.

Several IAS officers pointed out that geo-tagging was

introduced with the sole motive of placing details of

the MGNREGS works before the people.

Details of works like land development, sapling

plantation under Haritha Haram and their protection,

construction of latrines/buildings/vermin-compost pits,

deepening of water bodies, rainwater harvesting pits,

CC roads etc are downloaded by the staff and sent to

officials, as also to the website of the National Institute

of Rural Development, thus making it easy for anyone

to access the information.

A look at the MGNREGS works taken up last year

shows that there were 15,909 workers holding job

cards in Pinapaka and Kanakaguda mandals. Of them,

about 1,200 took up work. As many as 6,596 families

were provided jobs (11,159 labourers) for 2016 and

2017, using 2.67 lakh man days.

The labourers were paid Rs 382.73 lakh as wages and

Rs 28.38 lakh were spent on tools for launching 3,200

works. Of them, 1,836 works were completed. As

many as 287 families in the mandals completed 100

days of work.

On an average, each worker was paid Rs 143.27 paise.

Besides, 329 farmers were handed over 1.1 lakh

saplings under the Haritha Haram in 2016-17.

Mandal Parishad Development Officer Ramesh told

The Hans India that there was no scope for committing

fraud with geo-tagging in place as details of works

were uploaded before and after their launch at the

work spot itself, even while ruling out taking up of the

same work elsewhere. Works are done in a transparent

manner.

http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Khammam-Tab/2017-

02-04/Geo-tagging-keeps-fraud-off-MGNREGS-/278157

Aadhaar leeway hope on job scheme

New Delhi, Feb. 6: The Centre today indicated that a

March 31 deadline for mandatory Aadhaar enrolment

of workers under rural job scheme NREGA was not

"sacrosanct" and could be extended, the reassurance

coming after an Opposition offensive.

"I want to assure the House that Aadhaar is not being

made mandatory under NREGA. The March 31

deadline is not sacrosanct. If people fail (to get

Aadhaar enrolments), the deadline can be extended,"

rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar told


the Rajya Sabha. His ministry had issued an order last

month making such cards mandatory for the scheme.

CPI leader D. Raja raised the issue, pointing out that

the scheme guaranteeing 100 days of work to every

rural household in a year was passed by Parliament.

"When people go for work, they are now asked to

produce Aadhaar cards. Why is the government doing

this? The MGNREGA itself is an Act of Parliament. It

gives citizens the right to seek employment," Raja

said.

Making Aadhaar mandatory violated Supreme Court

directives, Raja said. The court has said Aadhaar cards

should not be made mandatory. But Tomar argued that

the court had also allowed the government to

increasingly use Aadhaar for welfare plans.

There are 10.89 crore active registered NREGA

workers. Of them, 8.63 crore, or 80 per cent, have

Aadhaar cards. But the Aadhaar coverage of such

workers is below the national average in some states.

They include Bengal (68 per cent), Odisha (66 per

cent), Bihar (35.84 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir

(27 per cent).

Activists have expressed fears that fingerprint

mismatches and poor Internet connectivity in villages

could affect Aadhaar authentication and deprive

millionsof work.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170207/jsp/nation/story_134475.

jsp#.WKvTKDhGTeI

Aadhaar enrolment date for MGNREGA

beneficiaries may be extended: Government

By PTI | Updated: Feb 06, 2017, 03.34 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Government today said it could

consider extending the March 31 deadline notified for

individuals registered under the rural employment

guarantee scheme to apply for Aadhaar enrolment, if

states wanted it.

Replying to a question during Question Hour in Rajya

Sabha, Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh

Tomar said his ministry had on January 3 notified that

any individual registered under the MGNREGA, who

is not yet enrolled for Aadhaar shall have to apply for

enrolment by March 31.

(Narendra Singh Tomar said that any individual

registered under the MGNREGA, who is not yet

enrolled for Aadhaar shall have to apply for enrolment

by March 31. )

As opposition members said that the notification has

made Aadhaar card mandatory, Tomar said the

government has not made Aadhaar mandatory to get

work under MGNREGA.

Opposition members including Congress member

Renuka Chowdhury said that as per the "ground

reality", not all people may have the Aadhaar card.

To this, Rural Development minister said if problems

are being faced by any state in this regard, the

government could consider extending the deadline.

Tomar said Aadhaar was not mandatory for

MGNREGA and added that the ministry had issued the


notification keeping in mind the directions of the

Supreme Court as well as the legislation passed by the

Parliament in this regard.

"As far as the question of 31 March (deadline) is

concerned, it is not the last line. If the states express a

wish, in that case, we will extend it," Tomar said,

adding that under MGNREGA, 51 lakh assets have

been created and geo-tagged.

Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kirpal

Yadav said upto 80 per cent of the people have gone

for Aadhar and the partnership of women in the

scheme has also grown.

Speaking about the use of Aadhaar card, Yadav said

that government is trying to bring in more

transparency and cleanliness in the implementation of

MGNREGA.

He said the government has removed around 56 lakh

names, for whom money was being withdrawn

fraudulently. "Money meant for the poor was being

looted," Yadav said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-

nation/aadhaar-enrolment-date-for-mgnrega-beneficiaries-may-be-

extended-government/articleshow/56999735.cms

Centre ensuring transparency in MGNREGS

through Aadhaar: Minister

February 6, 2017

New Delhi, February 6 (IANS) The Narendra Modi

government is bringing transparency to the work

allocation and wages paid under the MGNREGS

through the use of Aadhaar, Rural Development

Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in the Rajya

Sabha on Monday.

Replying to some opposition members’ allegation that

the government is denying work under the Mahatma

Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee

Scheme (MGNREGS) to those who do not have

Aadhaar, although Aadhaar is not compulsory for

getting work, Tomar said that Aadhaar is not

mandatory till March 31.

“We are ensuring transparency in MGNREGS. People

can get work without Aadhaar till March 31 this year,

and even this is not the last deadline. This deadline can

be further extended if state governments say they are

not ready to implement it,” Tomar said.

The minister said that the Narendra Modi government

is committed to raise the overall living standards in the

rural areas and the MGNREGS is one of the means.

“The creation of assets is also being undertaken under

MGNREGS. So far, 51 lakh assets have been geo-

tagged,” he said.

Earlier, replying to a question by Communist Party of

India’s D. Raja, Minister of State for Rural

Development Ram Kripal Yadav said that “so far no

complaint has been received that anyone is being

denied work for want of Aadhaar card”.

“Aadhaar is not mandatory till March 31. Till now,

around 80 per cent of people have voluntarily

submitted Aadhaar,” he said.

Yadav said that the Aadhaar was being asked so that

“the MGNREGS funds reach the deserving”.

“We are cleaning the system through Aadhaar. There

were 13,04,00000 job cards, out of which after

Aadhaar linking, around 56 lakh were found to be fake

and weeded out. We are ensuring that the money


meant for the poor should not be pocketed by the

undeserving,” he added.

http://morungexpress.com/centre-ensuring-transparency-mgnregs-

aadhaar-minister/

Wages under MNREGA likely to increase: Rural

Development Min

Wed, 8 Feb 2017-04:16pm , PTI

The wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act are likely to increase as

the Rural Development Ministry is considering

"updating" the baseline, based on which workers are

paid, to insulate the poor in rural areas from the rising

cost of living.

The baseline for annual revision of wages paid under

MNREGA "can be changed" from Consumer Price

Index-Agriculture Labour (CPI-AL) to Consumer

Price Index for Rural (CPI-Rural).

"We are looking into the suggestion of the S Mahendra

Dev Committee to change the baseline for revision of

wages paid under MNREGA to CPI-Rural from CPI-

AL, but the final call will be taken after consultation

with all state governments," Rural Development

Secretary Amarjeet Sinha said.

A high-level committee set up by the Centre under

economist S Mahendra Dev had suggested that the

wages under MNREGA should be equal to or higher

than the minimum wage in states.

The panel had also suggested that MGNREGA wage

rates be revised every year on the basis of CPI-Rural

as it takes into consideration more variables for rural

areas as compared to CPI-AL.

According to sources, the Rural Ministry has already

moved the proposal to the Finance Ministry, which has

asked for more deliberations on the issue.

At present, the wages under MNREGA varies from Rs

167 in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and

Bihar to Rs 259 in Hayana.

The budget provision of Rs 38,500 crore under the

rural employment scheme in 2016-17 has been

increased to Rs 48,000 crore in 2017-18.

Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

said the governmet is working on creating productive

assets to improve farm productivity and incomes.

He said this is the highest ever allocation for

MGNREGA.

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-wages-under-mnrega-

likely-to-increase-rural-development-min-2316189

Farmers unhappy over linking of MNREGA with

water conservation works in Budget

By Jayashree Bhosale, ET Bureau | Feb 01, 2017,

04.48 PM IST

PUNE: Even as the Union Budget 2017 has increased

the provision for MGNREGA to Rs 48,000 crore, the

farming community is not happy about government's

insistence on linking it more with water conservation

works.

Farmers across the country have been complaining that

the availability of farm labour has become tough and

expensive since the launch of MGNREGA. Hence,

they have been demanding that the scheme should be

linked with farming.


Farmers have been complaining that the availability of

farm labour has become tough and expensive since the

launch of MGNREGA. Hence, they have been

demanding that the scheme should be linked with

farming.

"The government has not linking MGNREGA scheme

with farming. It is difficult to get labour at the farms,"

said P Chengal Reddy, secretary general, Consortium

of Indian Farmers' Associations.

During his budget speech, Union Finance Minister

Arun Jaitely said, "Government has made a conscious

effort to reorient MGNREGA to support our resolve to

double farmers' income. While providing at least 100

days employment to every rural household,

MGNREGA should create productive assets to

improve farm productivity and incomes. The target of

5 lakh farm ponds and 10 lakh compost pits announced

in the last Budget from MGNREGA funds will be fully

achieved."

In fact, against 5 lakh farm ponds, it is expected that

about 10 lakh farm ponds would be completed by

March 2017. During 2017-18, another 5 lakh farm

ponds will be taken up. "This single measure will

contribute greatly to drought proofing of gram

panchayats," expects the central government.

Participation of women in MGNREGA has increased

to 55 per cent from less than 48 per cent in the past 36

per cent. Honourable members would be happy to note

that the budget provision of Rs 38,500 crores under

MGNREGA in 2016-17 has been increased to Rs

48,000 crores in 2017-18.

This is the highest ever allocation for MGNREGA.

The initiative to geo-tag all MGNREGA assets and

putting them in public domain has established greater

transparency. We are also using space technology in a

big way to plan MGNREGA works.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/fa

rmers-unhappy-over-linking-of-mnrega-with-water-conservation-

works-in-budget/articleshow/56915583.cms

Government on the job for cleanup of NREG

scheme

By Ruchika Chitravanshi, ET Bureau | Updated: Feb

15, 2017, 01.28 AM IST

NEW DELHI: India’s flagship pro-poor programme,

the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), may be eluding the

most deprived section of the rural poor.

The government is surveying 5.4 crore landless casual

labour to assess if they have access to the NREGS job

cards.


In a major clean-up exercise, the government is

surveying 5.4 crore landless casual labour to assess if

they have access to the NREGS job cards. Barely a

month into the survey, over 25,000 households have

asked the government for enrolment in the scheme.

The number is expected to increase manifold. “No one

had asked these people to enroll with NREGS

before…This is our attempt at house-cleaning,

ensuring that the deserving people get the benefit of

the scheme,” a senior government official said.

The deprivation data of Socio and Economic Caste

Census (SECC) is being used to identify the poor

households who have not been covered by NREGA.

As per the SECC, 5.4 crore households are landless,

deriving a major part of their income from manual

casual labour. It makes up for 30% of the total

surveyed population. The expert group on SECC led

by Sumit Bose had recommended that NREGS needs

to be more focused towards the regions where there is

greater concentration of landless labour or where

people are suffering from multi-dimensional

deprivation.

While NREGA is a demand driven programme, the

states which have reported the highest deprivation,

including Bihar and Maharashtra, do not figure in the

top five recipients of funds under the scheme.

The cumulative share of the top five deprived states in

NREGA funds has hovered around 32% for the last

three years. The government will take into account the

disparity in deciding the labour budget for 2017-18

and push the deprived states to take up more work

under NREGA.

With Rs 48,000-crore allocation to the scheme in the

budget earlier this month, the government has set a

target of creating 5 lakh farm ponds as part of the

drought proofing activity during the next financial

year.

“The focus of the programme now is asset creation and

weeding out any bad practices so that our system

becomes more transparent and accountable,” the senior

official said.

The rural development ministry would now renew the

existing job cards to add the details including attested

photograph, SECC temporary identification number,

bank account and Aadhar number if there’s any

beneficiary. The government wants to put in check the

use of bogus job cards under the scheme.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/govern

ment-on-the-job-for-cleanup-of-nreg-

scheme/articleshow/57155917.cms

Resources misallocated under rural employment

scheme: Survey

The program has evolved over the last two years and

there is a greater thrust on natural resource

management and agriculture.

By: PTI | New Delhi | Published:January 31, 2017

10:51 pm


A farmer in his crop field. The MGNREGA scheme or

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act has been allocated Rs. 38, 500 crore

ahead of important elections in five states this year.

Express archive photo.

Evaluating the effectiveness of MGNREGS, the

Economic Survey on Tuesday said there is

misallocation of resources under the rural employment

scheme as only one-third of funds are spent on states

which account more than 50 per cent of poor in the

country. Stating that redistribution by the government

is far from efficient in targeting the poor, the survey

said the poorest areas of the country often obtain a

lower share of government resources when compared

to their richer counterparts.

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“For instance, consider the states of Bihar, Madhya

Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh: despite

accounting for over half the poor in the country, these

states access only a third of the resources spent on the

MGNREGS in 2015-16,” the survey said. However,

the survey also mentioned that Mahatma Gandhi

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

(MGNREGS) has changed considerably in last two

years.

It further said there has been improvement in

monitoring technology, asset creation and job

provision that has occurred in the scheme over the past

two years.

The program has evolved over the last two years and

there is a greater thrust on natural resource

management and agriculture and allied activities.

“This is expected to improve farmers’ income and

enlarge their wage opportunities,” it added.

The program also provides a higher number of days of

employment (150 days instead of 100 days) in drought

affected areas.

http://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/resources-

misallocated-under-rural-employment-scheme-survey/

The rise in allocation to MGNREGA is not 25% but

just 1%, say activists

The government needs to make adequate funds

available for the rural work programme, they say.

Feb 01, 2017.

At first glance it would seem as if the Finance

Minister’s announcement of an allocation of Rs 48,000

crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee scheme is a dramatic increase

of nearly 25% over last year’s allocation of Rs. 38,500

crores. In fact, the increase is a mere 1%, of Rs 500

crore, as two supplementary allocations during the

course of the year made the total budget of 2016-’17,

Rs 47,500 crore.

Regardless of the budget allocation, what needs to be

understood is that for the MGNREGA to work as per

the legislation, it needs to have adequate resources to

be made available for work to be provided on demand.

As of today, 22 out of 34 states have negative

balances. As per the ministry’s own data a total of Rs


3,469 crores in pending liabilities have already piled

up, even as they have spent 93% of the funds available

for this financial year. This is likely to dramatically go

up over the next two months, as traditionally demand

for work has peaked during this season.

The Supreme Court has issued a series of strong orders

in the ongoing Swaraj Abhiyan Public Interest

Litigation, one of which stated, “the Government of

India is directed to release to the State Governments

adequate funds under the Scheme in a timely manner

so that the ‘workforce’ is paid its wages well in time.

The Government of India must shape up in this

regard.”

Despite this, as per the Ministry’s mechanism of

preparing indicative labour budgets, even to honour

only the approved budget for the months of February

2017 and March 2017, nearly Rs 10,013 crores would

be required (at the average cost per person day of Rs

228). This means that we would end the year with

close to Rs 13,482 crores in pending liabilities, and a

budgetary allocation that has not even kept pace with

last year’s amount in real terms.

This unpredictable under resourced fund flow

mechanism has implications for implementation,

particuarly timely payment to workers, which greatly

affects faith in the employment guarantee. The

Supreme Court order emphatically stated that delayed

wages were unacceptable and a violation of the rights

of workers. Yet this continues with impunity. At

present 54% of the wage payments continue to be

delayed, and as a result Rs 231 crores of compensation

to workers also remains due.

For casual workers suffering from the distress of

demonetisation, the MGNREGA is intended to provide

livelihood security net for exactly such situations.

However, with pending liabilities already piling up, the

situation is likely to get worse in the next two months

as budget releases will only be made in April. Further,

the notification for the requirement of aadhaar for

accessing work under the MGNREGA from the next

financial year, again in violation of repeated Supreme

Court orders to not make aadhaar mandatory, is likely

to have massive disruptive and exclusionary effects.

The People’s Action for Employment Guarantee

demands that the Supreme Court orders on Aadhaar

and adequate funding be followed, the notification on

mandatory Aadhaar be revoked and the adequate funds

be made available to the MGNREGA to truly function

as a demand based programme.

https://scroll.in/article/828253/the-rise-in-allocation-to-mgnrega-is-

not-25-but-just-1-say-activists

Rural employment scheme gets highest-ever

funding

NEW DELHI: February 02, 2017 03:57 IST, Updated:

February 02, 2017 03:57 IST

FM allocates Rs. 48,000 crore for MGNREGA; says it will be brought under digital scrutiny

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), once described by

Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “living monument

of the UPA’s failure,” got its highest ever allocation —

Rs.48,000 crore — since its inception over a decade

ago.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, indicated that

the funds dispensed would come under increased

digital scrutiny. “The initiative to geo-tag all

MGNREGA assets and put them in the public domain

has established greater transparency. We are also using

space technology in a big way to plan MGNREGA

works,” he said.


(The government is also using space technology in a

big way to plan MGNREGA works. File photo. |

Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj )

Last June, the Rural Development Ministry had signed

an agreement with the National Remote Sensing

Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Hyderabad, for geo-tagging

assets. This involves the use of ‘Bhuvan’, a web-based

application developed by ISRO that gives a three-

dimensional map of the globe. Geo-tagging can help

track the location and development status of, say, a

pond or a bridge, funded by MGNREGA and located

in any of India’s 6 lakh villages. The geo-tagging

exercise, according to an ISRO press statement, is a

three-part programme and will eventually allow

citizens to report on the state of a project and be made

available to village panchayats.

‘An eyewash’

MGNREGA, enacted in 2005, is a UPA initiative to

enhance livelihood security of the rural people by

guaranteeing 100 days of wages in a financial year for

adults willing to take up unskilled manual work.

Around 30 lakh assets are created annually across the

country under the rural job scheme, which includes

water harvesting, drought relief and flood control as

preferred activities. The geo-tagging initiative follows

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive to check

leakages and effectively map the terrain for future

developmental works.

Aruna Roy of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangathan dismissed

the budgetary raise as eyewash as it downplayed the

huge arrears. “The increase is a mere 1%, of Rs.500

crore, as two supplementary allocations during the

course of the year made the total budget of 2016-17

Rs.47,500 crore,” she said in a statement. “At present,

54% of the wage payments continue to be delayed and,

as a result, Rs.231 crores in compensation to workers

also remains due.”

Drinking water scheme

In a bid to ensure safe drinking water to over 28,000

arsenic and fluoride affected habitations in the next

four years, the government will start a sub-mission of

the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.

In this year’s budget, the allocation for the Rural

Development Ministry has also been increased by

more than 10 per cent to Rs. 1,07,758 crore from Rs.

97,760 crore.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/Rural-employment-

scheme-gets-highest-ever-funding/article17130927.ece

No.M-uo1l/o2l2016-RE VIIGovernment of India

Ministry of Rural dEvelopmentDepartment of Rural develoPment

MGNREGA DivisionKrishi Bhawan, New DelhiDated: 15 February, zorT

To,

The Principal Secretary/SecretaryDepartment of Rural Development (in-charge of MGNREGA)AII States/UTs (As per the list attached)

Subject:- Advisory on GeoMGNREGA for States/UTs

Sir/Madam,

Ministry of Rural Development has rolled out GeoMGNREGA - the GIS

implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in public domain on,3oth November,zoi6 and about 6o lakhs geotagged Mahatma Gandhi NREGA assets have been put inpublic domain all over the country. The Ministry intends to geotag each of the assets

created under MGNREGA.

The centralised asset inventory created under GeoMGNREGA could be utilisedfor analysis & planning of works under MGNREGA. While analysing the geotagged

data, it has emerged thit quality of photo and accuracy of geotags, needs to be takencare of at this stlge, so that the data could be utilised effectively for planning andmonitoring purposes.

Therefore, in order to achieve the optimum results, please find attachedherewith an advisory for ensuring quality gebtags and action points to be followedby the States/UTs at various levels.

Yourg.,faithfully,(4{a,)'n

(Aparajitl saran$i)Encl:- As above

\"-.

GeoMGNREGA Advisorv to thc Statcs

Centralized asset inventory with geotagged photographs created underGeoMGNREGA could be used for analysis & planning of works under MGNIIEGA.This requires optimum qualify of geotags captured under GeoMGNREGA which maybe achieved by ensuring quality of Photographs of all assets and assigning propertdescription' to each asset.

Therefore, following things need to be kept in mind while geotagging of anasset.

Oualitv of Photoeraph/Geotae (to be ensured bv MSE):

Quality of photograph affects the possibility and perspective of assessment of the asset. Itshould be ensured that the photographs must have certain level of quality, which will help

in further assessment of the assets. Following points should be followed while takingphotographs of assets created under MGNREGA:-

r Direction and Angle: The direction and angle of photograph should be

such that entire asset or maximum portion of the asset is visible in thephotograph.

r Orientation of photograph: Similar orientation for similar assets. For

example: Photographs should be taken, along the length in case oflinear structures ,like roads, water channel etc.

o Photographs not against the sun Position of the sun should always be

on the back of the person taking photograph of the asset.

Clear/Haze free photographs: All MSEs (MGNREGA Spatial

Enumerators) should avoid taking photographs in fog and rains toensure high quality images.

Linking citizen information display boards with the Photograph: AtIeast one picture of the asset should have picture of the citizeninformation display board along with the asset.

Before capturing of geotag of an asset, MSE needs to wait for some

moment so that the accuracy in the range of to meters is achieved.

Asset Name and Description:For each completed work under MGNREGA, Asset id will be generated in

NREGASoft. The asset detail should be maintained at GP level in Fixed Asset

Register (FAR).

Description of the asset is essential as it solely describes the asset type,quality and descriptive location of the asset. It also helps the MSE toidentify the asset to be geotagged. There should be no mismatch indescription of photograph and the asset created.

In order to achieve the desired goals under the GeoMGNREGA, followingaction points are suggested to be followed by the States/UTs at various levels:-

The Gram Rozgar Sahayak/Technical Assistant working in the capacityof MGNREGA Spatial Enumerator (MSE) uses the GeoMGNREGA BhuvanMobile Application to capture the GIS location and photographs of theasset for uploading on the Bhuwan platform. The State/UT shouldensure that all panchayats have a registered MSE responsible forgeotagging.

District GIS Nodal officer (DGNO) and State GIS Nodal Officer (SGNO)

should monitor quality of geotags under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA fortheir respective districts and states.

GeoMGNREGA Working Group (GWG) shall supervise the work and

ensure that there is no deviation to the standards fixed for geotagging.

GWG will hold regular meetings to emphasise good practices ofgeotagging. GWG will play a crucial role in monitoring quality of geotags

under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.

t\r\

Ministry of Rural Development will do random check regularly to

monitor the quality of geotags.

GeoMGNREGA platform should be used by States/UTs for the purpose

of planning of works to avoid duplicacy while preparing the Iabour

budget and subsequent drawing up of the labour budget.

States/UTs should ensure that whatever work is completed w.e.f.

orlotrlzorT must be geotagged within one month from date ofcompletion of work.

Works already completed under MGNREGA should be geotagged in a

prioritised manner insisting financial year wise geotagging ofcompleted assets from 2ol.6-2ot7t 2ot5-2o:^6, 2oll+-2o15 and

backward, till FY 2006-2oo7.

SGNO/DGNO should monitor the performance of GAS and MSE every

day. There should be no pendency for moderation at the block lbvel'Each geotag uploaded by the MSE, should be moderated maximumwithin 3 days by the GAS.

r-\Y.'


This information bulletin is a part of our initiative towards improving

water conservation through leveraging NREGA.

Supported by: Hindustan Unilever Foundation

MGNREGS UPDATE - Foundation for Ecological...

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