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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Changes may limit NREGA to only 60 blocks in Rajasthan -Anindo Dey

Changes may limit NREGA to only 60 blocks in Rajasthan -Anindo Dey

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published Published on Oct 15, 2014   modified Modified on Oct 15, 2014
-The Times of India

JAIPUR: The paradox could not be greater. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which had its genesis in the mass movements launched in Rajasthan, is now facing a dilution in its home state.

The Union rural development ministry is likely to amend the provisions of MGNREGA, converting it to just a scheme and thereby threatening to rob it of its es sence. In Rajasthan, such an amendment will effectively restrict the Act to just 60 blocks out of a total 249 blocks. Official documents from the ministry suggest that the labour-material ratio is likely to be changed from the present 60:40 to 51:49 while funds for the Act will be rationalized. A proposal to restrict the scheme to tribal backward districts of the country is also in the final stages.

"From information gathered, the amendments would effectively restrict the Act to just 60 out of 249 blocks in the state. Mostly probably, the tribal districts of Dungarpur, Banswara, Udaipur, Sirohi and Karauli that were covered in the first phase of the Act will remain as the sole beneficiaries of the Act," said social activist Nikhil Dey of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. Chief minister Vasundhara Raje had written a letter to Union minister Nitin Gadkari on June 7, proposing amendments in the Act for making it into a scheme, among other things.

"This was a historic Act passed unanimously and the changes will sound its death knell. Nearly five crore households in the country will be adversely affected by it. Rajasthan alone has 98,40,000 job cards and when it has not been able to utilize the 40% sum earmarked for material cost, what is the point in raising it to 49%. The chief minister's proposal of moving the final decision of nature of work to be undertaken at the district level instead of the panchayat level will bring in several compromises with some panchayats getting all the kuchcha work while the influential get all the pucca work," he said.

"The changes are inimical to the spirit of the Act and compromise its basic objectives. They will only benefit the contractor class and other middlemen. Moreover, these changes are being undertaken without any public consultation," he added.

"The network of gravel roads connecting rural Rajasthan is a fallout of the Act.

These roads often saved the lives of patients in need of urgent medical attention. Moreover, there are many more like parts of Ajmer, Barmer, Rajsamand which also need NREGA funds. Many water bodies in these areas have been dug out of NGREGA funds and they come in handy during dry months. Where will Rajasthan get funds for such development work if the Act does not apply here," asks Mukesh Goswami, an activist of MKSS.

"My panchayat receives over Rs 1 crore under the Act every year. The changes would drive hundreds of families from my panchayat into deep poverty and remove the strongest input for infrastructural development in my village," said Norati Devi, sarpanch of Harmada panchayat in Ajmer.


The Times of India, 14 October, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Jaipur/Changes-may-limit-NREGA-to-only-60-blocks-in-Rajasthan/articleshow/44812577.cms


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