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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt admits key rural jobs scheme floundering by Rajeev Deshpande

Govt admits key rural jobs scheme floundering by Rajeev Deshpande

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published Published on Apr 1, 2012   modified Modified on Apr 1, 2012
-The Times of India

It was UPA 1's winning mantra. But the Rs 33,000 crore a year rural job guarantee scheme may be floundering with the government admitting the flagship programme suffers from delayed payments, poor awareness, lack of durable assets, faulty job cards and muster rolls.

The finance ministry has echoed some of the major criticisms of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act listing endemic "lack of awareness about rights and entitlements" and inability of workers' to submit written applications as significant drawbacks.

Patchy maintenance of records like job cards, dated receipts and incomplete muster rolls also indicate the scheme is not reaching beneficiaries or is prone to leaks and manipulation. Shortage of dedicated personnel is affecting the task of measuring and certifying completed works.

Responding to queries posed by members of Parliament's standing committee on finance, the ministry notes "delay in wage payments and poor coverage of banks and post offices" along with "conduct and quality of social audits" are among major challenges experienced during implementation of the job scheme.

More than five years after its rollout - during which it has been hailed for boosting the rural economy and being a buffer against extreme penury - opinion is more divided with calls for recasting the job scheme growing louder and some quarters insisting the programme embodies non-productive expenditure.

A major lacunae that MNREGA funds are used for works of a non-permanent nature and divert government spending from more productive sectors of the economy is reflected in the ministry's assessment that there is a need to "make assets more durable and productive." Without permanent assets, the money would evaporate.

The finance ministry's comments are an official endorsement of the ills that have crept into the scheme with feedback from states and MPs often indicating that district administrations were hard put to spend sanctioned amounts and often took to sanctioning unnecessary works to use the funds. False records and local functionaries hoarding job cards or extracting cuts is common.

In its submission, the finance ministry does note that the rural employment ministry has tried to increase awareness, increase administrative expenditure, expand use of information technology, institute audits and provide for independent monitoring and verification.

Other aspects of MNREGA that need attention, according to the finance ministry include slow grievance redress that is complicated by beneficiaries finding it difficult to approach authorities. The task becomes even more hazardous if those in office are responsible for malpractices in the first place.

The Times of India, 1 April, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-admits-key-rural-jobs-scheme-floundering/articleshow/12487298.cms


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