Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f0cc9b92d66-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;TheWire.in/ Business Standard, 25 October, 2016, http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&#039;,
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central..."/>
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                <strong>Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre&#039;s Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-TheWire.in<br /><br /><em>The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.<br /></em><br />This is second of a two-part series. Read part one <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html">here</a>.<br /><br />The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.<br /><br />The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.<br /><br />But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.<br /><br />As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.<br /><br />But the rural development ministry&rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.<br /><br />The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&nbsp; It said, &ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&rdquo;<br /><br />This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.<br /><br />This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&rdquo;<br /><br />Please <a href="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/" title="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><em>By arrangement with Business Standard.</em> </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /></div>               </font>
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre&amp;#039;s Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; 
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre&amp;#039;s Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi&#039;,
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-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. 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-TheWire.in

The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central..."/>
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            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre&#039;s Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-TheWire.in<br /><br /><em>The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.<br /></em><br />This is second of a two-part series. Read part one <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html">here</a>.<br /><br />The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.<br /><br />The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.<br /><br />But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.<br /><br />As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.<br /><br />But the rural development ministry&rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.<br /><br />The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&nbsp; It said, &ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&rdquo;<br /><br />This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.<br /><br />This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&rdquo;<br /><br />Please <a href="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/" title="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><em>By arrangement with Business Standard.</em> </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /></div>               </font>
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-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; 
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-TheWire.in&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Centre&amp;rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is second of a two-part series. Read part one &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &amp;ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &amp;ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &amp;ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&amp;rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the rural development ministry&amp;rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&amp;nbsp; It said, &amp;ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&amp;nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&amp;nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&amp;nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&amp;rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &amp;ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&amp;hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;By arrangement with Business Standard.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

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The WhatsApp messages from the central..."/>
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                <strong>Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre&#039;s Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-TheWire.in<br /><br /><em>The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.<br /></em><br />This is second of a two-part series. Read part one <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html">here</a>.<br /><br />The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.<br /><br />The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.<br /><br />But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.<br /><br />As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.<br /><br />But the rural development ministry&rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.<br /><br />The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&nbsp; It said, &ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&rdquo;<br /><br />This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.<br /><br />This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&rdquo;<br /><br />Please <a href="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/" title="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><em>By arrangement with Business Standard.</em> </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /></div>               </font>
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-TheWire.in<br />
<br />
<em>The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.<br />
</em><br />
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one <a href="../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.<br />
<br />
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.<br />
<br />
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.<br />
<br />
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.<br />
<br />
But the rural development ministry&rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.<br />
<br />
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&nbsp; It said, &ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.<br />
<br />
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/">click here</a> to read more. 
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<em>By arrangement with Business Standard.</em> 
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<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
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	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre&#039;s Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi',
	'metaKeywords' => 'NREGA Wages,WhatsApp,mgnrega,MGNREGS,NREGS,NREGA,Fiscal Contraction',
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...',
	'disp' => '<div align="justify">-TheWire.in<br /><br /><em>The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.<br /></em><br />This is second of a two-part series. Read part one <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html">here</a>.<br /><br />The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.<br /><br />The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.<br /><br />But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.<br /><br />As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.<br /><br />But the rural development ministry&rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.<br /><br />The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&nbsp; It said, &ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&rdquo;<br /><br />This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.<br /><br />This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&rdquo;<br /><br />Please <a href="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/" title="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><em>By arrangement with Business Standard.</em> </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /></div>',
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	'title' => 'Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre&#039;s Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi',
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-TheWire.in<br />
<br />
<em>The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.<br />
</em><br />
This is second of a two-part series. Read part one <a href="../latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.<br />
<br />
The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.<br />
<br />
But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.<br />
<br />
As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.<br />
<br />
But the rural development ministry&rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.<br />
<br />
The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&nbsp; It said, &ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.<br />
<br />
This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/">click here</a> to read more. 
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<em>By arrangement with Business Standard.</em> 
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
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-TheWire.in

The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.

This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The WhatsApp messages from the central...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">-TheWire.in<br /><br /><em>The Centre&rsquo;s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year.<br /></em><br />This is second of a two-part series. Read part one <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/how-govt-used-whatsapp-to-curtail-work-given-under-mnrega-nitin-sethi-4680422.html">here</a>.<br /><br />The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up.<br /><br />The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year &ndash; the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections &ndash; as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days &ndash; 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval.<br /><br />But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work.<br /><br />As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year&rsquo;s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August.<br /><br />But the rural development ministry&rsquo;s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India.<br /><br />The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.&nbsp; It said, &ldquo;A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.&nbsp; This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.&nbsp; This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.&nbsp; On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.&rdquo;<br /><br />This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month&rsquo;s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months.<br /><br />This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, &ldquo;It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress&hellip;.more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.&rdquo;<br /><br />Please <a href="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/" title="http://thewire.in/75795/mnrega-centre-funds-whatsapp/">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><em>By arrangement with Business Standard.</em> </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /></div>'
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Massive Slump in MNREGA Work After Centre's Unofficial Instructions -Nitin Sethi

-TheWire.in The Centre’s off-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds made the rural work programme crash after a roaring first half of the year. This is second of a two-part series. Read part one here. The WhatsApp messages from the central rural development ministry to states had a chilling effect on the work given under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) after the roaring demand growth in the first few months. The states took the instructions and signals sent in August seriously and reduced work for future as arrears piled up. The Union government prepares a labour budget at the beginning of the year – the persondays of labour work it estimates to be generated through the financial year. It is done in consultation with the states but the Union government has the final say. The labour budget helps estimate the budgetary support required for the scheme in a particular year. But, legally this is supposed to be only an estimate and the Centre is required to provide additional funds if demand for work exceeds projections – as is always likely to happen in a drought year. This year the government approved a labour budget of 2.17 billion person-days days – 980 million persondays less than what the states had asked for. It told states not to exceed the limit set without prior approval. But, aware that the country was facing drought and after being criticised by the Supreme Court for not providing funds, in the early part of the year the centre encouraged states to register demand from the poor and assured them of funding support. When it became evident that the drought was widespread it also announced an extra 50 days of work in drought-hit districts, above the legally guaranteed provision of 100 days of work. As states took up the registration of demand in right earnest the work provided to the rural poor surged, exceeding the central government projections and approved labour budget for April-July by a whopping 277. 94 million person days. By July the rural development ministry had consumed 76% of its original budgetary allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. Rs 12,580 crore of this had gone towards paying arrears of the previous year’s arrears that the Centre owed to the states. It sought an additional Rs 15,000 crore from the finance ministry but got only a third of it in August. But the rural development ministry’s changed tone in August conveyed through the off record WhatsApp group had an immediate impact. In July states had generated 30.5 million persondays of work above what had been planned. In August the work given was 7.47 million days more than what was planned. But, by September the trend reversed dramatically. The work provided was 54.8 million days less than what had been planned to be given to the people in rural India. The rural ministry explains this dip as part of the usual trend when the monsoon is normal in the country.  It said, “A total of Rs.35,793.40 crore against the total revised allocation of Rs.43,499 crore under MGNREGS has been provided for MGNREGS so far.  This comes to 82.29% of the revised Budget Estimate for MGNREGS in the current financial year.  This level of release is unprecedented and has been resorted to given the high demand for work in the drought-distressed months of April, May and June.  On account of a good monsoon in most parts of the country, the demand for work has come down in subsequent months. There is a complete commitment of the Ministry to honour the demand for work.” This is partly true. The demand does ebb in a normal monsoon period, data shows. But, the ministry had planned ahead of time for this dip. Its approved labour budgets for work to be given in each month after May were less than the previous month’s. In July it planned to give 67.40 million less of personday than in June. For August the work to be given had been pared down by yet another 27.03 million days as compared to July and in September by 2.5 million more days below the work given in August. Yet, the actual work given was even much less compared to even this lowered projection. In no other previous year for which the data is available in public domain (2013-17) has work demand crashed so rapidly in August or September as compared to previous months. This is also evident from a letter that the Karnataka chief minister personally wrote to Union rural development minister on August 18, saying, “It is unfortunate that wage payments have not been released by the ministry since June 24, 2016. As a result farmers and labourers in the state are facing extreme financial stress….more than Rs 250 crores are pending for wage payment.” Please click here to read more.   By arrangement with Business Standard.