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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | MGNREGA to go farm-friendly by Seema Sindhu

MGNREGA to go farm-friendly by Seema Sindhu

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published Published on Aug 19, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 19, 2011

The Government has decided to introduce major reforms in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by bringing under its coverage agricultural activities like sowing, harvesting, soil preparation, irrigation, compost preparation and allied activities relating to livestock.

Reforms have been planned to address issues of shortage of labours for agriculture-related activities. The job guarantee scheme will now have a farmers’ friendly face and rechristened as MGNREGA II. The Planning Commission is going to submit the reform charter to the Rural Development Ministry on Friday.

“Agricultural activities for assets creation can be taken up under MGNREGA, but it is not happening. So we are proposing more clear and comprehensive guidelines to bring agricultural activities under MGNREGA ambit. The new guidelines will make clear provisions for providing MGNREGA work in private lands of small and marginal farmers,” Plan panel member Mihir Shah, who has drafted the charter, told The Pioneer.

However, Shah clarified that the work under MGNREGA for farm activities will be provided for specific number of days and specific number of people. “Farm activities would be combined with MNREGA only in 2,000 backward blocks.” The panel is in the process of making list of these 2,000 backward blocks, which he said shall be available soon.

This will benefit agriculture as two-thirds of MNREGA workers are small and marginal farmers. The rechristened MNREGA will pull these farmers back to their farms.

Farmers across the country have been protesting claiming that MGNREGA is causing labour shortage, which is forcing them to cough up higher wages for agriculture-related works. In Andhra Pradesh, some farmers have even gone on a crop holiday as token protest.

Recently, Agriculture Ministry sparked the debate on fallouts of MGNREGA by writing a letter to the Rural Development Ministry saying that the scheme is adversely affecting agriculture.

After taking over the reins of Rural Development Ministry, Jairam Ramesh had said that the Ministry will converge MGNERGA with Agriculture Ministry’s Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and watershed management programme. Referring the matter to the Plan panel, he had asked it to find a resolution to the Agriculture Ministry’s concerns.

A source in the Agriculture Ministry said that a fortnight ago Ministry Secretary PK Basu and Rural Development Ministry Secretary BK Sinha had a meeting on the issue and decided to work out a “combined strategy” on how to couple agriculture with MGNREGA.

The source said that in a letter Ramesh had conveyed to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that the average number of days MGNREGA jobs provided was 46, out of which 9 days fell in agricultural peak season. The Agriculture Ministry is reported to have contested the number and is likely to get back to the Rural Development Ministry with its own report. According to the source, Pawar has asked Basu to submit the report after which the two Ministers are expected to meet.

The Plan panel is also proposing to have a “labour budget” survey every 5 years. Shah explained that the survey would help in planning the scheme more accurately. The Government will know how, where and when of the labour demand.

“That’s a big problem. We don’t have any registration of the demand. So we don’t know when and how much is the demand. Once we have the survey, we can plan the work in peak and non-peak season. In peak season, the labourers can be put into agricultural work and in the non-peak season, the other developmental work can be started,” Shah said.

Advance planning and announcement of the work would help in checking distress migration also. Officials feel that if the labourers know when they will be provided work in the lean season, they won’t migrate to cities in search of work.

The Pioneer, 19 August, 2011, http://www.dailypioneer.com/361867/MGNREGA-to-go-farm-friendly.html


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