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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Revamped version of MGNREGA to be unveiled on November 14; focus to iron out administrative glitches by Devika Banerji

Revamped version of MGNREGA to be unveiled on November 14; focus to iron out administrative glitches by Devika Banerji

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published Published on Nov 10, 2011   modified Modified on Nov 10, 2011

A revamped version of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the government's flagship social sector programme, will be unveiled on November 14.

The makeover, crafted by rural development minister Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commission member Mihir Shah, promises to iron out administrative glitches that have dogged the six-year-old scheme, credited for boosting incomes but panned for stoking inflation.

"We are ready with version 2 of MGNREGA. It will basically strengthen the administrative structures of the scheme," said Jairam Ramesh.

With an allocation of Rs 40,000 crore, the scheme is the centre's most expensive social sector programme and is seen as a major factor behind the UPA's return to power in 2009. But now the perception is that it is failing to deliver, primarily owing to a lack of administrative capacity to plan, implement and monitor operations at the grass-root level.

The modified scheme will have a list of projects prepared by a local-level committee that will seek help from hydrologists and engineers, instead of the current ad hoc planning.

"Works remain incomplete, their quality is inadequate and it's basically digging work," says Vijay Shankar, member of Samaj Pragati Sahyog, a non-government organization associated with the implementation of the scheme. "This (revamp) might help in monitoring projects and keeping track of incomplete works besides improving their quality."

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But experts have faulted the revamp, saying it has missed out on overhauling the design and focuses merely on some hindrances in the implementation machinery.

"There are problems with the fundamental structure of the programme. There are some measures but there is a lot that goes unaddressed," said NC Saxena, a member of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council and former rural development secretary. He believes that while the reform does seek to address many pressing issues it fails to provide for a comprehensive framework that will enhance the productivity and sustainability of the scheme's outcomes.

Saxena said though the introduction of a project list and a local committee might help in planned asset creation but it still does not make way for planning over a longer timeframe of five to six years which is needed for watershed and drought proofing projects.

Harsh Mander, also an NAC member, said, "The reform suggested is significant and takes the scheme a little closer to making it demand driven. However there are many other design changes needed to bring out the potential of the scheme."

Shankar, who was also involved in drafting the new version, also says that while implementing the reforms will be a challenge given the acute shortage of human resource, pressing issues such as delayed payments are unlikely to be addressed in the new scheme as well. "There is no automatic solution to the delayed wage payments. The banking correspondent model has not really shown potential. It all comes down to lack of bank branches and people for the job. This might not help that," Shankar said.


The Economic Times, 10 November, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/revamped-version-of-mgnrega-to-be-unveiled-on-november-14-focus-to-iron-out-administrative-glitches/artic


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