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
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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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')) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-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="cakeErr67f4676a943c0-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f4676a943c0-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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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;,
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;). &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;) &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;MG-NREGA&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca&lt;br /&gt;m-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg&lt;br /&gt;a-39.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot; title=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-&lt;br /&gt;From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne&lt;br /&gt;ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat&lt;br /&gt;yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm&lt;br /&gt;s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t&lt;br /&gt;o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini&lt;br /&gt;mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c&lt;br /&gt;ms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g&lt;br /&gt;o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748&lt;br /&gt;45.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot; title=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists&lt;br /&gt;-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/&lt;br /&gt;Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl&lt;br /&gt;eshow/6541296.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe&lt;br /&gt;cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot; title=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129&lt;br /&gt;90989.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot; title=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre&lt;br /&gt;ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives&lt;br /&gt;/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 4147,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;). &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;) &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;
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Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;MG-NREGA&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca&lt;br /&gt;m-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg&lt;br /&gt;a-39.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot; title=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-&lt;br /&gt;From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne&lt;br /&gt;ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat&lt;br /&gt;yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm&lt;br /&gt;s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t&lt;br /&gt;o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini&lt;br /&gt;mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c&lt;br /&gt;ms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g&lt;br /&gt;o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748&lt;br /&gt;45.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot; title=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists&lt;br /&gt;-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/&lt;br /&gt;Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl&lt;br /&gt;eshow/6541296.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe&lt;br /&gt;cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot; title=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129&lt;br /&gt;90989.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot; title=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre&lt;br /&gt;ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives&lt;br /&gt;/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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Can we afford to leave&nbsp;MG-NREGA&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



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                <strong>What is wrong with MG-NREGA?</strong></h1>
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                <p align="justify"><font ></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Can we afford to leave&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">MG-NREGA</a>&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? <br /></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html">Social Audit</a>&nbsp;clause&mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., </font><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca<br />m-in-rajasthan-1911.html</a><font >). </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The MG-NREGA is one of India&rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html">distress migration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2" title="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2">starvation</a>. (For details see:</font></p><p align="justify"><a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg<br />a-39.html</a><font >) </font></p><p align="justify"><font >An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:<br />&nbsp;<br /><em><strong>Monthly salaries</strong></em></font></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp" alt="Salary" width="500" height="186" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><em><strong>Inflation</strong></em></span></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp" alt="Inflation" width="500" height="165" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:</span></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &ldquo;needs based&rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&rdquo; (for full text see the link below)</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).</font></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><font ><em>For more information please go through the following links:</em></font></p><p align="justify"><font >&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /></font><a href="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/" title="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/">www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers" title="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers">http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-<br />From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers</a></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne<br />ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html</a> &nbsp;</font></span></p><p align="justify"><font >Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm</a></p><p align="justify"><font >Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat<br />yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm<br />s</a><font >&nbsp;&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t<br />o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini<br />mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c<br />ms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g<br />o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748<br />45.cms</a><font >&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html" title="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html">http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892" title="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892">http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists<br />-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/<br />Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl<br />eshow/6541296.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/" title="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/">http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe<br />cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp" title="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129<br />90989.jsp</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html" title="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html">http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre<br />ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let&rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives<br />/Article1-606195.aspx</a><font > <br />&nbsp; <br /></font></p>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-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="cakeErr67f4676a943c0-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f4676a943c0-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f4676a943c0-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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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;). &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;) &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;MG-NREGA&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca&lt;br /&gt;m-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg&lt;br /&gt;a-39.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot; title=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-&lt;br /&gt;From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne&lt;br /&gt;ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat&lt;br /&gt;yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm&lt;br /&gt;s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t&lt;br /&gt;o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini&lt;br /&gt;mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c&lt;br /&gt;ms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g&lt;br /&gt;o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748&lt;br /&gt;45.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot; title=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists&lt;br /&gt;-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/&lt;br /&gt;Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl&lt;br /&gt;eshow/6541296.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe&lt;br /&gt;cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot; title=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129&lt;br /&gt;90989.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot; title=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre&lt;br /&gt;ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives&lt;br /&gt;/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 4147,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;). &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;) &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;MG-NREGA&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca&lt;br /&gt;m-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg&lt;br /&gt;a-39.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot; title=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-&lt;br /&gt;From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne&lt;br /&gt;ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat&lt;br /&gt;yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm&lt;br /&gt;s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t&lt;br /&gt;o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini&lt;br /&gt;mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c&lt;br /&gt;ms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g&lt;br /&gt;o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748&lt;br /&gt;45.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot; title=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists&lt;br /&gt;-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/&lt;br /&gt;Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl&lt;br /&gt;eshow/6541296.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe&lt;br /&gt;cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot; title=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129&lt;br /&gt;90989.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot; title=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre&lt;br /&gt;ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives&lt;br /&gt;/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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Can we afford to leave&nbsp;MG-NREGA&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in..."/>
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                <strong>What is wrong with MG-NREGA?</strong></h1>
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                <p align="justify"><font ></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Can we afford to leave&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">MG-NREGA</a>&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? <br /></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html">Social Audit</a>&nbsp;clause&mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., </font><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca<br />m-in-rajasthan-1911.html</a><font >). </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The MG-NREGA is one of India&rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html">distress migration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2" title="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2">starvation</a>. (For details see:</font></p><p align="justify"><a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg<br />a-39.html</a><font >) </font></p><p align="justify"><font >An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:<br />&nbsp;<br /><em><strong>Monthly salaries</strong></em></font></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp" alt="Salary" width="500" height="186" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><em><strong>Inflation</strong></em></span></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp" alt="Inflation" width="500" height="165" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:</span></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &ldquo;needs based&rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&rdquo; (for full text see the link below)</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).</font></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><font ><em>For more information please go through the following links:</em></font></p><p align="justify"><font >&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /></font><a href="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/" title="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/">www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers" title="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers">http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-<br />From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers</a></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne<br />ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html</a> &nbsp;</font></span></p><p align="justify"><font >Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm</a></p><p align="justify"><font >Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat<br />yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm<br />s</a><font >&nbsp;&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t<br />o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini<br />mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c<br />ms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g<br />o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748<br />45.cms</a><font >&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html" title="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html">http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892" title="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892">http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists<br />-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/<br />Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl<br />eshow/6541296.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/" title="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/">http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe<br />cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp" title="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129<br />90989.jsp</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html" title="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html">http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre<br />ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let&rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives<br />/Article1-606195.aspx</a><font > <br />&nbsp; 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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;,
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;). &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;) &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;MG-NREGA&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca&lt;br /&gt;m-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg&lt;br /&gt;a-39.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot; title=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-&lt;br /&gt;From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne&lt;br /&gt;ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat&lt;br /&gt;yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm&lt;br /&gt;s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t&lt;br /&gt;o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini&lt;br /&gt;mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c&lt;br /&gt;ms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g&lt;br /&gt;o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748&lt;br /&gt;45.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot; title=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists&lt;br /&gt;-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/&lt;br /&gt;Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl&lt;br /&gt;eshow/6541296.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe&lt;br /&gt;cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot; title=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129&lt;br /&gt;90989.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot; title=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre&lt;br /&gt;ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives&lt;br /&gt;/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 4147,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;,
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	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;). &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;) &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;img src=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | What is wrong with MG-NREGA?&#039;
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Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;MG-NREGA&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Can we afford to leave&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;MG-NREGA&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&amp;rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html&quot;&gt;Social Audit&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;clause&amp;mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca&lt;br /&gt;m-in-rajasthan-1911.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The MG-NREGA is one of India&amp;rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html&quot;&gt;distress migration&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2&quot;&gt;starvation&lt;/a&gt;. (For details see:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg&lt;br /&gt;a-39.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&amp;rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&amp;rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&amp;rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monthly salaries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Salary&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;186&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp&quot; alt=&quot;Inflation&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &amp;ldquo;needs based&amp;rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &amp;lsquo;forced labour&amp;rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &amp;ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&amp;rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&amp;rdquo; (for full text see the link below)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&amp;rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot;&gt;Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &amp;ldquo;quietly&amp;rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&lt;em&gt;For more information please go through the following links:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot; title=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-&lt;br /&gt;From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial, helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&quot;&gt;http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne&lt;br /&gt;ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat&lt;br /&gt;yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm&lt;br /&gt;s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Activists to send low wage feat&#039; to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t&lt;br /&gt;o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00201&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot; title=&quot;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;amp;ViewMode&quot;&gt;http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi&lt;br /&gt;n.asp?From=Archive&amp;amp;Source=Page&amp;amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;amp;Bas&lt;br /&gt;eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;amp;PageLabel=2&amp;amp;EntityId=Ar00200&lt;br /&gt;&amp;amp;ViewMode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini&lt;br /&gt;mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c&lt;br /&gt;ms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g&lt;br /&gt;o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748&lt;br /&gt;45.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot; title=&quot;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&quot;&gt;http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot; title=&quot;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&quot;&gt;http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists&lt;br /&gt;-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&#039;Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed&#039; by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot; title=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms&quot;&gt;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/&lt;br /&gt;Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl&lt;br /&gt;eshow/6541296.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it &#039;anti-labour&#039;, The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&quot;&gt;http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe&lt;br /&gt;cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot; title=&quot;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129&lt;br /&gt;90989.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers&#039; union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot; title=&quot;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&quot;&gt;http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre&lt;br /&gt;ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx&quot;&gt;http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives&lt;br /&gt;/Article1-606195.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font &gt; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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Can we afford to leave&nbsp;MG-NREGA&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



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                <strong>What is wrong with MG-NREGA?</strong></h1>
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                <p align="justify"><font ></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Can we afford to leave&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">MG-NREGA</a>&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? <br /></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html">Social Audit</a>&nbsp;clause&mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., </font><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca<br />m-in-rajasthan-1911.html</a><font >). </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The MG-NREGA is one of India&rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html">distress migration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2" title="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2">starvation</a>. (For details see:</font></p><p align="justify"><a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg<br />a-39.html</a><font >) </font></p><p align="justify"><font >An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:<br />&nbsp;<br /><em><strong>Monthly salaries</strong></em></font></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp" alt="Salary" width="500" height="186" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><em><strong>Inflation</strong></em></span></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp" alt="Inflation" width="500" height="165" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:</span></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &ldquo;needs based&rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&rdquo; (for full text see the link below)</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).</font></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><font ><em>For more information please go through the following links:</em></font></p><p align="justify"><font >&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /></font><a href="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/" title="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/">www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers" title="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers">http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-<br />From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers</a></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne<br />ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html</a> &nbsp;</font></span></p><p align="justify"><font >Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm</a></p><p align="justify"><font >Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat<br />yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm<br />s</a><font >&nbsp;&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t<br />o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini<br />mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c<br />ms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g<br />o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748<br />45.cms</a><font >&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html" title="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html">http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892" title="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892">http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists<br />-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/<br />Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl<br />eshow/6541296.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/" title="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/">http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe<br />cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp" title="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129<br />90989.jsp</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html" title="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html">http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre<br />ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let&rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives<br />/Article1-606195.aspx</a><font > <br />&nbsp; <br /></font></p>               </font>
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		'title' => 'What is wrong with MG-NREGA?',
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		'description' => '<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"></font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Can we afford to leave&nbsp;<a href="../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">MG-NREGA</a>&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? <br />
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&nbsp;<a href="../empowerment/social-audit-48.html">Social Audit</a>&nbsp;clause&mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., </font><a href="../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">). </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">The MG-NREGA is one of India&rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&nbsp;<a href="../farm-crisis/migration-34.html">distress migration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2">starvation</a>. (For details see:</font>
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<a href="../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">) </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<em><strong>Monthly salaries</strong></em></font>
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<img src="tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp" alt="Salary" width="500" height="186" />&nbsp;
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&nbsp;
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><em><strong>Inflation</strong></em></span>
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<img src="tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp" alt="Inflation" width="500" height="165" />&nbsp;
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&nbsp;
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:</span>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &ldquo;needs based&rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).</font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&rdquo; (for full text see the link below)</font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).</font>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.</span>&nbsp;
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&nbsp;
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"><em>For more information please go through the following links:</em></font>
</p>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />
</font><a href="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
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<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers</font></a>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&nbsp;<a href="../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html</a> &nbsp;</font></span>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm</font></a>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&nbsp;&nbsp; </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&nbsp; </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Let&rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> <br />
&nbsp; <br />
</font>
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	'metaTitle' => 'NEWS ALERTS | What is wrong with MG-NREGA?',
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Can we afford to leave&nbsp;MG-NREGA&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...',
	'disp' => '<p align="justify"><font ></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Can we afford to leave&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">MG-NREGA</a>&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? <br /></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html">Social Audit</a>&nbsp;clause&mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., </font><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca<br />m-in-rajasthan-1911.html</a><font >). </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The MG-NREGA is one of India&rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html">distress migration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2" title="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2">starvation</a>. (For details see:</font></p><p align="justify"><a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg<br />a-39.html</a><font >) </font></p><p align="justify"><font >An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:<br />&nbsp;<br /><em><strong>Monthly salaries</strong></em></font></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp" alt="Salary" width="500" height="186" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><em><strong>Inflation</strong></em></span></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp" alt="Inflation" width="500" height="165" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:</span></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &ldquo;needs based&rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&rdquo; (for full text see the link below)</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).</font></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><font ><em>For more information please go through the following links:</em></font></p><p align="justify"><font >&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /></font><a href="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/" title="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/">www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers" title="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers">http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-<br />From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers</a></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne<br />ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html</a> &nbsp;</font></span></p><p align="justify"><font >Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm</a></p><p align="justify"><font >Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat<br />yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm<br />s</a><font >&nbsp;&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t<br />o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini<br />mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c<br />ms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g<br />o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748<br />45.cms</a><font >&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html" title="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html">http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892" title="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892">http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists<br />-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/<br />Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl<br />eshow/6541296.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/" title="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/">http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe<br />cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp" title="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129<br />90989.jsp</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html" title="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html">http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre<br />ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let&rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives<br />/Article1-606195.aspx</a><font > <br />&nbsp; 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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Can we afford to leave&nbsp;<a href="../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">MG-NREGA</a>&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? <br />
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&nbsp;<a href="../empowerment/social-audit-48.html">Social Audit</a>&nbsp;clause&mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., </font><a href="../news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">). </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">The MG-NREGA is one of India&rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&nbsp;<a href="../farm-crisis/migration-34.html">distress migration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="../hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2">starvation</a>. (For details see:</font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<a href="../empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">) </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<em><strong>Monthly salaries</strong></em></font>
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<img src="tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp" alt="Salary" width="500" height="186" />&nbsp;
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&nbsp;
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;
</p>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><em><strong>Inflation</strong></em></span>
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<img src="tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp" alt="Inflation" width="500" height="165" />&nbsp;
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:</span>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &ldquo;needs based&rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).</font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&rdquo; (for full text see the link below)</font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).</font>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.</span>&nbsp;
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"><em>For more information please go through the following links:</em></font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />
</font><a href="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
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<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers</font></a>
</p>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&nbsp;<a href="../news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html</a> &nbsp;</font></span>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm</font></a>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&nbsp;&nbsp; </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&nbsp; </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Let&rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,<br />
</font><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"> <br />
&nbsp; <br />
</font>
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Can we afford to leave&nbsp;MG-NREGA&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? 



Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in...'
$disp = '<p align="justify"><font ></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Can we afford to leave&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">MG-NREGA</a>&nbsp;alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? <br /></font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people&rsquo;s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/social-audit-48.html">Social Audit</a>&nbsp;clause&mdash;Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., </font><a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-scam-in-rajasthan-1911.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca<br />m-in-rajasthan-1911.html</a><font >). </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The MG-NREGA is one of India&rsquo;s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html" title="https://im4change.in/farm-crisis/migration-34.html">distress migration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2" title="https://im4change.in/hunger-hdi/hunger-overview-40.html?pgno=2">starvation</a>. (For details see:</font></p><p align="justify"><a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nrega-39.html">http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg<br />a-39.html</a><font >) </font></p><p align="justify"><font >An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers&rsquo; wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can&rsquo;t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers&rsquo; wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:<br />&nbsp;<br /><em><strong>Monthly salaries</strong></em></font></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Monthly%20Salary_1.bmp" alt="Salary" width="500" height="186" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><em><strong>Inflation</strong></em></span></p><p align="justify"><img src="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Inflation_2.bmp" alt="Inflation" width="500" height="165" />&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions:</span></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a &ldquo;needs based&rdquo; formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992).</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that &lsquo;forced labour&rsquo; may arise in several ways, including &ldquo;compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution&rdquo;. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.&rdquo; (for full text see the link below)</font></p><p align="justify"><font >Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze&rsquo;s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL).</font></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was &ldquo;quietly&rdquo; made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.</span>&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify"><font ><em>For more information please go through the following links:</em></font></p><p align="justify"><font >&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /></font><a href="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/" title="http://www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com/">www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers" title="http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers">http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter-<br />From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers</a></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy,&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alert/media-invited-to-witness-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html">http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne<br />ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html</a> &nbsp;</font></span></p><p align="justify"><font >Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm</a></p><p align="justify"><font >Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Satyagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat<br />yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm<br />s</a><font >&nbsp;&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-to-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t<br />o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00201<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode" title="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;BaseHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200&amp;ViewMode">http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi<br />n.asp?From=Archive&amp;Source=Page&amp;Skin=TOINEW&amp;Bas<br />eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&amp;PageLabel=2&amp;EntityId=Ar00200<br />&amp;ViewMode</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-minimum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini<br />mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c<br />ms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm">http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-go-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/6674845.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g<br />o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748<br />45.cms</a><font >&nbsp; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy &amp; Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html" title="http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html">http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892" title="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892">http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists<br />-at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articleshow/6541296.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/<br />Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl<br />eshow/6541296.cms</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/" title="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-execution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/">http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe<br />cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm" title="http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp" title="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_12990989.jsp">http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129<br />90989.jsp</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, </font><a href="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html" title="http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nrega-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html">http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre<br />ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html</a><font > </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Let&rsquo;s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010,<br /></font><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx" title="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives/Article1-606195.aspx">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives<br />/Article1-606195.aspx</a><font > <br />&nbsp; <br /></font></p>'
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What is wrong with MG-NREGA?

Can we afford to leave MG-NREGA alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it violates the statutory minimum wages. The civil society is crying foul because a powerful lobby led by the RD Minister is attempting to reduce the labour component of the scheme and increase the material component which they feel will facilitate the redistribution of poor people’s wages to the contractors kept out of the scheme so far. They are also up in arms against the new amendment in the mandatory Social Audit clause—Section 13 (b), which in effect authorizes the Gram Sabha to audit their own work. (For more details on how sarpanches have been trying to subvert the NREGA in Rajasthan see another Inclusive Media news alert i.e., http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/the-biggest-mnrega-sca m-in-rajasthan-1911.html). The MG-NREGA is one of India’s most innovative social sector schemes and it is doing wonders wherever it has a chance of working. In the past few years over 9 crore bank accounts have been opened. So far about 12 crore job cards have been issued and men and women get equal wages. At places of relatively better implementation, the MG-NREGA has made a minor dent in stopping distress migration and starvation. (For details see: http://www.im4change.org/empowerment/right-to-work-mg-nreg a-39.html) An inherent flaw in the scheme is that there is no mechanism to prevent the workers’ wages from declining because of the high food price inflation. Why can’t we link the wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), just as we have linked the salaries of government employees with inflation? In the past two years, just about every category of salary/wage earners, including ministers, MLAs, Sarpanches and MPs, have got salary hikes whereas the MG-NREGA workers’ wages have consistently declined due to high inflation. The following table (displayed at an ongoing Mazdoor Haq Yatra and dharna site in Jaipur) compares the wages of all categories of workers since 2008. The figures expose the anomaly even though they seem to be only indicative:   Monthly salaries     Another simple table, prepared by an enterprising rural activist, displayed at the same venue, shows the price rise in the same period of the commodities, which matter most for the agricultural workers:   Inflation     While these facts show that the workers are able to buy just about half the amount of ration from their stagnant wages in 2010, the legal dimension is equally stark. An open statement from 14 eminent jurists of India, including chief justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court, have observed (See the whole text in the links below) on the issue of MG-NREGA wages that the payment of less than minimum wages is indeed violation of the statutory provisions: “The Minimum Wages Act (1948) established powers of the State Governments and the Government of India to fix minimum wages for scheduled employments. The Act holds that minimum wages should be revised at intervals not exceeding 5 years. The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) put forward a “needs based” formula for fixing minimum wage that is based on minimum food requirements, clothing requirements, cost of living and fuel costs. These recommendations were made binding by the Supreme Court in the case of Unnichoyi vs. State of Kerala (1961), and enhanced in the Workmen vs the Management of Raptakos Brett and co Ltd (1992). Further, the Supreme Court, in three separate rulings, has held that non payment of minimum wages is tantamount to ‘forced labour’ prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. Further the Supreme Court holds that ‘forced labour’ may arise in several ways, including “compulsion arising from hunger and poverty, want and destitution”. Consequently the notification of 1st January 2009 itself has been set aside as unconstitutional by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but the Central Government has persisted with invoking it across the country.” (for full text see the link below) Economist Jean Dreze points out that the government has been trying to undermine the scheme by altering the nature of the employment guarantee part of the act. At a recent press conference at the IWPC, New Delhi he said that the Government decision to construct the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra at every village under NREGA would be a wrong priority. This is so because almost 90 percent of the expenditure in this would be on material costs and this would also allow backdoor entry to contractors in the NREGS. Dreze regretted the fact that the Ministry has intentionally delayed the payment of minimum wages under the NREGA by referring the matter to another committee (Dr Pranab Sen Committee). Jean Dreze’s recommendation: Immediately link the NREGA wages to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL). Ms. Aruna Roy charges that the mandatory social audit has been diluted by giving the authority to conduct social audits to the very sarpanches/ Panchayats whose work is to be examined by the audit. In mid 2009 an executive order was “quietly” made in the Act to add this to the list of permissible works. In her view, such social audits are neither social nor audits. Roy also warned against an attempt to weaken the process, perhaps to promote Conditional Cash Transfer System. She said instead of reducing corruption, as claimed by some politicians, the mechanism would undermine the dignity of labour and the poor. She conceded at the IWPC meet that the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) which is supposed to oversee the working of NREGA at the national level has become dysfunctional and has failed to fulfil its mandate. The hallowed committee rarely met, never constituted an Executive Committee, and did not submit any of the annual reports it was supposed to prepare for the Parliament. Roy said while the sarpanches have formed their unions, the MGNREGA workers are being denied their democratic right to form unions in Rajasthan even though such unions are functioning in UP and Gujarat.    For more information please go through the following links:     www.srabhiyan.wordpress.com http://www.scribd.com/doc/40990562/Annexure-4-Open-Letter- From-Eminent-Jurists-and-Lawyers Media invited to witness the real dance of democracy, http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/media-invited-to-witne ss-the-real-dance-of-democracy-3622.html   Centre to step in Rajasthan Mnregs wage row by K Balchand, The Hindu, 10 October, 2010, http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/10/stories/2010101063261100.htm Mazdoor Satyagrah demands accountability panel, The Times of India, 9 October, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Mazdoor-Sat yagrah-demands-accountability-panel/articleshow/6716117.cm s   Activists to send low wage feat' to Guinness, The Times of India, 7 October, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Activists-t o-send-low-wage-feat-to-Guinness/articleshow/6702689.cms NREGS: Activists demand action on anomalies, The Times of India, 6 October, 2010, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi n.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&Bas eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/06&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00201 &ViewMode Less than min wages for NREGA workers unconstitutional: Govt by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 5 October, 2010, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWi n.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&Bas eHref=TOIJ/2010/10/05&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00200 &ViewMode Ensure minimum wages to NREGA workers: Activists by Anindo Dey, The Times of India, 4 October, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Ensure-mini mum-wages-to-NREGA-workers-Activists/articleshow/6680762.c ms No guarantees anymore by Sowmya Sivakumar, The Hindu, 3 October, 2010, http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/10/03/stories/2010100350010100.htm Labourers go on indefinite strike, press for demands, The Times of India, 3 October, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Labourers-g o-on-indefinite-strike-press-for-demands/articleshow/66748 45.cms  The mass job guarantee by Aruna Roy & Nachiket Udupa, Himal Magazine, October, 2010, http://www.himalmag.com/The-mass-job-guarantee_nw4749.html Cong, activists at loggerheads over NREGA by Sreelatha Menon, The Business Standard, 23 September, 2010, http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-activists -at-loggerheads-over-nrega/408892 'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra, The Times of India, 13 September, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/ Systemic-reform-to-root-out-corruption-still-needed/articl eshow/6541296.cms NAC members blast execution of NREGA, call it 'anti-labour', The Financial Express, 28 September, 2010, http://www.financialexpress.com/news/NAC-members-blast-exe cution-of-NREGA--call-it---anti-labour--/689178/ MNREGA workers peeved at being paid Re. 1 by K Balchand, The Hindu, 28 September, 2010, http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092862850800.htm States fail on dole for jobless-Unemployment allowance to handful, The Telegraph, 28 September, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100928/jsp/nation/story_129 90989.jsp Rajasthan refuses to recognise NREGA workers' union by Sreelatha Menon, Sify News, 30 September, 2010, http://sify.com/finance/rajasthan-refuses-to-recognise-nre ga-workers-union-news-news-kj4bOWhfahh.html Let’s build on the positives, The Hindustan Times, 29 September, 2010, http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-s-build-on-the-positives /Article1-606195.aspx