RIGHT TO WORK? Assessing India's Employment Guarantee. Scheme in Bihar. Puja Dutta. Rinku Murgai. Martin Ravallion. Dominique van de Walle

Transcription

1 RIGHT TO WORK? Assessing India's Employment Guarantee Scheme in Bihar Puja Dutta Rinku Murgai Martin Ravallion Dominique van de Walle

2 Contents Foreword Acknowledgments About the Autbors Abbreviations Introduction xiii xvii xix xxi xxiii Overview 1 The Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Schema 7 This Study 12 Main Lessons from the Study 15 Notes 17 References 19 1 Does India's Employment Guarantee Scheme Guarantee Employment? 23 Why an Employment Guarantee Need Not Be Attainable 24 Performance in Meeting the Demand for Work across States 30 Targeting 40 Wages and Rationing on MGNREGS 48 Participation by Women 53 Conclusion 56 Notes 59 References 61 2 Unmct Demand for Work on the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme 63 The BREGS Survey 63 Performance in Meeting Demand for Work 66 Annex 2A 71 Notes 77 References 77

3 VI CONTENTS 3 Who Gets Work? Who Is Left Out? 79 Targeting 82 Determinatus of Participation and Rationing 86 Annex 3A 103 Notes 113 References Wages 115 Payment of Wages 116 Wages Received by Households 118 Impact of BREGS on Wages 128 Determinants of Wages 133 Comparing Survey Aggregates with Administrative Data 135 Annex 4A 138 Notes 144 References Forgone Employment and Income 147 Forgone Opportunities 148 Forgone Income 149 Forgone Employment and Income as a Result of BREGS 150 Impacts on Migration 153 Notes 154 References Impacts on Poverty 157 Impacts on Poverty of the Extra Earnings from BREGS 157 Comparisons with Other Simulated Impacts 161 Perceptions of BREGS 168 Annex 6A 171 Notes 173 Reference Reforming the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantec Scheme: Citizen Awareness 175 Registration and Expressing Demand for Work 175 What Do Rural Households Know about BREGS? 179 A Pilot Information Campaign 194 Annex 7A 214 Notes 216 References 217

4 CONTENTS Vit 8 Reforming the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: Administrative Processes 219 A Closer Look at the Scheme's Administration 220 Understanding the Supply-Side Constraints on Delivery 234 Learning from Experiences Elsewhere 245 Notes 247 References 250 Glossary 253 Index 255 Boxes O.l Key Features of MGNREGS Effect of Local-Level Costs on Meeting Demand under MGNREGS Corruption and the Unmet Demand for Work Are the Transparency Safeguards Adhered To in Practice? Informed, Participatory Flanning for the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (BREGS) The Role of the Mukhiya 236 Figures O.l Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Flowchart There Is No Correlation between Participation Rates in MGNREGS and the Incidence of Poverty across Indian States Demand for MGNREGS Work Is Greater in Poorer States Poorer States Have Greater Unmet Demand for Work on MGNREGS There Is Less Rationing at the Margin Than on Average across States Participation and Rationing by Consumption per Person, Rural India Targeting Performance Rises with the Overall Participation Rate across States Participation Rates for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Gastes, and Other Backward Classes Rise Faster Than That for "Other" Gastes as the Overall Participation Rate Increases across States 51

5 Vlll CONTENTS 1.8 Women Get a Larger Share of MGNREGS Work Than of Casual Wage Labor across States The Share of Work Going to Women Tends to Be Lower in Poorer States The Share of Work Going to Women Tends to Be Lower in States with Higher Rationing Participation and Rationing as a Function of Wealth Delays in Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Wage Payments Wages over Time Evolution of Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Wages and Days Worked over the Entire Survey Period Density of Daily Casual Wages, by Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Participation Status Wages Relative to the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Stipulated Wage Rate Actual BREGS Wages Relative to the BREGS Stipulated Wage Rate, by Gender Distribution of the Ratio of Self-Assessed Forgone Days to Public Works Days and Ratio of Forgone Wages to Public Works Wages Impacts on Participants' Poverty in Round Poverty Impact Graph for Public Works Participants and the Whole Population Poverty Impact Graph with 50 Percent Lower Forgone Income Poverty Impact Graph without Forgone Income Impacts on Poverty under Idealized Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Selection of Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Works Worksite Facilities in Round Utilization of Available Resources across Districts 241 Tables 0.1 Summary Statistics on the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme from Administrative Data Summary MGNREGS Statistics, 2009/ Program Expenditure per Capita across States 36

6 CONTENTS ix 1.3 Coverage of MGNREGS across Consumption Quintiles, 2009/ Targeting Performance of MGNREGS across States Participation Rates and Targeting by Social Group Average Wages on MGNREGS and in Casual Labor, 2009/ Regression Results for Female Share of Employment in MGNREGS Sample Sizes in Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Survey Summary of Participation, Demand, and Rationing Joint Distribution of Program Participation across the Two Survey Rounds Days of Employment Provided and Demanded in the Past Year Household Perceptions about Why They Were Rationed 70 2A.1 Distribution of Households and Individuais across Strata (Round 1) 74 2A.2 Sample Size (Rounds 1 and 2) 75 2A.3 Variable Definitions Characteristics of Participants, Excess Demanders, and the Rest, Round Coverage of Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme across Consumption Quintiles of Rural Bihar Coverage of the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme across Social Croups of Rural Bihar Targeting Differentials by Poverty Status and Social Group Regressions for Household Participation, Demand, and Assignment of Work Individual-Level Determinants of Days Worked on the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Round A.1 Participation and Demand for Work by Household Asset Group 103 3A.2 Effects of Gram Panchayat Attributes on Participation by Asset Group 107 3A.3 Individual-Level Participation, Demand, and Assignment of Work Daily Wage Rate for the Week before Interview 120

7 CONTENTS 4.2 Average Wage Rates before and after Increases in the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Stipulated Wage Daily Wages for Farm and Nonfarm Casual Labor in Bihar from the 2009/10 National Sample Survey, by Subround Sample Total Person Days of Non-Public Works Work by Operation and Subround, 2009/ Wages and Employment Comparison between Survey Data and Administrative Data 137 4A.1 The Determinants of BREGS and Non-BREGS Casual Wages at the Individual Level Forgone Work Opportunities Identified by Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Participants Forgone Wages for Casual Work Compared with Actual Wages for Those Working in the Same Month Migration Impact of Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Summary of Estimated Poverty Impacts Holding Total Public Spending Constant Summary Statistics on Perception Variables 169 6A.1 Perceptions among Nonparticipants Not All Households That Want a Job Card Have One Notion of "Demanding" Work Is Weak but Improving Summary Statistics of Knowledge of Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Rules Regression for Knowledge of Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Rules in Round Estimates of the Effect of the Movie on Knowledge about the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by Gender Estimates of the Effect of the Movie on Perceptions and Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Participation by Gender Effects of the Movie on Learning about the Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Tests for Heterogeneity in the Impacts of the Movie 208 7A.1 Knowledge among Participants, Excess Demanders, and the Rest Percentage of Bihar Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Expenditure by Type of Project, 2008/09 222

8 CONTENTS XI.2 Participant Reports about the Worksite Time Taken for Payment of Wages after Work Completion Percentage of Rural Households with Accounts at Financial Institutions Percentage of Participants Reporting Wage Payments through Various Sources at the Last Worksite Flow of Funds 238