MGNREGA AND MINORITIES: STUDY OF TONK DISTRICT, RAJASTHAN GARIMA DIKSHIT* DR. SEEMA SHARMA** *Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Economics, Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk, Rajasthan, India **Associate Professor & Head, Department of Economics, Banasthali Vidyapith, Tonk, Rajasthan, India Abstract Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act enshrines the legal right of one hundred of guaranteed paid employment to any rural household who demand for work. Although its scope is national, there have been wide interstate as well as inter district variations in the achievements of the objectives of the act. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act enacted by Government of India on August 25, 2005 and it was renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. In this paper an attempt has been made to identify the pattern of participation of minorities in the scheme and also the implementation of MGNREGA in Tonk district of Rajasthan. Emphasis has also been made to identify status of generated and, average wage rate and employment provided in a year in the area through the scheme MGNREGA. Through the study, it s been found that participation of SCs and STs is impressive in some of the blocks whereas worst in rest of the blocks, average of employment provided in a year and average wage rate per day per is very stumpy. Keywords: MGNREGA, Minorities, Employment, Wage rate. I. Introduction National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) enacted on 25 th August 2005. It guarantees 100 of employment in a financial year which recently increased to 150 in a financial year to any rural household whose adult members are willing to do an unskilled manual work. The Act came into force from February 2, 2006. The act was implemented in total 3 phases, in first phase it covered 200 most backward districts in second phase, additional 133 districts were covered and in third phase, by year 2007-2008 it covered all districts of India excluding those districts having 100% urban population. India has a long history of poverty and unemployment alleviation programmes from pre-independence to post-independence era. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) came after almost 56 years of experience of various rural employment programmes. This comprises 167
National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) 1980, Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) 1983, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) 1989, Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) 1993, Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) 2001, National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) 2004, among these SGRY and NFFWP have been merged with MGNREGA in 2005. The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) is implementing various schemes/programmes with the basic objective to provide employment to most disadvantaged section of the society, including SCs and STs. MoRD has also made specific provisions in guidelines of the programmes to ensure adequate flow of resources to the Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes. Ministry also releases fund for Scheduled Caste Special Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and Swarn Jyanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SJGSY)/ National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)from 2011-12, but there is no earmarking of fund is made under SCSP and TSP under MGNREGA. II. Review of Literature: Aiyar, Y. et al. [2006] conducted a study to discuss the effectiveness of NREGA. The study reveals that there should be a clear separation of functions across tiers of government and citizens must play in monitoring the provision of public services. Chakraborty, P. [2007] explored a study on state-wise employment demand-supply data and the use of funds released under the NREGA by central government across the India. The study concludes that only half the total available funds were utilized during the year, there should be preparation of labour budget at panchayat level for effective implementation and better coordination by level of government is required particularly in poor states. Jha, R. etal. [2008] explored the study by allowing the participation of different socioeconomic groups in NREGS programme. The study was conducted in three villages of Udaipur district of Rajasthan. It concludes that NREG programme was far from dismal, as merely one-third of the household participated in this scheme, most of the beneficiaries are from SC, ST groups and about one-fifth of the household worked for about 100 in 2007. Dey, S. et al. [2010] conducted a study to check the functioning of NREGA in Birbhum district of West Bengal February 2006 to July 2009. The study reveals that in order to serve as an effective employer of last resort, the programme should provide proportionately more job- during the agricultural lean season and wages should be paid in timely manner. 168
De, B. et al. [2013] conducted a study to review the current status of implementation of NREGA in Sonamukhi block of Bankura district of West Bengal. 100 households have been chosen from 10 villages on stratified random sampling basis. The respondents have been asked through open-ended questionnaire on several aspects of MGNREGA. The study concludes that there is a lack of awareness among people about their rights and also people are dissatisfied by the quality of work done under this scheme. Jhamb, A. (2014) conducted a study to highlight the procedure adopted for the successful execution of MGNREGA in the rural area. An attempt is been made that government need more vigorous implementation to fully actualize the scheme. The study reveals that MGNREGA suffers from poor implementation and there is lack of trust among the people who avail the scheme. Poonia, J. (2012) shows that NREGA has the potential to stimulate local development, if the management and delivery are good; it is also concluded that benefits are due to a strong state apparatus and not to the demand of the citizens. The study is conducted in Kerala through a field survey whereas paper also reviews India s approach to social protection since independence and places the NREGA within the broader social protection discourse. Bebarata, K. P. (2013) in his study on tribal people of Gajapati district of Odisha concluded that MGNREGA have benefitted the tribal peoples of Gajapati Districts in many ways by increasing their income and bringing change in their social and economic life. Mani, N. and Krishnan, N. (2014) conducted a research on erode district of Tamil Nadu to know about MGNREGA workers. Study concludes that success of the programme depends upon its proper implementation. Whereas the minimum and maximum number of workers are 117 in Bhavanisagar block and 4577 in Bhavani Block. Padma, K. (August, 2015) explored a study MGNREGA and Rural Distress in India for the year 2009-10 to 2011-2014 and focuses on implementation of the programme, performance of MGNREGA at national level as whole and also wage issues. Study concludes that MGNREGA is criticized on the ground of corruption, non-payment of minimum wages and poor quality of assets. MGNREGA is also criticized for pushing up wages of rural workers in a manner that makes farmers hard to compete in an uncertain world economy. 169
III. Objectives of the Study: The primary objective of the study is to focus on the employment status of marginalized castes SCs and STs in the scheme called MGNREGA further it will also lay attention towards the generation, average of employment provided in a year, average wage rate provided per day per in Tonk district, Rajasthan. IV. Data Sources and Methodology: The methodology is the way of achieving the goal through the inference by observation, collection and differential analysis of relevant data relating to the study of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) with reference to Tonk, Rajasthan. The proposed study is a quantitative research. The statistical data for the study has been collected from secondary sources from government and nongovernment agencies, different reports of Ministry of Rural Development, surveys of NSSO, Annual reports of MGNREGA. Data is gathered for five consecutive years 2011-12 to 2015-16 to study the participation of minorities in research area whereas to study the performance of MGNREGA in Tonk district data is gathered for two consecutive years 2014-15 and 2015-16.. Simple percentage method and Mean is used to show the performance of MGNREGA in Tonk. The collected data is tabulated and analyzed on the basis of bar graphs. V.MGNREGA in Rajasthan: Rajasthan ranks among the worst state in term of sanitation in India 1. Rajasthan is geographically the largest state in the country with area 342239 sq. km, total 33 districts, 66% of the land area is desert, livestock population is more than human population, low level of literacy whereas 22% of population is below poverty line. Table 1: Current status of Mgnrega in Rajasthan in Financial Year 2016-17 (till July). Particulars Status (F.Y. 2016-17) number of districts 33 number of Blocks 295 number of GPs 9,895 number of Job card issued (in lakhs) 101.51 number of workers (in lakhs) 244.64 number of Active Job cards (in lakhs) 58.62 number of Active workers (in lakhs) 89.65 Percentage of SC workers against active workers (in %) 19.05 Percentage of ST workers against active workers (in %) 24.73 Source: Official website of MGNREGA 170
Table 2: Performance of MGNREGA in Rajasthan. Particulars 2014-15 (in lacs) 2015-16 (in lacs) Job card issued 98.34 98.76 Job card issued to SCs 17.90 17.95 Job card issued to STs 17.32 17.41 Job card issued to (non SC/ST) 63.11 63.38 Household allotted worked 41.14 46.84 Person allotted work 59.24 70.35 SC Household worked 7.37 8.54 Person worked by SCs 332.09 485.92 ST Household worked 8.85 9.76 Person worked by STs 444.89 563.71 Person worked 1686.18 2329.28 Source: official website of MGNREGA. Rajasthan is one of the states of India where MGNREGA is highly concentrated. The table drawn above shows performance of MGNREGA in Rajasthan for last two financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16. Table shows that on an average approximately 18.18% and 17.61% of Job card holders are SCs and STs which also means that in Rajasthan every year approximately 18.18% and 17.61% Job cards are issued to minorities. It has also been noticed that out of total generated in Rajasthan for financial year 2014-15 and 2015-16 20.25% share of is generated by SCs whereas 25.29% share of is generated by STs. Which shows that there is active participation of SCs and STs in MGNREGA. VI.MGNREGA in Tonk: Tonk is one of the 33 districts of Rajasthan. It is situated 95 km by road from Jaipur. Tonk is Nagar-Parishad whereas all other blocks are Nagar-Palikas. In 2006 Ministry of Panchayat Raj named Tonk as one of the country s 250 most backward districts out of 640. Tonk is also receiving funds from Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act got implemented in Tonk in second phase in 2007. 171
Table 3: Census of Tonk 2011 Population 14,21,711 2 Males 52% Females 48% Coordinates 26.17 N 75.78 E area cover 7194 Kmsq Sex ratio 949 females per 1000 males Literacy Rate 69.47% Male 78.7% Females 59.85% Population Growth rate over decade 2001-2011 17.33% Blocks 6 (Uniara, Todarsingh, Tonk, Deoli, Newai, Malpura) Villages 1093 Religions in Tonk Hindus 62% Muslims 35% Jains 2.7% Others 0.3% Table 4: Performance of MGNREGA in Tonk: Particulars 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 (in 2015-16 (in (in 000) (in 000) (in 000) 000) 000) Household applied for Job 266.80 266.76 265.66 263.42 265.75 card Job card issued 266.65 266.54 265.28 262.80 263.88 Job card issued to SCs 48.10 50.70 50.56 50.47 50.78 Job card issued to STs 35.97 37.80 37.59 37.70 38.07 Job card issued to (non 182.57 178.02 177.12 174.61 175.02 SC/ST) Household demanded 182.57 101.59 71.62 91.705 136.54 work Household allotted 115.51 101.59 71.62 91.70 136.54 worked Person demanded work 154.85 134.47 92.512 127.26 220.71 Person allotted work 154.84 134.47 92.49 127.23 220.57 SC Household worked 21.81 18.53 12.91 16.07 23.58 Person worked SCs 684.39 646.79 453.82 547.77 118.13 ST Household worked 14.32 12.13 9.34 1.02 18.43 Person worked STs 411.66 399.63 375.02 326.26 911.63 Person 3134.91 2961.64 2063.99 2342.33 5726.04 Source: official website of MGNREGA. 172
Table 5: Mean of SCs and STs Performance in Job card issued and Person generated in Tonk. Year Percentage of SC HH worked to total HH allotted work Percentage of ST HH worked to total HH allotted work Percentage of SC generated to total generated 2011-18.88 12.39 21.83 13.13 12 2012-18.23 11.94 21.83 13.49 13 2013-18.02 13.04 21.98 18.16 14 2014-17.52 1.11 23.38 13.92 15 2015-17.23 13.49 20.63 15.92 16 89.88 51.97 109.65 74.62 Mean 17.97 10.39 21.93 14.92 Source: Author s calculation based on given data. Percentage of ST generated to total generated Themean average percentage of SC households to total households allotted work under MGNREGA accounts for 17.97 and for ST households in total households allotted work accounts for 10.39 percent. Which means that on an average every year out of total households allotted work in Tonk district 17.97% of households are SCs and 10.39% of households are STs. Whereas when it comes to generation out of the total generated every year in Tonk 21.93% and 14.92% of are generated by SCs and STs. Table 6: Current status of MGNREGA in Blocks of Tonk for Financial Year 2016-17 (till July). Blocks number of GPs number of Job card issued number of workers number of active job cards number of active workers SC workers against active workers (%) ST workers against active workers (%) Uniara 33 38,934 1,27,075 22,332 39,996 14.57 33.56 Todarsingh 31 34,192 1,22,260 20,068 32,544 17.54 7.52 Tonk 50 54,681 1,72,523 29,273 46,401 21.24 12.86 Deoli 39 51,649 1,46,346 29,639 48,180 18.74 26.33 Newai 41 44,721 1,24,606 29,170 43,035 20.04 23 Malpura 36 49,382 1,79,139 34,265 57,995 19.07 3.45 Source: official website of MGNREGA. 173
Above table shows the current status of Mgnrega in various blocks of Tonk district. Tonk scores highest in term of total number of job card issued and percentage of SC workers against active workers in the block. Uniara has the highest concentration of ST workers against active workers in the block. Whereas Malpura has the highest number of MGNREGA workers, highest number of active job cards and also highest number of active workers other than this Malpura accounts lowest participation of ST workers in Tonk. Source: Based on Table: 7. Source: Based on Table: 8. 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Average of Employment Provided per households. Average wage rate provided per day per. 150 100 50 0 2014 15 2015 16 2014 15 2015 16 Source: Based on Table: 7 and 8. Source: Based on Table: 7 and 8. 174
Source: Based on Table: 7. Source: Based on Table: 8. Performance of SCs and STs in Tonk: The mean share of SCs in total day s generation in Tonk accounts for 21.93% and so for STs Share is 14.92%. Whereas for financial year 2014-15 and 2015-16 no huge difference is noticed in the pattern of SCS and STs contribution in generation. Newai in 2014-15 and Tonk in 2015-16 has the highest SC generation which is 24.5% in Newai and 23.47% in Tonk, whereas Uniara in both the financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16 has the lowest participation of SCs in generation which is 22.34% in 2014-15 and 16.09%in 2015-16. When it comes to the schedule tribe s contribution to the day s generation Uniara has the highest STs participation in generation that is 25.07% in 2014-15 and 31.88% in 2015-16 although Malpura has the lowest participation of STs in generation in both the financial year that is 2.9% in 2014-15 and 3.24% in 2015-16. Average of Employment: MGNREGA assures to provide 100 of guaranteed wage employment to rural households but in none of the blocks of Tonk the average of employment provided within the scheme to rural household goes above than 54.36 in a year. The condition is even depressed in year 2014-15 where average number of day s employment provided per household remain highest at 34.75 in a year in Tonk block and lowest in Uniara that is 26.03. Whereas for financial year 2015-16 Newai has the highest number of of employment that is 54.36 in a year and Uniara has the lowest 43.75 in a year. In 175
both of the financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16 Uniara performance is relatively poor than all other block of Tonk district. If a comparison is done improvement is noticed in almost all the blocks of Tonk district, that is, in Uniara average of employment in a year increased from 26.03 to 43.75 in a year similarly in Todarsingh increased from 33.19 to 47.59, in Tonk from 34.75 to 50.64, in Deoli from 29.89 to 47.22 in Newai from 32.76 to 54.36 and in Malpura from 31.43 to 47.31 in a year from financial year 2014-15 to 2015-16. Average wage rate provided per day per : As per according to the revised wage rate of MGNREGA in 2014 Rs. 163 should be provided to unskilled labor per day per for doing work under the scheme but in financial year 2014-15 highest wages provided to the workers in MGNREGA is 114.39 Rs per day per in Deoli and lowest wages in Tonk that is 99.1 Rs per day per. When it comes to financial year 2015-16 highest wages is paid in Uniara block (134.42 Rs per day) and lowest in Newai block (106.65 Rs per day per ). Although the pattern of change is somewhat like in Uniara Average wage rate per day per increased from 112.16 Rs to 134.42 Rs in Todarsingh from 85.5 Rs to 108.27 Rs, in Tonk from 99.1 Rs to 118.99 Rs, in Dewali from 114.39 Rs to 117.42 Rs, in Newai from 96.78 Rs to 106.65 Rs in Malpura from 98.45 Rs to 117.15 Rs per day per from financial year 2014-15 to 2015-16. Work Status: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme undertakes a lot of work and aims to create durable assets for rural development some of those works are Road construction, Check dams, Digging, Land development, Planting etc. The category is divided in three parts that is number of work taken up, Number of ongoing work, Number of completed work. In none of the blocks of Tonk district, taken up work is completed, every year some new work get started instead of completing previous year pending work. In Tonk district in financial year 2015-16 a total of 0.09 lakh works are taken up in which approximately 0.09 lakh works are ongoing and around 360 works got completed. Whereas in financial year 2014-15 0.08 lakh works taken up, out of which 3772 works got completed and 0.04 lakh works are still ongoing. Highest number of work under taken in Tonk district is in 176
Tonk Block that is 1718 in F.Y. 2014-15 and in 2015-16 Uniara got the highest number of work taken up, i.e., 2312. VII. Conclusion: The MGNREGA has provided a unique legal space for the rural poor, especially the landless laborers, SC, ST and small and marginal farmers, with a consequent legal obligation on the part of the government at various levels to deliver and improve the socio-economic condition of the rural people. However there are several gaps and weak links in the implementation of MGNREGA in various districts of India. When we talk about Tonk district, Rajasthan the case is slightly different, we know about interstate and inter district variations but there are inter block variations in the implementation of MGNREGA in Tonk. Tonk has a total of six blocks where the situation of one block is completely different from other block in case of SCs and STs Employment. The average rate of wages is very low whereas the average of employment provided in a year to a is also very disappointing. In Newai block on an average 54.36 of employment in a financial year is provided against government legislation to provide 100 of guaranteed employment in a year. Although in none of the blocks work taken up under the scheme for rural development got completed, blocks are still competing with the pending works. There are various flaws in the scheme& the reasons for such flaws could be anything either poor implementation, poor governing bodies at lower levels, unavailability of funds, low knowledge of villagers about the scheme, etc. In Tonk district Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is not more than digging and filling the holes to provide employment. 177
Appendix: Table 7: MGNREGA performance in Blocks under Tonk district in Financial Year 2014-15. Blocks Person generated so far SC perso n % as of total perso n ST % as of total Women out of total (%) Average of employ ment provided per HH Averag e wage rate per day per (Rs.) no. of HH complet ed 100 of employ ment HH worked individu al worked Differe ntly abled worked no. of works taken up No. of ongoin g work No. of complet ed work Uniara 1,48,797 22.34 25.07 75.79 26.03 112.16 94 5588 7388 4 1276 979 297 Todarsin gh 2,46,422 22.5 6.83 75.79 33.19 85.5 154 7424 9516 8 702 289 413 Tonk 4,77,095 24.31 14.07 82.59 34.75 99.1 286 13730 17594 7 1718 1074 644 Deoli 3,51,914 22.78 23.31 76.15 29.89 114.39 144 11775 14873 6 1279 569 710 Newai 5,30,987 24.52 19.79 81.91 32.76 96.78 282 16209 19072 123 1193 514 679 Malpura 5,87,123 22.62 2.9 71.66 31.43 98.45 324 18083 25.18 15 1530 501 1029 Blocks Table 8: Performance of Mgnrega in Blocks under Tonk district in Financial Year 2015-16. Person generat ed so far SC % as of total ST % as of total Women out of total (%) Averag e of employ ment provide d per HH Avera ge wage rate per day per (Rs.) no. of HH complet ed 100 of employ ment HH worke d individ ual worked Differ ently abled worke d no. of works taken up No. of ongoin g work Uniara 6,16,08 16.09 31.88 59.18 43.75 134.42 777 14082 23004 30 2312 2302 10 6 Todarsin 6,53,46 19.95 6.77 68.12 47.59 108.27 907 13732 20578 64 669 623 46 gh 5 Tonk 10,57,8 23.47 12.21 75.02 50.64 118.99 1083 20,892 30,336 135 2074 2046 28 93 Deoli 10,50,5 19.78 24.57 68.43 47.22 117.42 896 22,247 34,038 85 1532 1481 51 80 Newai 12,27,7 21.89 20.99 78.07 54.36 106.65 1276 22,587 30,591 122 1234 1227 7 75 Malpura 11,81,3 81 20.06 3.24 66.3 47.31 117.15 1290 24,969 38,794 50 1510 1292 218 Source: official website of MGNREGA. No. of complet ed work 178
References: 1. De, B. and Jana, S. (2013). Implementation of MGNREGA in rural West Bengal: A Case study of Sonamukhi Block, Bankura District, West Bengal. Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research, Volume 2(6), 17-30. 2. Jha, R., Gaiha, R. and Shankar, S. (2008). Reviewing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. Economic and Political Weekly. 44-48. 3. Jhamb, A. (2014). Effectiveness of MGNREGA in Generating Rural Employment Opportunities. Zenith International Journal of Multidisplinary Research, Volume 4, (10). 177-185. 4. Ministry of Rural Development (2014). Enhancing sustainable livelihood of the poor through convergence of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA with various schemes. 34-37. 5. Poonia, J. (2012). Critical Study of MGNREGA: Impact and Women s Participation. International Journal of Human Development and Management Sciences, Volume 1, (1). 35-55. 6. The Gazette of India (2005). The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 No. 42 of 2005. New Delhi, New Delhi: Government of India. 7. The Census of India 2011 (Size of District population). (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php 8. Aiyar, Y. and Samji, S. (2006, January). Improving the effectiveness of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Economic and Political Weekly. 320-326. 9. Chakraborty, P. (2007, February). Implementation of Employment Guarantee: A Preliminary Appraisal. Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 42(7), 548-551. 10. Dey, S. and Bedi, S. A. (2010, October). The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Birbhum. Economic and Political Weekly, Volume XLV (41), 19-25. 11. Bebarata, K. P. (February-March, 2013). Impact of MGNREGA in the lives of Tribal people: A study of Rayagada Block in Gajapati District. Odisha Review. 62-66. 12. Mani, N. and Krishnan, N. (July-September, 2014). A study on employment of Mgnrega workers in erode district of Tamil Nadu. International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review, Volume 1, (6). 190-197. 13. Padma, K. (August, 2015). MGNREGA and Rural Distress in India. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, Volume 4, (8). 67-76. 1 As per according to Enhancing sustainable livelihood of the poor through convergence of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA with various schemes February 2014. 2 The Census of India 2011 (size of District population). 179