Bill focuses on rural poor

States to notify schemes in six months of commencement of act

The government today tabled the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004, in Parliament. The Bill seeks to enhance the livelihood security of poor households in rural areas.

Within six months of the Bill becoming an Act, state governments will be required to notify a scheme for employment guarantee.

The Bill specifies that states would have the freedom to specify the conditions for providing guaranteed employment under the Act.

New work under this rural employment scheme will commence only if at least 50 labourers are available for such work, and if they cannot be absorbed in ongoing work. This condition will not be applicable to hilly areas and afforestation schemes.

If employment is provided outside a radius of 5 kms of the village of residence, an additional 10 per cent of the wage rate shall be paid for transportation and living expenses.

A National Employment Guarantee Fund to house grants and loans from the Centre is also proposed. The centre will bear the wage component, three-fourths of the material cost and part of the administrative expenses under the scheme.

The states will be required to set up a similar fund and pay the unemployment allowance and one-fourth of the material cost of the scheme.

The Bill also envisages setting up of a Central Employment Guarantee Council to establish a central evaluation and monitoring system and review the redressal mechanism. The council would also advise the government on implementation of the Act. Similar councils are to be set up at the state level.

Panchayats shall set up standing committees to monitor projects at the Block and district levels.

The focus of the employment guarantee scheme will be on water conservation and water harvesting, drought proofing, irrigation canals and provision of irrigation facilities to land owned by sceduled castes and scheduled tribes households.

Renovation of traditional water bodies, land development, flood control and rural connectivity to provide all-weather access come lower in the list of preferred works.

The Bill states that employment guarantee would be provided in 'such rural areas in a state and for such period as may be notified by the central government.

The Centre would also be required to notify the wage provided. Different wage rates may be specified for different areas. It specifies that the central government may notify different dates for enforcing the Act in different states or for different areas within a state.

The Bill is, however, a watered-down version of the one proposed by National Advisory Council member Jean Dreze, which envisaged providing guaranteed employment at a wage not less than the statutory minimum wage for agricultural labourers in states and bringing the entire country under this scheme within five years.

The Bill specifies that no suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the district programme coordinator, programme officer or any other person who is, or is deemed to be a public servant in respect of anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done under this Act or the rules or schemes under it.

It also says that whoever contravenes the provisions of the Act shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine which may extend to Rs 1,000. In this regard, the draft Bill prepared by the National Advisory Council (NAC) had suggested imprisonment up to six months as well.