12 million families may be out of poverty, thanks to reskilling initiative

Every year one member from almost 400,000-500,000 MGNREGS families will be skilled over the next 5 years

The central government, though it is not planning to end the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) soon, is working on an initiative to move 10-12.5 million families within the ambit of the MGNREGA out of poverty by imparting skills and creating durable assets.

This will be done in five-six years and lessen the burden on the scheme.

Under the MGNREGA, 50-55 million families seek jobs for 100 days a year. However, the average number of workdays is fewer than this.

Officials said some changes in the relevant legislation might be considered to ensure that a portion of the labour budget was spent on semi-skilled workers too.

Forty per cent of the MGNREGA budget is spent on materials and the rest on wages. 

In the 2019-20 Budget, the government allocated Rs 60,000 crore, the same as in 2018-19, for the MGNREGA.

“The MGNREGA is not a pension scheme and, as the Act categorically says, it is meant to improve the livelihood security of poor households in rural areas. This is something that is being tried out by imparting additional skills to MGNREGA workers,” a senior official said.

Of the approximate 2 million unskilled MGNREGA households, the government has planned to make at least one member of each semi-skilled. The livelihood of another 2.5 million families is to be improved by creating durable assets.

As part of the initiative, each year one member of 400,000-500,000 families will get training for 30-45 days. Stipends will compensate them for any loss in wages that may arise.

Training will be within the mandated 100 days (of MGNREGA) and conducted under skill-development initiatives such as the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), self-employment programmes run by banks, and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

The workers will be attached to Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and trained in grafting, horticulture, growing fruit-bearing crops, etc. 

The government is planning to spend Rs 500-1,000 crore every year on this and it will not be limited to those who completed 100 days of work under the MGNREGA.

Under the Livelihoods in Full Employment (LIFE) project of the MGNREGA, started in 2015-16, the government provides training to eligible workers in the age group 15-35 years. However, this is restricted to MGNREGA workers who have completed 100 days’ work. 

The government’s claim is that 1.5-1.6 million families have received training under LIFE. However, in a mid-term review of the initiative, a lot of states complained of slow progress.

Candidates’ demand for stipends (for loss of wages due to engagement in skilling), along with ineligibility for skilling due to the age criterion, was one of the main complaints of the states. 

The present proposal does away with several of the anomalies in LIFE.