Demand v reality: A sorry state of affairs under MGNREGA in a Covid-19 year

Instead of the promised 100 days of work, average work provided stood just shy of one-fifth of it in this financial year till June 9

Generating 100 days of work, guaranteed under MGNREGA for each household, has been a far cry so far even as there is demand for increasing the promised work days.  

Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently criticised the Modi government for not  paying heed to the demand of increasing work days for each household  to 200 days from existing 100 days.

The average days of work provided to a household crossed even 50 days only once in the last four years.

Average work provided stood at little over 18 days till June 9 (noon) this financial year. In the previous four years, it mostly stood below 50 days, barring 2018-19.

Migrant worker Md Gulzar from Godda area of Jharkhand reflected this when he gave vent to his pent up feelings about the absence of MGNREGA work provided by the panchayat of his village. “Majboori mein baahar jaana padta hai. Agar yehaan kaam milega to kyon baahar jayenge. Baahar mein kitna mushkil hota hai, ye humlog jaante hain. (We were forced to go out for job. Why should we go out if we get job here. We have all the experience how difficult it is to survive outside of our place)."

The average days provided for work under the scheme stood at 50.88 for a household in 2018-19, which saw drought in some parts of the country.

It should be noted that these are average days of work for each household and should be interpreted cautiously, since some households might have got more than the average and some below the average.

Also, the average is taken on the basis of household that has got job cards and are active in getting work and not the household demanding work. For instance, 144.8 million people applied for job cards so far in the current financial year, but only 138.1 million people got these. Of this, there were only 78.8 million active job card households. Active job cards mean that the person holding it in a household has worked for even one day in any of the past four years.

Experts say that little over 18 days of work provided to each household on an average so far in the current financial year is just the beginning as the demand would rise exponentially once monsoon spreads across the country. Then, even 100 days will fall short of demand, they say.

Siraj Dutta at the Right to Food Campaign and social activist from Jharkhand said that 4.78 days of work has been provided to each active job card households in the state on an average so far this financial year. Usually, in a year, work is provided for around 40-45 days to each active households in the state.

He said active job cards are in around 40 per cent of the total cards issued. According to him, the reason why there is need to increase the mandatory days of work from the current 100 to at least 200 days is that the current limit will be exhausted if all those demanding work are given jobs under MGNREGA.

“Just 10 kilometers outside Jhakhand's capital Ranchi, there is surge in the demand for MGNREGA works as people have lost their usual occupation. The need is to provide work on the basis of per person and not per household,” said Dutta.

Workers in Jharkhand narrated their pathetic conditions on a webinar organised by the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a platform for 30 organisations.

Thirty-seven-year-old Soharai Marandi from Bokaro had been working in an iron casting plant in Karnataka. However, he was forced to stop working once the lockdown was imposed. When asked whether he received food support during the lockdown, he said, “Kiska kha rahe the, pata nahi. Baad mein pata chala ki hamara hi paisa kat gaya (I didn't know we were eating at whose expense. Later, I came to realise that money was deducted from my pending wages)”.

Renuka from the Gharelu Kamgar Sangathan shared that as most domestic workers were unable to work during the lockdown, they did not get their salary for this period. Some were even laid off.

*An individual of households who has worked any one day in either the last three financial years or in the current financial year

Although most workers are now back home, their misery is far from over. Nineteen-year-old Sapna Dadka, who worked as domestic help in Mumbai, is now back in Chaibasa, but is currently staying in a poorly equipped quarantine that lacks beds and serves meals with delays. She cannot wait to meet her parents! Many home quarantined workers did not receive the dry ration packet, as announced by the Jharkhand government.

The Centre has released Rs 29,904 crore for MNREGA against the sanctioned sum of Rs 32,220.46 crore. The government has increased the allocation for MNREGA to Rs 1.01 trillion against Rs 61,500 crore budgeted for 2020-21.

Rajendran Narayan, assistant professor of Azim Premji University, said even in the pre-Covid-19 era, the total actual budget requirement under MGNREGA was more than Rs 1 trillion.

"Now, after the influx of migrants, this extra allocation of Rs 40,000 crore is welcome but still inadequate and if MGNREGA work demand is followed religiously then I am sure by November and December this additional allocation will also get exhausted."

The budget has to be scaled up or else there could be cut down in work demand, which could be detrimental, he said.

In fact, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi demanded open-ended funding for MGNREGA.