Govt to modify NREGA to plug loopholes

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which is believed to have earned political benefits for the Congress in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, will be modified to plug the loopholes and make the officials more accountable.

A draft amendment Bill is currently being prepared by the Union rural development ministry headed by C P Joshi. “We are expecting the Bill to be placed during the upcoming Budget session of Parliament,” said Shishir Adhikary, minister for state of rural employment.

Among other issues, the amendments will increase the scope of work under the NREGA. There is a proposal to include “agricultural work” in the 100-day flagship employment programme. Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised/Informal Sector (NCEUS) Arjun Sengupta had also written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, urging him to bring agricultural labour under the purview of the Act because most of the states have failed to provide full 100 days’ employment to the target population.

“We also intend to include activities like poultry, fisheries under the NREGA,” a top ministry official told Business Standard. The labour component in construction of washrooms in the private houses of BPL (below poverty line) population under the Indira Awaas Yojana may also be included in the list of works prescribed under the Act. Currently, only eight types of manual works are allowed in the schemes under NREGA.

A section of the ministry also feels that use of machines can be selectively allowed in the NREGA for better results and more employment opportunity. “For creating embankments or ponds, heavy machines can do the basic digging and then people can be employed for the rest of the work. In states like Punjab and Bihar, machines are already used in this manner,” said an official.

To make the bureaucrats more accountable, the amendments will specify that the role of the “district coordinators” (the top official in charge of overseeing the implementation of the NREGA in a particular district) should only be given to the respective district magistrates. “Currently, the states have the power to employ other officers at the rank of DMs in this post. But if a district magistrate is held directly accountable for the project, then the loopholes can be plugged and better implementation can be assured,” said another official.