The Ministry of Rural Development is working on on several issues related to its most ambitious programme — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
Six sub committees set up by the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), which was formed under the NREG Act (NREGA – the law enacted to implement the NREGS programme), have raised questions on issues ranging from the utility of work done through NREGS to transparency, capacity building and even the wages. The committees have suggested ways to move forward. The ministry is expected to announce its decision on these issues at the CEGC meeting on September 21.
One of the key issues staring at the ministry is the utility of the work being done under the wage employment scheme that is supposed to offer 100 days of guaranteed work a year to anyone who demands it in rural India.
The sub committee on work appointed by the ministry has said that NREGS might be generating wage employment, but it was certainly not productive in any other way, was unplanned, ad hoc and was thrust on the people.
It has suggested that at least 50 per cent of the funds must be dedicated to works related to land improvement and wanted a shift from land development to land husbandry, including soil improvement. It has also asked for specialised personnel for NREGS, who will be available for planning and mentoring these works over a long-term period, besides integration with the district agricultural plan to link NREGS with the productivity of the soil in the region.
The panel headed by CEGC member and activist K S Gopal and comprising agricultural scientists, NGOs and anchored by the National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, had been mandated to look at measures to optimise the potential of NREGS for enhancing agricultural productivity.
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The panel would also look at the impact of NREGS on the farmers under distress, on tribes in the left wing extremist affected areas and districts from where farmers’ suicides have been reported.
It concluded that “works are ad hoc with limited types of physical infrastructure activities ... based on rural development official’s experience or intuition while works on individual lands are decided elsewhere and dumped on the gullible poor...''
It said though the ministry guidelines state that the primary objective for work on individual land is wage employment and its auxiliary objective is strengthening natural resource management, the latter has never been fulfilled.
Speaking to Business Standard, K S Gopal who headed the committee said the district has the necessary expertise to guide the Gram Sabha in taking decisions for the kind of work it ought to take. But rarely are these district officials available to report to the Gram Sabha since ad hocism prevails.
The panel suggests a shift from land development under NREGS to an approach of land husbandry if the resources and work available under the law is to be of any use to the people.
“This offers a unique opportunity to address land development in a systematic manner and, if needed, over years. For instance, the problem of soils is alarming and serious even in irrigated areas but for different reasons.”
“Conserved soil and moisture productivity must be combined with steps for increasing microbial life and the capacity of land to retain moisture. Without them, physical water structures are not of much use for plant growth and increase crop productivity. NREGS, being a public investment and intended to improve land productivity of poor farmers, must focus on addressing production bottlenecks,” the panel of experts said.
It said that works on individual lands must be part of a larger district development agenda and specifically the District Agriculture Plan as envisioned by the Planning Commission.
It further said that productivity increase cannot be the domain of civil engineers and officials and called for soil and agricultural scientists in planning and extension of the works. It suggested that since the personnel with such specialised domain skills are limited in numbers, their responsibilities should extend to several farmers and a set number of farmers.