MGNREGA's 'migrant' problem

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) likes to see its rural employment guarantee scheme (known as the MGNREGA) as a big game-changer in the 2009 elections. But even its votaries admit that it has many problems accurately identifying beneficiaries or diverting payments being the principal ones. But the chief minister of a UPA-affiliated hilly state added a new dimension to the issue. His state, he pointed out, was frequented by residents from neighbouring countries, mostly Nepal, who immigrated for short-term jobs and then left. Since most of these migrant jobs comprise daily wage work, the MGNREGA could not get much traction in the state.