The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is not going to restrict the implementation of MGNREGA to a few pocket of the country, the new Minister for Rural Development Chaudhary Birendra Singh, said on Tuesday.
Mr. Singh was responding to questions over whether the government was planning to restrict the scheme's implementation to only tribal and poor areas — 2500 blocks of all States — as had been earlier proposed by Nitin Gadkari, who held the Rural Development portfolio till last week.
“Rs. 40,000-crore component is for the whole country and not for any specific region. In this country, there are people who have never seen a Rs. 500 note. The poorest of the poor...we have been able to reach them through the MGNREGA,” said Mr. Singh. “So far, the working of MGNREGA is concerned, if there are lacunae, we will correct them,” he added, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
Mr. Gadkari said the scheme was not required in all parts of the country. Following Mr. Gadkari's statements, 28 economists had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October against considering this move saying this ran “against a fundamental premise of the Act: gainful employment that affords basic economic security is a human right.” Other economists including Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Pangariya supported the announcement arguing in favour of cash transfers to rural families.
Mr. Singh, however, did not comment on the second substantive change proposed by Mr. Gadkari to the employment guarantee Act — that of increasing spending on material vis-a-vis wages.
Mr. Gadkari had proposed that the permissible labour to material ratio of expenses be changed from the current 60:40 to 51:49 to build more durable assets.
Officials in the MoRD had in a note to the Minister in first week of August said that the proposal to increase the limits for spending on material could lead to entry of contractors and increase corruption, even as it may reduce the availability of funds for spending on wages.
