Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal to reduce the tasks of labourers engaged for works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) following a time-motion study on their work efficiency. The exemption will be carried out in the financial year 2021-22, beginning on Thursday.
Jaipur-based Malviya National Institute of Technology had recently suggested on the basis of its scientific study that the tasks assigned to the unskilled MGNREGA labourers be reduced to increase their efficiency and productivity. The study analysed the works of both male and female labourers in different weather conditions.
The study also measured separate steps in the performance of a specific work for the purpose of establishing a standard time for each performance with the focus on enhancement of productivity. The recommendation was made after systematic observations and analyses.
Experts who undertook the study for different activities observed that the reduction in tasks for the most common works of digging of ponds and filling and removal of earth material in the rural development projects would speed up the operations and improve the efficiency of labourers.
The tasks for workers in the rural development activities was earlier reduced by 30% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Gehlot said the further exemption in tasks would benefit the MGNREGA labourers immensely.
Mr. Gehlot also approved another proposal for one-time relocation of 237 contract workers engaged in MGNREGA to the desired districts in view of their family, health and other issues. The workers, such as data entry operators, junior technical assistants and coordinators, working for the scheme's execution, had been demanding transfer to their home districts.
