With 49.52 lakh labourers engaged under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Rajasthan occupies first rank in providing jobs to migrant workers returning to their native villages during the COVID-19 lockdown . State Commissioner, MGNREGA , Purna Chandra Kishan, who has bagged a national award for construction of distributaries of Indira Gandhi Canal under the flagship scheme, says in an interview to The Hindu that MGNREGA is creating durable assets.
Also read:Rajasthan rolls out job plan for migrant workers
What are the latest figures of engagement of labourers under the MGNREGA in Rajasthan? How much have the numbers increased in comparison with the corresponding period last year and what is the percentage of migrant workers, who have come back to their native villages, in the total number?
The number of labourers engaged under the MGNREGA in Rajasthan is 49.52 lakh, which is the highest in the country. Last year, 32.25 lakh labourers were engaged, so there is a jump of 17.27 lakh. More than 10 lakh labourers working under the scheme are migrant workers and roughly 85% of them have obtained job cards. A special campaign for issuing job cards to migrant labourers is being run till June 30.
Last year, we undertook a Kaam Maango Abhiyan (demand the work campaign) for generating awareness about the scheme and its provision for unemployment allowance. We generated 29.42 crore mandays in 2018-19 and 32.89 crore mandays in 2019-20. Both in terms of the mandays generation and the number of persons completing 100 days, the achievement of 2019-20 was the highest since the scheme’s inception. The State has been doing well in MGNREGA for several years, but the unprecedented increase in demand in May and June is because of the livelihood crisis in the rural areas caused by the COVID-19 lockdown and pressure from the migrant labourers.
Which district has registered the highest number of MRNREGA workers during the pandemic? Are there districts which have witnessed a significant increase in the number of labourers demanding work?
Except four or five districts, almost all have witnessed a significant increase in the labour demand under the MGNREGA. Bhilwara has registered the highest number of workers during the pandemic. Banswara, Dungarpur and Udaipur districts have also registered a very high number. Bhilwara is home to many medium and micro industries of different kinds and the labourers engaged in them and in the mining sector were suddenly rendered jobless. Since the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan is active in the region, there was a lot of facilitation of labourers from their sides. The southern Rajasthan districts are tribal-dominated with abject poverty. They too had a huge load from migrant workers.
How are you managing the large labour engagement with the limited manpower of the Rural Development department and ensuring that there is no delay in the payment of wages? Have you distributed the departmental work among the officials from other government wings as well?
Our system is already stretched beyond its limits. Normally, it can handle 25 lakh to 30 lakh labourers smoothly. With the present labour level, our programme officers, junior technical assistants and Rozgar Sahayaks are heavily overworked. The Collectors in their capacity as the MGNREGA District Programme Coordinators, are empowered to engage other officials. The work site supervisors also play a very important role and the engagement of well-trained and educated supervisors can help reduce pressure on others. In Rajasthan, 99.96 % wage payments are within time. This year, we received labour budget by April 5 and all the pending wage liabilities were cleared by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
What types of works have been sanctioned under the MGNREGA? Are the individual works in agricultural fields given priority? How do you ensure that the workers adhere to the norms for containing the spread of virus, such as social distancing and maintenance of hygiene?
Individual beneficiary works, such as land improvement or Apna Khet Apna Kaam, construction of cattle sheds, goat sheds, poultry sheds and piggeries and the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Awas Yojana (PMGAY) are preferred because social distancing is automatic in these works. There is a provision for giving 90 days of MGNREGA muster rolls to the PMGAY beneficiaries. If we focus on individual beneficiary works, we can create livelihood assets which can bring the beneficiaries out of poverty permanently. However, not more than 5 to 8 lakh labourers can be engaged in such works, which are mostly material intensive.
To provide wage employment to a large number of labourers, we have to focus on labour intensive community works, such as development of pastures, playgrounds and crematoriums, model water reservoirs, irrigation works and plantations. We have given the title, Ek Gram Chaar Kaam, to the four-point focus on development of assets. Since animal husbandry is an important sector in Rajasthan, there is a lot of demand for developing pastures. Providing wage employment and creating durable community and individual assets are two sides of the same coin.
The migrant labourers are quarantined for 15 days before getting engaged for work. Even their relatives are quarantined. We have been very careful and strict in enforcing the COVID-19 protocol and there are no instances of virus infection among the MGNREGA labourers.
Since the migrant labourers are willing to live and work in their villages, how can the MGNREGA help strengthen agriculture-based economy in the rural areas? What is the scope for development of unorganised sectors such as horticulture, bio-farming, handloom industry and animal husbandry?
Most of the migrant labourers who have returned to Rajasthan used to migrate in search of wages more attractive than those under the MGNREGA. They are skilled and semi-skilled workers. Though the livelihood crisis caused by the lockdown has pushed them to work under the MGNREGA, they should be given better opportunities. The MGNREGA is a scheme for poverty alleviation by providing wage employment to the poor job seekers in a rights-based framework. The individual works with the focus on providing livelihood security can be undertaken under the MGNREGA. In convergence with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), the MGNREGA can give a push to dairy, poultry, fishery, goat farming, horticulture and vegetable cultivation. In some States, the village panchayats manufacture bricks. We in Rajasthan can utilise such innovative thoughts.
How do you view the efficacy of the MGNREGA as a fiscal stimulus for reviving the economy which is moving towards recession? Can this flagship scheme be combined with universal basic income as a social security net for the poor?
The financial crisis of 2008-09, which continued till 2012, did not affect India because of certain factors like the MGNREGA, pay revision of government employees, 4% excise duty cuts, export subsidies and some infrastructure financing at that time. The expenditure under the MGNREGA had remained below 0.5% of gross domestic product, except between 2008-09 to 2011-12 when it crossed this figure marginally. This time, the government has announced an additional allocation of ₹40,000 crore for the MGNREGA. Pump-priming of the economy through the MGNREGA is more effective, because you are supporting the bottom of the pyramid. Hence, the multiplier factor will be bigger. Moreover, the structures for implementing the measure are already in place and a huge hidden demand for MGNREGA works exists in several States, while Rajasthan is working at its fullest potential. So, this ₹40,000 crore will be absorbed into the MGNREGA system smoothly.
For implementing the universal basic income, you need to close all other subsidy-driven schemes first, otherwise you will not have sufficient funds to run such a scheme. The MGNREGA is creating durable assets and has evolved a rights-based framework through self-targeting and social audit. We have not yet exhausted the potential either of the MGNREGA or of the NRLM as far as poverty alleviation is concerned. In my opinion, the MGNREGA, combined with universal basic income, will be a brilliant social security net for the poor, but even only the MGNREGA is nothing less. It has tremendous potential.
After a revision in the wages for the MGNREGA workers, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has demanded an increase in the number of days fixed for employment from 100 days to 200 days per household. How will it help the distressed labourers in the villages?
It is the need of the hour at least for the coming three to four years. The migrant labourers will stay for some years in their villages till their unpleasant memories get erased. Before that, they are not going to migrate out of their villages again. There is another side to it as well. We should not create a model which is too much dependent on the government. Migration of rural people to urban areas is desirable because it keeps afloat our economy. It also breaks down various feudal structures existing in the rural areas. Increasing the guaranteed 100 days under the MGNREGA to 200 days will help the poorest of the poor who normally complete the mandated days.
Rajasthan was home to the concept of social audit, but the State is now lagging in the establishment of an independent society for social audit. How are you planning to catch up with other States on this front?
We were the last State to establish an independent society for social audit. Now that the Society for Social Audit Accountability and Transparency (SSAAT) has been established, we are moving fast. Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and even Jharkhand have moved ahead of us. Rajasthan will excel in this domain as well.
Should the government revert to payment of the MGNREGA wages as cash-in-hand instead of routing them through the banking system, with the safeguards to check corruption, in view of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Never. It will bring a lot of bad name to the MGNREGA. Over a period of time, our payment systems have become more efficient. We should try to improve the payments through the banking system further.
The State government has announced creation of an online labour employment exchange for migrant workers. Does the government intend to help the workers get jobs according to their skills and train them to meet the requirements of rural industries?
The MGNREGA is primarily for unskilled work. Ideally, the mapping of skills should be done for all the migrant workers. Though the masons are getting employment under the MGNREGA, the scheme cannot provide avenues for other skilled workers.
