Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
Arun Jaitley gives highest ever allocation for
MGNREGS in Budget 2017
By Ruchika Chitravanshi, ET Bureau | Updated: Feb
02, 2017, 10.03 AM IST
Budget allocation to MNREGA increased to a record
Rs 48,000 cr: FM
NEW DELHI: The government's flagship Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS) is likely to begin the next fiscal
with a clean slate, unlike a year ago when it faced huge
arrears.
The government has allocated Rs 48,000 crore to the
scheme in this year's Budget. The rural development
ministry is expecting more funds at its disposal for the
next fiscal, having managed most of its dues for 2016-
17.
In 2016-17, NREGS had been allocated Rs 47,499
crore, which included Rs 38,500-crore allocation in the
Budget and the remaining through supplementary
budgets. The rural development ministry had to release
MGNREGS UPDATE News for Internal Circulation No. 60/ February 1, 2017 – February 15, 2017 Foundation for Ecological Security
Inside
News
• Budget 2017: Highest Ever Allocation For MGNREGA At Rs 48,000 Crore, Says Jaitley
• Budget 2017-18: MGNREGA gets highest ever allocation, FM eyes 100 pc rural electrification by May 2018
• Highlights Union Budget 2017-18: Highest ever allocation to MGNREGA at Rs 48,000 crore
• NREGA fund hike only 1%, not 25%, claims Aruna Roy
• Budget pro-poor, pro-farmer: Sonowal • Rights groups call for resources for MGNREGS to
provide work on demand • Geo-tagging keeps fraud off MGNREGS • Aadhaar leeway hope on job scheme • Aadhaar enrolment date for MGNREGA
beneficiaries may be extended: Government • Centre ensuring transparency in MGNREGS
through Aadhaar: Minister • Wages under MNREGA likely to increase: Rural
Development Min • Farmers unhappy over linking of MNREGA with
water conservation works in Budget
Articles
• Government on the job for cleanup of NREG
scheme • Resources misallocated under rural employment
scheme: Survey • The rise in allocation to MGNREGA is not 25%
but just 1%, say activists Rural employment scheme gets highest-ever funding
Government Order
• Provision for additional employment over and above 100 days per household under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in notified drought affected 268 Mandals of 7 Districts of Andhra Pradesh – reg.
• Invitation for participation in the ‘National workshop on Integrated Natural Resource Management’
• Advisory on GeoMGNREGA for States/UTs
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
Rs 13,000 crore to the states immediately after the
budget allocation for payment of pending dues.
The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the
Centre for delayed payment to workers under the
scheme last fiscal, the second consecutive year of
drought. Following this, the rural developmentministry
had pushed for national electronic finance
management system for direct transfer of wages into
the beneficiary accounts.
As of now, only 46% of payments have been made
within the stipulated period of 15 days. "The number
has come down because of a significant sum that has
been given to states in pending wages for last year...in
the next financial year, we should be able to make 75%
payments on time," a senior official said.
The ministry is expecting a further allocation in the
last supplementary budget later this month which will
bring more clarity to its arrears position for the next
fiscal. Jaitley on Wednesday announced the
construction of 500,000 farm ponds in 2017-18. He
said the government has reoriented NREGA to support
its resolve to double farmers' income.
"MGNREGA should create productive assets to
improve farm productivity and incomes. This single
measure will contribute greatly to drought-proofing of
gram panchayats," Jaitley said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/highest
-ever-allocation-for-mgnrega-at-rs-48000-crore-arun-
jaitley/articleshow/56907695.cms
Budget 2017: Highest Ever Allocation For
MGNREGA At Rs 48,000 Crore, Says Jaitley
February 1, 2017, 2:24 pm February 1, 2017, 12:08 pm
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the
Union Budget 2017 in Parliament on Wednesday said
the allocation towards the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has
been increased to Rs 48,000 crore for financial year
2017-18 from Rs 38,500 crore in the last fiscal.
This will be the highest ever allocation for the rural
employment program, Jaitley added.
The government had spent Rs 47,000 crore on the
scheme in the previous fiscal.
There were expectations of higher allocation to
MGNREGA following the government’s decision to
demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in
November last year. After the note ban, a large number
of migrant workers returned home as small businesses
were unable to pay wages on account of the cash
crunch.
The finance minister said that the participation of
women in the program has gone up from 48 percent in
the past to 55 percent in financial year 2016-17.
The MGNREGA program aims to provide at least 100
days of employment to every rural household by
engaging them in rural infrastructure building.
http://www.bloombergquint.com/union-budget-
india/2017/02/01/budget-2017-highest-ever-allocation-for-
mgnrega-at-rs-48000-crore-says-jaitley
Budget 2017-18: MGNREGA gets highest ever
allocation, FM eyes 100 pc rural electrification by
May 2018
India TV News Desk, New Delhi [Published on: 01
Feb 2017, 14:56:03]
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that the pace
of construction of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojana (PMGSY) roads has accelerated to reach 133
km roads per day in 2016-17, as against an average of
73 km during the period 2011-2014.
He said, that the government is committed to complete
the current target under PMGSY by 2019 and a sum of
Rs 19,000 crore has been provided in 2017-18 for this
scheme.
He said that one crore houses would be completed by
2019 for the houseless and those living in kutcha
houses as the Government has stepped up the
allocation for Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin
from Rs 15,000 crores in BE 2016-17 to Rs 23,000
crores in 2017-18.
Presenting his fourth budget, Jaitley expressed hope
that 100 per cent village electrification would be
achieved by May 1, 2018. He added that an increased
allocation of Rs 4,814 crores has been proposed under
the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana in 2017-
18.
The Finance Minister Jaitley said that the government
has proposed to increase the allocations for Deendayal
Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission
for promotion of skill development and livelihood
opportunities for people in rural areas to Rs 4,500
crore in 2017-18.
The allocation for Prime Minister's Employment
Generation Programme (PMEGP) and Credit Support
Schemes has been increased more than 3 times. The
Finance Minister informed the members that the
Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) has made
tremendous progress in promoting safe sanitation and
ending open defecation.
Sanitation coverage in rural India has gone up from
42% in October 2014 to about 60% and such villages
are now being given priority for piped water supply.
He said, for imparting new skills to the people in the
rural areas, mason training will be provided to 5 lakh
persons by 2022, with an immediate target of training
at least 20,000 persons by 2017-18.
http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india-budget-2017-18-
mgnrega-gets-highest-ever-allocation-fm-eyes-100-pc-rural-
electrification-may-2018-367265
Highlights Union Budget 2017-18: Highest ever
allocation to MGNREGA at Rs 48,000 crore
Feb, 01 2017 15:08:34 IST
India will ramp up spending on rural areas,
infrastructure and fighting poverty, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said as he unveiled his annual budget on
Wednesday, adding the impact on growth from the
government's cash crackdown would wear off soon.
Addressing parliament, Jaitley called his fourth budget
one for the poor. Yet, while vowing prudent fiscal
management, he also raised his 2017/18 federal deficit
target to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product to cover
his spending promises.
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise decision last
November to scrap high-value banknotes worth 86
percent of India's cash in circulation has hit consumer
demand, disrupted supply chains and hurt capital
investments. The worst of the cash crunch is now over,
however, and Jaitley said he expected it would not
spill over into the fiscal year starting on 1 April. A
private manufacturing survey on Wednesday showed
business was slowly returning to normal.
Here are the key takeaways from the Union Budget.
* Highest ever allocation to MGNREGA at Rs 48,000
crore
*Merger of Railway Budget with Budget 2017 a
historic step
* Transform, Energize and Clean India - #TECIndia -
our agenda for the next year
* Advancement of budget will enable all ministries,
departments to operationalize all schemes right from
beginning of next fiscal
* Demonetisation aims to create a new normal, where
the GDP would be bigger, cleaner and real
* Effects of demonetisation not expected to spill over
to next year
* Firmly believe that GST, Demonetisation, built on
JAM, will have an epoch-making impact on the lives
of our people
* Demonetisation aims to create a new normal, where
the GDP would be bigger, cleaner and real
* Recalls #MahatmaGandhi's words: A right cause
never fails
* 3 challenges in current global scenario:Monetary
stance of US FED Reserve, Commodity prices
specially crude oil & retreat from globalization
* We have moved from a discretionary administration
to a policy-based administration
* Expectations included burning issues like inflation
and price rise, issue of corruption & crony capitalism
* Our government was elected amidst huge
expectations of people, the underlying theme of
expectations being good governance
* Hope to resolve all issues regarding GST via
consultations
* We are moving from informal to formal economy
and the government is now seen as a trusted custodian
of public money
http://www.firstpost.com/business/highlights-union-budget-2017-
18-highest-ever-allocation-to-mgnrega-at-rs-48000-crore-
3241666.html
NREGA fund hike only 1%, not 25%, claims
Aruna Roy
TNN | Feb 2, 2017, 10.33 AM IST
(Representative image)
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
Social activist Aruna Roy slammed Union budget for
ignoring MGNREGA. She claimed that at first glance,
it looks like that the government has increased 25%
allocation for NREGA in the budget but in reality, it is
just 1% over previous year.
"At first glance, it would seem as if the finance
minister's announcement of an allocation of Rs 48,000
crore for MGNREGA is a dramatic increase of nearly
25% over last year's allocation of Rs 38,500 crore. In
fact, the increase is a mere 1%, of Rs 500 crore, as two
supplementary allocations during the course of the
year made the total budget of 2016-17 Rs 47,500
crore," said Roy of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
(MKSS).
She pointed that regard less of the budget, for
MGNREGA to work as legislation, it needs to have
adequate resources to be made available for work to be
provided on demand. According to MKSS 22 out of 34
states have negative balances.
"As per the ministry's own data, a total of Rs 3,469
crore in pending liabilities have already piled up even
as they have spent 93% of the funds available for this
financial year. This is likely to dramatically go up over
the next two months as traditionally demand for work
has peaked during this season," noted MKSS in its
statement.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/nrega-fund-hike-
only-1-not-25-claims-aruna-roy/articleshow/56928831.cms
Budget pro-poor, pro-farmer: Sonowal
Guwahati, Feb 1 (PTI) Hailing the 2017-2018 Union
Budget as "pro-poor, pro-farmer, welfare and growth-
oriented", Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal
said it had something for every section of the society.
In a statement, he praised the budgetary provision of
Rs 10 lakh crore as credit to farmers with a 60-day
period for interest waiver and stated that the increase
of funds to NABARD and the dedicated micro-
irrigation fund for it will greatly help the farm sector.
Lauding the move to create a dairy processing
infrastructure fund, Sonowal, who heads a BJP-led
government in the state, said the mini-labs in krishi
vigyan kendras for soil-testing will give a further boost
to the process of issuance of soil cards.
The government's target to pull one crore households
out of poverty by 2019, take up five lakh farm ponds
under MGNREGA during 2017-18, of over Rs 3 lakh
crore for rural India and using space technology in a
big way to plan MGNREGA works would help double
the income of farmers, he claimed.
Referring to the allocation of Rs 19,000 crore under
the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in 2017-18 to
complete one crore houses for the homeless, the chief
minister said it will immensely boost the government's
'Housing for All' dream.
Further appreciating the government's flagship
programmes, Sonowal lauded the Union Finance
Minister's statements in the Budget Session that the
'Swachh Bharat' mission had made tremendous
progress and sanitation coverage had gone up from 42
per cent in October, 2014 to 60 per cent now.
Sonowal also praised the introduction of a system of
measuring annual learning outcome, innovation fund
for secondary education, the budgetary proposal to
focus on 3,479 educationally-backward blocks, setting
up of 100 India international skill centres across the
country to maximise the Skill India mission,
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
introduction of courses on foreign languages and steps
to create 5,000 PG seats per annum.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/8357852_Budget-pro-poor--pro-
farmer--Sonowal.html
Rights groups call for resources for MGNREGS to
provide work on demand
JAIPUR: February 03, 2017 00:00 IST, Updated:
February 03, 2017 03:42 IST
Civil rights groups spearheading a campaign for
employment guarantee have demanded allocation of
adequate resources to the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
for work to be provided on demand in the light of the
Union Budget's allocation of Rs. 48,000 crore for the
flagship scheme.
Social activists Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey,
representing the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan,
said while 22 of the 34 States had negative balances, a
total of Rs. 3,469 crore in pending liabilities had
already piled up as per the Finance Ministry’s own
data. Even as the States had spent 93% of the funds
available for this financial year, this was likely to
dramatically go up over the next two months, as
traditionally demand for work has peaked during this
season, said the groups, including the Jan Jagaran
Shakti Sangathan and the National Federation of
Indian women, in a statement.
Ms. Roy said the increase in the allocation to
MGNREGS was a mere one per cent, as two
supplementary allocations after the last year's funding
of Rs. 38,500 crore had taken the total budget to Rs.
47,500 crore in 2016-17.
Distress
The rights groups pointed out that MGNREGS,
intended to provide livelihood security the poor, could
help out the casual workers suffering from the distress
of demonetisation. “But with pending liabilities
already piling up, the situation is likely to get worse in
the next two months as the Budget releases will only
be made in April.”
“At present 54% of the wage payments continue to be
delayed, and as a result Rs. 231 crore of compensation
to workers also remains due,” said Ms. Roy. On the
other hand, the Supreme Court has emphatically stated
that delayed wages were unacceptable and amounted
to violation of workers' rights.
Besides, the notification for requirement of Aadhaar
cards for accessing work under MGNREGS from the
next financial year, in violation of repeated Supreme
Court orders to not make Aadhaar mandatory, was
likely to have massive disruptive and exclusionary
effects.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-
newdelhi/Rights-groups-call-for-resources-for-MGNREGS-to-
provide-work-on-demand/article17156232.ece
Geo-tagging keeps fraud off MGNREGS
By A Chandrashekar | THE HANS INDIA | Feb
04,2017 , 12:35 AM IST
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
Kothagudem: There will be no scope for committing
fraud in the MGNREGS works in Pinapaka mandal
following the introduction of geo-tagging by the
Centre to ensure transparency.
It will ensure that the day-wise works are uploaded on
to the website by the staff, making it easy for officials
to view the status of work from anywhere.
In the past with no supervision of higher officials,
there were allegations that people’s representatives
were exploiting their power for committing frauds.
There were also accusations that workers were not
paid on time.
With geo-tagging in place, the works are being taken
up in a transparent manner and a new trend has been
introduced with the people getting information about
various works by click of a mouse. However, there
appears to be no scope for identifying the irregularities
committed in works last year as also in those
completed since 2006.
Several IAS officers pointed out that geo-tagging was
introduced with the sole motive of placing details of
the MGNREGS works before the people.
Details of works like land development, sapling
plantation under Haritha Haram and their protection,
construction of latrines/buildings/vermin-compost pits,
deepening of water bodies, rainwater harvesting pits,
CC roads etc are downloaded by the staff and sent to
officials, as also to the website of the National Institute
of Rural Development, thus making it easy for anyone
to access the information.
A look at the MGNREGS works taken up last year
shows that there were 15,909 workers holding job
cards in Pinapaka and Kanakaguda mandals. Of them,
about 1,200 took up work. As many as 6,596 families
were provided jobs (11,159 labourers) for 2016 and
2017, using 2.67 lakh man days.
The labourers were paid Rs 382.73 lakh as wages and
Rs 28.38 lakh were spent on tools for launching 3,200
works. Of them, 1,836 works were completed. As
many as 287 families in the mandals completed 100
days of work.
On an average, each worker was paid Rs 143.27 paise.
Besides, 329 farmers were handed over 1.1 lakh
saplings under the Haritha Haram in 2016-17.
Mandal Parishad Development Officer Ramesh told
The Hans India that there was no scope for committing
fraud with geo-tagging in place as details of works
were uploaded before and after their launch at the
work spot itself, even while ruling out taking up of the
same work elsewhere. Works are done in a transparent
manner.
http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Khammam-Tab/2017-
02-04/Geo-tagging-keeps-fraud-off-MGNREGS-/278157
Aadhaar leeway hope on job scheme
New Delhi, Feb. 6: The Centre today indicated that a
March 31 deadline for mandatory Aadhaar enrolment
of workers under rural job scheme NREGA was not
"sacrosanct" and could be extended, the reassurance
coming after an Opposition offensive.
"I want to assure the House that Aadhaar is not being
made mandatory under NREGA. The March 31
deadline is not sacrosanct. If people fail (to get
Aadhaar enrolments), the deadline can be extended,"
rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar told
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
the Rajya Sabha. His ministry had issued an order last
month making such cards mandatory for the scheme.
CPI leader D. Raja raised the issue, pointing out that
the scheme guaranteeing 100 days of work to every
rural household in a year was passed by Parliament.
"When people go for work, they are now asked to
produce Aadhaar cards. Why is the government doing
this? The MGNREGA itself is an Act of Parliament. It
gives citizens the right to seek employment," Raja
said.
Making Aadhaar mandatory violated Supreme Court
directives, Raja said. The court has said Aadhaar cards
should not be made mandatory. But Tomar argued that
the court had also allowed the government to
increasingly use Aadhaar for welfare plans.
There are 10.89 crore active registered NREGA
workers. Of them, 8.63 crore, or 80 per cent, have
Aadhaar cards. But the Aadhaar coverage of such
workers is below the national average in some states.
They include Bengal (68 per cent), Odisha (66 per
cent), Bihar (35.84 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir
(27 per cent).
Activists have expressed fears that fingerprint
mismatches and poor Internet connectivity in villages
could affect Aadhaar authentication and deprive
millionsof work.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170207/jsp/nation/story_134475.
jsp#.WKvTKDhGTeI
Aadhaar enrolment date for MGNREGA
beneficiaries may be extended: Government
By PTI | Updated: Feb 06, 2017, 03.34 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Government today said it could
consider extending the March 31 deadline notified for
individuals registered under the rural employment
guarantee scheme to apply for Aadhaar enrolment, if
states wanted it.
Replying to a question during Question Hour in Rajya
Sabha, Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh
Tomar said his ministry had on January 3 notified that
any individual registered under the MGNREGA, who
is not yet enrolled for Aadhaar shall have to apply for
enrolment by March 31.
(Narendra Singh Tomar said that any individual
registered under the MGNREGA, who is not yet
enrolled for Aadhaar shall have to apply for enrolment
by March 31. )
As opposition members said that the notification has
made Aadhaar card mandatory, Tomar said the
government has not made Aadhaar mandatory to get
work under MGNREGA.
Opposition members including Congress member
Renuka Chowdhury said that as per the "ground
reality", not all people may have the Aadhaar card.
To this, Rural Development minister said if problems
are being faced by any state in this regard, the
government could consider extending the deadline.
Tomar said Aadhaar was not mandatory for
MGNREGA and added that the ministry had issued the
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
notification keeping in mind the directions of the
Supreme Court as well as the legislation passed by the
Parliament in this regard.
"As far as the question of 31 March (deadline) is
concerned, it is not the last line. If the states express a
wish, in that case, we will extend it," Tomar said,
adding that under MGNREGA, 51 lakh assets have
been created and geo-tagged.
Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kirpal
Yadav said upto 80 per cent of the people have gone
for Aadhar and the partnership of women in the
scheme has also grown.
Speaking about the use of Aadhaar card, Yadav said
that government is trying to bring in more
transparency and cleanliness in the implementation of
MGNREGA.
He said the government has removed around 56 lakh
names, for whom money was being withdrawn
fraudulently. "Money meant for the poor was being
looted," Yadav said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-
nation/aadhaar-enrolment-date-for-mgnrega-beneficiaries-may-be-
extended-government/articleshow/56999735.cms
Centre ensuring transparency in MGNREGS
through Aadhaar: Minister
February 6, 2017
New Delhi, February 6 (IANS) The Narendra Modi
government is bringing transparency to the work
allocation and wages paid under the MGNREGS
through the use of Aadhaar, Rural Development
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in the Rajya
Sabha on Monday.
Replying to some opposition members’ allegation that
the government is denying work under the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS) to those who do not have
Aadhaar, although Aadhaar is not compulsory for
getting work, Tomar said that Aadhaar is not
mandatory till March 31.
“We are ensuring transparency in MGNREGS. People
can get work without Aadhaar till March 31 this year,
and even this is not the last deadline. This deadline can
be further extended if state governments say they are
not ready to implement it,” Tomar said.
The minister said that the Narendra Modi government
is committed to raise the overall living standards in the
rural areas and the MGNREGS is one of the means.
“The creation of assets is also being undertaken under
MGNREGS. So far, 51 lakh assets have been geo-
tagged,” he said.
Earlier, replying to a question by Communist Party of
India’s D. Raja, Minister of State for Rural
Development Ram Kripal Yadav said that “so far no
complaint has been received that anyone is being
denied work for want of Aadhaar card”.
“Aadhaar is not mandatory till March 31. Till now,
around 80 per cent of people have voluntarily
submitted Aadhaar,” he said.
Yadav said that the Aadhaar was being asked so that
“the MGNREGS funds reach the deserving”.
“We are cleaning the system through Aadhaar. There
were 13,04,00000 job cards, out of which after
Aadhaar linking, around 56 lakh were found to be fake
and weeded out. We are ensuring that the money
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
meant for the poor should not be pocketed by the
undeserving,” he added.
http://morungexpress.com/centre-ensuring-transparency-mgnregs-
aadhaar-minister/
Wages under MNREGA likely to increase: Rural
Development Min
Wed, 8 Feb 2017-04:16pm , PTI
The wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act are likely to increase as
the Rural Development Ministry is considering
"updating" the baseline, based on which workers are
paid, to insulate the poor in rural areas from the rising
cost of living.
The baseline for annual revision of wages paid under
MNREGA "can be changed" from Consumer Price
Index-Agriculture Labour (CPI-AL) to Consumer
Price Index for Rural (CPI-Rural).
"We are looking into the suggestion of the S Mahendra
Dev Committee to change the baseline for revision of
wages paid under MNREGA to CPI-Rural from CPI-
AL, but the final call will be taken after consultation
with all state governments," Rural Development
Secretary Amarjeet Sinha said.
A high-level committee set up by the Centre under
economist S Mahendra Dev had suggested that the
wages under MNREGA should be equal to or higher
than the minimum wage in states.
The panel had also suggested that MGNREGA wage
rates be revised every year on the basis of CPI-Rural
as it takes into consideration more variables for rural
areas as compared to CPI-AL.
According to sources, the Rural Ministry has already
moved the proposal to the Finance Ministry, which has
asked for more deliberations on the issue.
At present, the wages under MNREGA varies from Rs
167 in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and
Bihar to Rs 259 in Hayana.
The budget provision of Rs 38,500 crore under the
rural employment scheme in 2016-17 has been
increased to Rs 48,000 crore in 2017-18.
Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar
said the governmet is working on creating productive
assets to improve farm productivity and incomes.
He said this is the highest ever allocation for
MGNREGA.
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-wages-under-mnrega-
likely-to-increase-rural-development-min-2316189
Farmers unhappy over linking of MNREGA with
water conservation works in Budget
By Jayashree Bhosale, ET Bureau | Feb 01, 2017,
04.48 PM IST
PUNE: Even as the Union Budget 2017 has increased
the provision for MGNREGA to Rs 48,000 crore, the
farming community is not happy about government's
insistence on linking it more with water conservation
works.
Farmers across the country have been complaining that
the availability of farm labour has become tough and
expensive since the launch of MGNREGA. Hence,
they have been demanding that the scheme should be
linked with farming.
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
Farmers have been complaining that the availability of
farm labour has become tough and expensive since the
launch of MGNREGA. Hence, they have been
demanding that the scheme should be linked with
farming.
"The government has not linking MGNREGA scheme
with farming. It is difficult to get labour at the farms,"
said P Chengal Reddy, secretary general, Consortium
of Indian Farmers' Associations.
During his budget speech, Union Finance Minister
Arun Jaitely said, "Government has made a conscious
effort to reorient MGNREGA to support our resolve to
double farmers' income. While providing at least 100
days employment to every rural household,
MGNREGA should create productive assets to
improve farm productivity and incomes. The target of
5 lakh farm ponds and 10 lakh compost pits announced
in the last Budget from MGNREGA funds will be fully
achieved."
In fact, against 5 lakh farm ponds, it is expected that
about 10 lakh farm ponds would be completed by
March 2017. During 2017-18, another 5 lakh farm
ponds will be taken up. "This single measure will
contribute greatly to drought proofing of gram
panchayats," expects the central government.
Participation of women in MGNREGA has increased
to 55 per cent from less than 48 per cent in the past 36
per cent. Honourable members would be happy to note
that the budget provision of Rs 38,500 crores under
MGNREGA in 2016-17 has been increased to Rs
48,000 crores in 2017-18.
This is the highest ever allocation for MGNREGA.
The initiative to geo-tag all MGNREGA assets and
putting them in public domain has established greater
transparency. We are also using space technology in a
big way to plan MGNREGA works.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/fa
rmers-unhappy-over-linking-of-mnrega-with-water-conservation-
works-in-budget/articleshow/56915583.cms
Government on the job for cleanup of NREG
scheme
By Ruchika Chitravanshi, ET Bureau | Updated: Feb
15, 2017, 01.28 AM IST
NEW DELHI: India’s flagship pro-poor programme,
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), may be eluding the
most deprived section of the rural poor.
The government is surveying 5.4 crore landless casual
labour to assess if they have access to the NREGS job
cards.
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
In a major clean-up exercise, the government is
surveying 5.4 crore landless casual labour to assess if
they have access to the NREGS job cards. Barely a
month into the survey, over 25,000 households have
asked the government for enrolment in the scheme.
The number is expected to increase manifold. “No one
had asked these people to enroll with NREGS
before…This is our attempt at house-cleaning,
ensuring that the deserving people get the benefit of
the scheme,” a senior government official said.
The deprivation data of Socio and Economic Caste
Census (SECC) is being used to identify the poor
households who have not been covered by NREGA.
As per the SECC, 5.4 crore households are landless,
deriving a major part of their income from manual
casual labour. It makes up for 30% of the total
surveyed population. The expert group on SECC led
by Sumit Bose had recommended that NREGS needs
to be more focused towards the regions where there is
greater concentration of landless labour or where
people are suffering from multi-dimensional
deprivation.
While NREGA is a demand driven programme, the
states which have reported the highest deprivation,
including Bihar and Maharashtra, do not figure in the
top five recipients of funds under the scheme.
The cumulative share of the top five deprived states in
NREGA funds has hovered around 32% for the last
three years. The government will take into account the
disparity in deciding the labour budget for 2017-18
and push the deprived states to take up more work
under NREGA.
With Rs 48,000-crore allocation to the scheme in the
budget earlier this month, the government has set a
target of creating 5 lakh farm ponds as part of the
drought proofing activity during the next financial
year.
“The focus of the programme now is asset creation and
weeding out any bad practices so that our system
becomes more transparent and accountable,” the senior
official said.
The rural development ministry would now renew the
existing job cards to add the details including attested
photograph, SECC temporary identification number,
bank account and Aadhar number if there’s any
beneficiary. The government wants to put in check the
use of bogus job cards under the scheme.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/govern
ment-on-the-job-for-cleanup-of-nreg-
scheme/articleshow/57155917.cms
Resources misallocated under rural employment
scheme: Survey
The program has evolved over the last two years and
there is a greater thrust on natural resource
management and agriculture.
By: PTI | New Delhi | Published:January 31, 2017
10:51 pm
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
A farmer in his crop field. The MGNREGA scheme or
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act has been allocated Rs. 38, 500 crore
ahead of important elections in five states this year.
Express archive photo.
Evaluating the effectiveness of MGNREGS, the
Economic Survey on Tuesday said there is
misallocation of resources under the rural employment
scheme as only one-third of funds are spent on states
which account more than 50 per cent of poor in the
country. Stating that redistribution by the government
is far from efficient in targeting the poor, the survey
said the poorest areas of the country often obtain a
lower share of government resources when compared
to their richer counterparts.
WATCH WHAT ELSE IS IN THE NEWS
“For instance, consider the states of Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh: despite
accounting for over half the poor in the country, these
states access only a third of the resources spent on the
MGNREGS in 2015-16,” the survey said. However,
the survey also mentioned that Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS) has changed considerably in last two
years.
It further said there has been improvement in
monitoring technology, asset creation and job
provision that has occurred in the scheme over the past
two years.
The program has evolved over the last two years and
there is a greater thrust on natural resource
management and agriculture and allied activities.
“This is expected to improve farmers’ income and
enlarge their wage opportunities,” it added.
The program also provides a higher number of days of
employment (150 days instead of 100 days) in drought
affected areas.
http://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/resources-
misallocated-under-rural-employment-scheme-survey/
The rise in allocation to MGNREGA is not 25% but
just 1%, say activists
The government needs to make adequate funds
available for the rural work programme, they say.
Feb 01, 2017.
At first glance it would seem as if the Finance
Minister’s announcement of an allocation of Rs 48,000
crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee scheme is a dramatic increase
of nearly 25% over last year’s allocation of Rs. 38,500
crores. In fact, the increase is a mere 1%, of Rs 500
crore, as two supplementary allocations during the
course of the year made the total budget of 2016-’17,
Rs 47,500 crore.
Regardless of the budget allocation, what needs to be
understood is that for the MGNREGA to work as per
the legislation, it needs to have adequate resources to
be made available for work to be provided on demand.
As of today, 22 out of 34 states have negative
balances. As per the ministry’s own data a total of Rs
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
3,469 crores in pending liabilities have already piled
up, even as they have spent 93% of the funds available
for this financial year. This is likely to dramatically go
up over the next two months, as traditionally demand
for work has peaked during this season.
The Supreme Court has issued a series of strong orders
in the ongoing Swaraj Abhiyan Public Interest
Litigation, one of which stated, “the Government of
India is directed to release to the State Governments
adequate funds under the Scheme in a timely manner
so that the ‘workforce’ is paid its wages well in time.
The Government of India must shape up in this
regard.”
Despite this, as per the Ministry’s mechanism of
preparing indicative labour budgets, even to honour
only the approved budget for the months of February
2017 and March 2017, nearly Rs 10,013 crores would
be required (at the average cost per person day of Rs
228). This means that we would end the year with
close to Rs 13,482 crores in pending liabilities, and a
budgetary allocation that has not even kept pace with
last year’s amount in real terms.
This unpredictable under resourced fund flow
mechanism has implications for implementation,
particuarly timely payment to workers, which greatly
affects faith in the employment guarantee. The
Supreme Court order emphatically stated that delayed
wages were unacceptable and a violation of the rights
of workers. Yet this continues with impunity. At
present 54% of the wage payments continue to be
delayed, and as a result Rs 231 crores of compensation
to workers also remains due.
For casual workers suffering from the distress of
demonetisation, the MGNREGA is intended to provide
livelihood security net for exactly such situations.
However, with pending liabilities already piling up, the
situation is likely to get worse in the next two months
as budget releases will only be made in April. Further,
the notification for the requirement of aadhaar for
accessing work under the MGNREGA from the next
financial year, again in violation of repeated Supreme
Court orders to not make aadhaar mandatory, is likely
to have massive disruptive and exclusionary effects.
The People’s Action for Employment Guarantee
demands that the Supreme Court orders on Aadhaar
and adequate funding be followed, the notification on
mandatory Aadhaar be revoked and the adequate funds
be made available to the MGNREGA to truly function
as a demand based programme.
https://scroll.in/article/828253/the-rise-in-allocation-to-mgnrega-is-
not-25-but-just-1-say-activists
Rural employment scheme gets highest-ever
funding
NEW DELHI: February 02, 2017 03:57 IST, Updated:
February 02, 2017 03:57 IST
FM allocates Rs. 48,000 crore for MGNREGA; says it will be brought under digital scrutiny
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), once described by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “living monument
of the UPA’s failure,” got its highest ever allocation —
Rs.48,000 crore — since its inception over a decade
ago.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, indicated that
the funds dispensed would come under increased
digital scrutiny. “The initiative to geo-tag all
MGNREGA assets and put them in the public domain
has established greater transparency. We are also using
space technology in a big way to plan MGNREGA
works,” he said.
Initiative towards Energizing MGNREGA. ……………
(The government is also using space technology in a
big way to plan MGNREGA works. File photo. |
Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj )
Last June, the Rural Development Ministry had signed
an agreement with the National Remote Sensing
Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Hyderabad, for geo-tagging
assets. This involves the use of ‘Bhuvan’, a web-based
application developed by ISRO that gives a three-
dimensional map of the globe. Geo-tagging can help
track the location and development status of, say, a
pond or a bridge, funded by MGNREGA and located
in any of India’s 6 lakh villages. The geo-tagging
exercise, according to an ISRO press statement, is a
three-part programme and will eventually allow
citizens to report on the state of a project and be made
available to village panchayats.
‘An eyewash’
MGNREGA, enacted in 2005, is a UPA initiative to
enhance livelihood security of the rural people by
guaranteeing 100 days of wages in a financial year for
adults willing to take up unskilled manual work.
Around 30 lakh assets are created annually across the
country under the rural job scheme, which includes
water harvesting, drought relief and flood control as
preferred activities. The geo-tagging initiative follows
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive to check
leakages and effectively map the terrain for future
developmental works.
Aruna Roy of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangathan dismissed
the budgetary raise as eyewash as it downplayed the
huge arrears. “The increase is a mere 1%, of Rs.500
crore, as two supplementary allocations during the
course of the year made the total budget of 2016-17
Rs.47,500 crore,” she said in a statement. “At present,
54% of the wage payments continue to be delayed and,
as a result, Rs.231 crores in compensation to workers
also remains due.”
Drinking water scheme
In a bid to ensure safe drinking water to over 28,000
arsenic and fluoride affected habitations in the next
four years, the government will start a sub-mission of
the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.
In this year’s budget, the allocation for the Rural
Development Ministry has also been increased by
more than 10 per cent to Rs. 1,07,758 crore from Rs.
97,760 crore.
http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/Rural-employment-
scheme-gets-highest-ever-funding/article17130927.ece
No.M-uo1l/o2l2016-RE VIIGovernment of India
Ministry of Rural dEvelopmentDepartment of Rural develoPment
MGNREGA DivisionKrishi Bhawan, New DelhiDated: 15 February, zorT
To,
The Principal Secretary/SecretaryDepartment of Rural Development (in-charge of MGNREGA)AII States/UTs (As per the list attached)
Subject:- Advisory on GeoMGNREGA for States/UTs
Sir/Madam,
Ministry of Rural Development has rolled out GeoMGNREGA - the GIS
implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in public domain on,3oth November,zoi6 and about 6o lakhs geotagged Mahatma Gandhi NREGA assets have been put inpublic domain all over the country. The Ministry intends to geotag each of the assets
created under MGNREGA.
The centralised asset inventory created under GeoMGNREGA could be utilisedfor analysis & planning of works under MGNREGA. While analysing the geotagged
data, it has emerged thit quality of photo and accuracy of geotags, needs to be takencare of at this stlge, so that the data could be utilised effectively for planning andmonitoring purposes.
Therefore, in order to achieve the optimum results, please find attachedherewith an advisory for ensuring quality gebtags and action points to be followedby the States/UTs at various levels.
Yourg.,faithfully,(4{a,)'n
(Aparajitl saran$i)Encl:- As above
\"-.
GeoMGNREGA Advisorv to thc Statcs
Centralized asset inventory with geotagged photographs created underGeoMGNREGA could be used for analysis & planning of works under MGNIIEGA.This requires optimum qualify of geotags captured under GeoMGNREGA which maybe achieved by ensuring quality of Photographs of all assets and assigning propertdescription' to each asset.
Therefore, following things need to be kept in mind while geotagging of anasset.
Oualitv of Photoeraph/Geotae (to be ensured bv MSE):
Quality of photograph affects the possibility and perspective of assessment of the asset. Itshould be ensured that the photographs must have certain level of quality, which will help
in further assessment of the assets. Following points should be followed while takingphotographs of assets created under MGNREGA:-
r Direction and Angle: The direction and angle of photograph should be
such that entire asset or maximum portion of the asset is visible in thephotograph.
r Orientation of photograph: Similar orientation for similar assets. For
example: Photographs should be taken, along the length in case oflinear structures ,like roads, water channel etc.
o Photographs not against the sun Position of the sun should always be
on the back of the person taking photograph of the asset.
Clear/Haze free photographs: All MSEs (MGNREGA Spatial
Enumerators) should avoid taking photographs in fog and rains toensure high quality images.
Linking citizen information display boards with the Photograph: AtIeast one picture of the asset should have picture of the citizeninformation display board along with the asset.
Before capturing of geotag of an asset, MSE needs to wait for some
moment so that the accuracy in the range of to meters is achieved.
Asset Name and Description:For each completed work under MGNREGA, Asset id will be generated in
NREGASoft. The asset detail should be maintained at GP level in Fixed Asset
Register (FAR).
Description of the asset is essential as it solely describes the asset type,quality and descriptive location of the asset. It also helps the MSE toidentify the asset to be geotagged. There should be no mismatch indescription of photograph and the asset created.
In order to achieve the desired goals under the GeoMGNREGA, followingaction points are suggested to be followed by the States/UTs at various levels:-
The Gram Rozgar Sahayak/Technical Assistant working in the capacityof MGNREGA Spatial Enumerator (MSE) uses the GeoMGNREGA BhuvanMobile Application to capture the GIS location and photographs of theasset for uploading on the Bhuwan platform. The State/UT shouldensure that all panchayats have a registered MSE responsible forgeotagging.
District GIS Nodal officer (DGNO) and State GIS Nodal Officer (SGNO)
should monitor quality of geotags under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA fortheir respective districts and states.
GeoMGNREGA Working Group (GWG) shall supervise the work and
ensure that there is no deviation to the standards fixed for geotagging.
GWG will hold regular meetings to emphasise good practices ofgeotagging. GWG will play a crucial role in monitoring quality of geotags
under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
t\r\
Ministry of Rural Development will do random check regularly to
monitor the quality of geotags.
GeoMGNREGA platform should be used by States/UTs for the purpose
of planning of works to avoid duplicacy while preparing the Iabour
budget and subsequent drawing up of the labour budget.
States/UTs should ensure that whatever work is completed w.e.f.
orlotrlzorT must be geotagged within one month from date ofcompletion of work.
Works already completed under MGNREGA should be geotagged in a
prioritised manner insisting financial year wise geotagging ofcompleted assets from 2ol.6-2ot7t 2ot5-2o:^6, 2oll+-2o15 and
backward, till FY 2006-2oo7.
SGNO/DGNO should monitor the performance of GAS and MSE every
day. There should be no pendency for moderation at the block lbvel'Each geotag uploaded by the MSE, should be moderated maximumwithin 3 days by the GAS.
r-\Y.'