After the introduction of compulsory marking of attendance through a mobile app, work output in the rural jobs guarantee scheme, MGNREGS, dipped by nearly 10% in January this year compared with the preceding month. It has continued at this lower level through February and appears to be going down even more in March, as per data till March 25, available on the scheme portal run by the rural development ministry. (See chart below)
In December 2022, about 1.85 crore households got work in the scheme (officially known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme or MGNREGS). In the next month, January 2023, the app-based attendance was made compulsory for all those who were given work. The app is called National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS). This led to rampant complaints of non-availability of net connections in remote areas and other technical glitches, all leading to hapless workers waiting hours to just get recorded as having worked – or even losing wages due to failure of the system. This is what is causing the dip in work in these months.
This is not a case of seasonal decline. As shown above, last year there was a slight decline but not of this order. Data from earlier years shows that usually there is a rise in work under the scheme in the months of January-February compared to December. For 2018-19, the last full year before the pandemic, January 2019 saw a nearly 9% rise compared to December 2018.
According to the information available on the same portal, about 10.24 crore persons had applied for work in the scheme for the current year (till March 25, which is just five days short of completing the financial year). Out of these, only 8.6 crore persons actually got to work. That means about 1.64 crore persons were turned away. They never got the work. That’s about 16% of the total number of work applicants – an unconscionably high number.
It must be remembered that the country is passing through a long and distressing phase of sustained unemployment which has been aggravated by the pandemic. With industrial production stagnating and very little new productive capacity added, chances of getting jobs in industry are minimal.
A similar situation exists in the services sector. As a result, rural areas are still bearing the load of extra hands, many of whom are being absorbed in the already saturated agriculture sector. For most of such impoverished families, the job guarantee scheme is a lifeline, although it provides meagre wages and that too for not more than half of the mandated 100 days of work.
The introduction of mobile based attendance appears to be one of those tech solutions much favoured by this government that promises smooth operations but actually functions to squeeze the people out of the system. Such tragic consequences have already been seen in the case of Public Distribution System (PDS), attendance of teachers in schools and various other schemes.
Unpaid Wages Piling Up
In the current year, data available at the scheme portal (linked above) gives a shocking picture of so-called efficiency and smooth functioning. Compared to last year, the quantum of delayed wages has increased by 64%. Delay is defined as 16 or more days of delay in payment of earned wages. Last year, such delayed wages amounted to Rs.2,213 crore which have jumped up to Rs.3,630 crore this year, till 25 March. (See chart below)
Even worse is the case of unpaid wages – a total of Rs.1,010 crore worth of unpaid wages to unskilled workers is piled up with the administration. This is 138% more than the Rs.424 crore due wages last year.
It bears repetition that delays and unpaid wages – due mostly to a variety of tech problems – is a severe calamity for those seeking work in the scheme. They are turning to the scheme as a last resort, having failed to find jobs anywhere, and they are willing to do the drudgery for a pittance because it’s a matter of survival. To deny them wages running into crores of rupees is a travesty.
Fund Crunch
In 2022-23, Budget allocation for MGNREGS was Rs.73,000 crore but with additional allocations done during the year, the revised estimate ended up at Rs.89,400 crore, according to Budget documents. This was less than the amount spent in 2021-22, which was reported at Rs. 98,467.85 crore (Actuals).
At the beginning of the financial year 2022-23, funds available were Rs.97,639 crore, according to the scheme portal. This is a sum of allocations and carry overs from previous year. As of March 25, the scheme finances are in the red to the tune of Rs.11,921 crore. That is, expenditure is more than the allocation by this much. Last years deficit was Rs.4,162 crore. (See chart below)
What this means is that the scheme is spending more than what is being allocated. This is despite the fact that over 1.6 crore persons were refused work even though they applied for it. There is immense pressure from the people to get more work in the scheme – but the government is just not willing to allocate more funds. Rather, it is taking all kinds of measures to somehow discourage people from seeking work in the scheme. The compulsory app-based attendance is one such tactic. Delays in payment of wages is another.
Any government with an iota of political sense would realise that it is playing with fire by squeezing the rural jobs scheme. Unemployment has been one of the biggest economic issues in the minds of voters in diverse elections in the recent past. Failure to provide jobs – despite bombastic promises in election campaigns – can lead to deep resentment and disillusionment. The job guarantee scheme cannot compensate for this utter failure but it can provide some salve, some relief to suffering people. But, strangling the scheme seems to be a foolish policy. But then, the government is wedded much more strongly to the neoliberal dogma of reducing government expenditure on welfare schemes.
(Courtesy: Newsclick.)
Press Release, 25/03/2023
Day 30 of the NREGA Protest: Students and Activists Detained by the Delhi Police
NREGA Sangharsh Morcha
The Delhi police has made it quite clear that no public discussion about NREGA will be allowed beyond jantar-mantar. Students and activists were detained by the Delhi Police in the middle of a public discussion on NREGA at the Arts Faculty, Delhi University, for which permission was withdrawn on the day of the event. The event, organised by a student organisation called Collective, was a discussion on the right to work and NREGA in particular. Renowned economist Jean Dreze, Richa Singh of Sangatin Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, Uttar Pradesh and Comrade Somnath of Jan Sangharsh Manch, Haryana were slated to speak at the event. However, the event had just begun when it was abruptly stopped by the police and the organisers, speakers and other students were taken to the Maurice Nagar police station. Comrade Somnath, two students from Delhi University and a foreign student were detained by the police for over three hours.
This comes a day after the workers were removed from Jantar Mantar despite having obtained prior permission to organise a protest. The workers were asked to vacate the protest site or be removed by force by police personnel in order to make way for an event organised by the Aam Aadmi Party. The day prior as well, the workers’ right to protest was disrupted by a rally organised by BJP party workers who took over most of the protest site while all other demonstrations were pushed to the sidelines. The protestors were unable to procure mics and even had to bring their own carpets as they were made to settle down in a tiny space beyond the police barricades.
These actions on the part of law enforcement authorities will go down in the list of ever-increasing encroachments on the citizens’ right to protest and the right to ask questions of their elected government, a phenomenon all too common in our country today. They are gross violations of the right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to peaceful assembly enshrined in the Constitution. Moreover, such an atmosphere of state surveillance and repression points to the unfortunate reality where the space for dissent is shrinking day by day and the idea of democracy itself is under threat. The poor and the marginalized are being attacked in a comprehensive way on two simultaneous counts – first, with social security rights like MGNREGA being undermined and attacked through budget cuts and illegal imposition of technological interventions. Secondly, being attacked when they raise their voice against these measures in a democratic and peaceful manner.
NREGA Sangharsh Morcha organised a press conference at Jantar Mantar on 25 March 2023 to address these developments as well as mark the completion of 30 days of the workers’ protest. Over this month of protest, various workers delegations made attempts to meet officials of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to present their grievances. But not only were they repeatedly turned away, Union Minister (MoRD) Giriraj Singh also denied having received any NREGA-related complaints in Parliament. Finally, on 21 March 2023, a worker delegation from Jharkhand managed to meet MoRD Secretary Shailesh Kumar Singh and Joint Secretary Amit Kataria but they seemed non-committal about the issues presented to them. Additionally, workers from West Bengal whose wages are pending since December 2021 and have not been given any NREGA work through FY 22-23, have also filed complaints with the National Human Rights Commission.
Such excessive state actions will not deter workers who stand by their resolve to protect the NREGA and demand the following: (i) immediate removal of the NMMS app, (ii) reversal of the order dated 30 January, 2023 requiring all NREGA payments to be made via the Aadhar Based Payment System (ABPS), (iii) increase in the NREGA budget, and (iv) timely payment of wages and immediate release of wages that have been pending for over a year.
