BJP govt 'evades' rural distress, reduces MGNREGA allocation by Rs 9,500 crore

Counterview Desk
The Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), a civil rights group, has taken strong exception to the BJP Government cutting down on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) allocation by Rs 9,500 crore, which it says has happened despite an unprecedented economic slowdown.
This is a “shortfall of at least 28% in the minimum allocation needed” says PAEG in a statement signed by Annie Raja, Jayati Ghosh, Nikhil Dey, Rajendran Narayanan and Rakshita Swamy.

Text:

The Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee is distressed to note the total lack of responsibility and sensitivity accorded by the Union Budget 2020-21 to the rural economy in general, and MGNREGA in particular. It is telling and obviously callous that the Budget estimate for this year at Rs 61,500 crore is Rs 9500 crore less than the revised estimate of 2018-19.
Rural distress has risen to alarming levels. As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of 2017-18, rural unemployment has increased by 8 percent from 2011-12, and overall unemployment is the worst in 45 years. In conjunction with double-digit food inflation levels, this is a serious concern.
The situation is much worse for the landless depending on casual manual labour who constitute more than half the rural population. On ranking the rural population from the poorest to the richest, and dividing them into 10 groups, the Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) has fallen for every group. What this means is that the entire cross section of rural India has become poorer.
In this context, all eyes were on the Union Budget 2020-21 to see how the Central Government would leverage its only legislative mechanism to provide employment and alleviate rural distress i.e. MGNREGA. And the result has been worse than expected, and deeply distressing.

A reduction in the budgetary allocation for MGNREGA in the year 2020-21 is an insult to the law the government has a duty to implement

The BJP government has reduced the budgetary allocation of MGNREGA by Rs 9,500 crore from its revised estimate of 2019-20. The revised estimate of MGNREGA in 2019-20 was Rs 71,000 crore, and the budget estimate of MGNREGA for 2020-21 as announced in the Union Budget today stood at Rs 61,500 crore. The reduction in the budgetary allocation is taking place when the minimum allocation needed to protect the MGNREGA as status quo is nearly Rs 85,927 crore. This in itself is a suppressed figure because:

It does not include the amount of pending liability that might be due at the end of this year for wages, material and administrative cost.
The figure is based on the approved labour budget of 2019-20, which is a suppression of the real labour demand on the ground.
It is based on severely suppressed MGNREGA wages which are below minimum wages in most of the states.

Calculation used to arrive at the minimum allocation of Rs 85,927 crore is as follows:

Considering Rs 268 as the cost of generation of one person day, by accounting for an increase of 8% from previous year’s cost of generation of one person day (Rs 248) due to wage indexation to price rise and inflation.
Considering 270 crore personday as the approved labour budget as of 2019-20.
Total financial allocation required to meet wage payments for approved LB would include 1 + 2, i.e. Rs 72,360 crore.
On average, 25% of the total expenditure has been for material costs (actually this could go upto 40%).. This translates to 0.25*72,360 = Rs 18,090 crore for material component. As per the Act, 75% of the material cost has to be borne by the Central government. Thus, the material cost to the central government is 0.75*18,090 = Rs 13,567 crore.
The total allocation required by the Central Government for wages + material = Rs 72,360 crore + Rs 13,567crore = Rs 85,927 crore.

Pending liabilities have been amounting to nearly one-sixth of each year’s allocation. The “approved labour budget” has been used by the central government to suppress demand. Wage rates of MGNREGA are lower than minimum wages in most states. If these basic factors are taken into account, the minimum allocation required to implement MGNREGA as per the law, enabling a demand based guarantee of 100 days work on demand , should be no less than Rs 1 lakh crore.
February 2 is MGNREGA day. A reduction in the budgetary allocation for MGNREGA in the year 2020-21 is an insult to the law the government has a duty to implement. It is also a clear indication of the BJP Government’s lack of priority towards the marginalised. No less can be expected from a Government led by a Prime Minister who in the Parliament vowed to keep MGNREGA alive only to prove it as a testament of failure.
This is a travesty for the rural poor, for whom the MGNREGA is a potential lifeline. PAEG resolves to continue fighting for a fair allocation to MGNREGA and advocate for its implementation across the country as mandated in the law.

Comments

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Pairing not with law but with perpetrators: Pavlovian response to lynchings in India

By Vikash Narain Rai* Lynch-law owes its name to James Lynch, the legendary Warden of Galway, Ireland, who tried, condemned and executed his own son in 1493 for defrauding and killing strangers. But, today, what kind of a person will justify the lynching for any reason whatsoever? Will perhaps resemble the proverbial ‘wrong man to meet at wrong road at night!’

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Budget for 2018-19: Ahmedabad authorities "regularly" under-spend allocation

By Mahender Jethmalani* The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC's) General Body (Municipal Board) recently passed the AMC’s annual budget estimates of Rs 6,990 crore for 2018-19. AMC’s revenue expenditure for the next financial year is Rs 3,500 crore and development budget (capital budget) is Rs 3,490 crore.

Search This Blog