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

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...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

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 ...

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Gujarat agate worker, who fought against bondage, died of silicosis, won compensation

Raju Parmar By Jagdish Patel* This is about an agate worker of Khambhat in Central Gujarat. Born in a Vankar family, Raju Parmar first visited our weekly OPD clinic in Shakarpur on March 4, 2009. Aged 45 then, he was assigned OPD No 199/03/2009. He was referred to the Cardiac Care Centre, Khambhat, to get chest X-ray free of charge. Accordingly, he got it done and submitted his report. At that time he was working in an agate crushing unit of one Kishan Bhil.

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.

Licy Bharucha’s pilgrimage into the lives of India’s freedom fighters

By Moin Qazi* Book Review: “Oral History of Indian Freedom Movement”, by Dr Licy Bharucha; Pp240; Rs 300; Published by National Museum of Indian Freedom Movement The Congress has won political freedom, but it has yet to win economic freedom, social and moral freedom. These freedoms are harder than the political, if only because they are constructive, less exciting and not spectacular. — Mahatma Gandhi The opening quote of the book by Mahatma Gandhi sums up the true objective of India’s freedom struggle. It also in essence speaks for the multitudes of brave and courageous individuals who aspired to get themselves jailed for the cause of the country’s freedom. A jail term was a strong testimony and credential of patriotism for them. The book has been written by Dr Licy Bharucha, an academically trained political scientist and a scholar of peace studies and Gandhian studies, who was closely associated throughout her life with those who made the struggle for India’s independence the primar...

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Covid response? How, gripped by fear and groupthink, scientists 'failed' children

By Bhaskaran Raman* “Today’s children are tomorrow’s future”, “Nurture children’s dreams”, “A child’s smile is sunlight”. These are some cliches, rendered rather uninspiring through repetition and obviousness. However, for nearly 2½ years, society forgot these cliches, children suffered as science failed and groupthink prevailed. Worse, all of this has been swept under the rug.

Search This Blog