25% households in UP, 19% in Odisha, 17% in Bihar, MP didn't get NREGA job: Tracker

By Jag Jivan
A National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) tracker by a civil society network, Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), has found that where was a surge in NREGA work demand during the pandemic, with the total job cards demand this year reaching 7.5 crore and the total active job cards 9.02 crore.
Yet, it complained, only 19 lakh households could finish 100 days of work as compared to 40.61 lakh last year, which suggests, despite the huge a surge in NREGA work demand due to the pandemic, the government failed to meet the rising demand.
Estimating that, across India, there was around 13% “unmet demand”, as over 97 lakh households’ demand for work could not be met at some point or the other, giving a breakup, the tracker said, “Almost one-fourth of the households in Uttar Pradesh that demanded NREGA work didn’t receive a single day’s work this year.”
It added, “Odisha, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh which were among the states with the highest number of return of migrants during the lockdown, showed an unmet demand of 19%, 17% and 17% respectively.”
On the whole, the tracker said, over 252 crore persondays for NREGA work was generated till November this year, suggesting an increase of 43% compared to the previous year. However, a further analysis suggested funds shortage is a major reason why there was unmet demand.

Thus, it said, over 71% of the total allocated funds for NREGA had already been utilised till November, and another 9.1% had been set aside for pending payments. But with a little more than 100 days still left in the financial year, and likelihood of a high persondays generation in the last four months of the current financial, “NREGA will require another financial boost”, it insisted.
According to the tracker, “The amount allocated to the NREGA this financial year is Rs 1,05,000 crore. The expenditure incurred is Rs. 74,563 core (71%), and pending payments (which includes pending wage payments and pending material payments) is Rs 9,590 crore (9.1%). This leaves Rs 20,847 crore to generate fresh employment, which is a mere 19.8% of the allocation.”

To Sonam Wangchuk: 'Will undertake 70 hour solidarity fast in Gujarat'

By Martin Macwan * Dear Colleague Sonam Wangchuk, I have never met you personally. I wrote a short article at the time of your arrest. Your work correctly introduces you. There is truth in your words. You have embarked on a fast, following the footsteps of Gandhiji. Your intention is to make people think. Your demand is reasonable; I believe that the resignation of a single education minister will not improve the state of education in India. However, the question you have raised is extremely important for the future generation of the marginalized. Education is the key to power, development, and progress, which empowers a citizen.

Gujarat police SOP sparks questions over communal profiling

By Shabnam Hashmi* The Gujarat government must be held accountable for what appears to be a deeply disturbing instance of state-sponsored communal profiling. Ahmedabad resident Sahal Qureshi recently shared with me an official document , which I translated with the help of AI before forwarding it to several media organisations and political leaders.

US civil society coalition slams Hudson Institute for hosting RSS leaders

By A Representative The Hudson Institute ’s “New India Conference,” held on April 23, featured senior figures from India’s ruling political ecosystem, including RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and BJP foreign affairs head Vijay Chauthaiwale . The event also included U.S. officials and former diplomats such as Kurt Campbell, Kenneth Juster, and Nisha Biswal, alongside India’s Ambassador to the U.S., Vinay Kwatra.

Counterview

Search This Blog