Govt of India 'eliminating' rural jobs scheme: Allocation one third of NREGA demand

By A Representative
Ahead of the presentation of the Union budget, the civil rights networks Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) and NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), have claimed that an estimated Rs 2,71,862 crore would be required as a budgetary allocation for FY 2023-24 for implementing of the rural jobs scheme under the provisions of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) if all the workers who worked in the current year were to be given 100 days of work.
Even as focusing on other issues affecting NREGA such as social audits, wage delays and the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app, the statement asserted that work and payment of wages under NREGA, which have been stopped for more than a year in West Bengal under the garb of corruption, must be resumed immediately.
Talking to media while releasing the statement, Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, said, if the government sees NREGA as a demand-based programme, and according to the law, the labourers must get 100 days of work on the basis of demand, then the budget of NREGA for the year 2023-2024 should be Rs 2,73,000 crore.

At present, he said, the budget allocated for NREGA which is Rs 73,000 crore, less than one-third of the required amount for NREGA. Due to the non-allocation of sufficient funds for NREGA, the work demand of NREGA workers is not being met by States. In this way we see that NREGA workers are being punished as well as ignored by the Central government.
Ashish Ranjan of the Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, Bihar, drew the attention to how the Central government is trying to eliminate NREGA through continuous changes. Instead of this, the Centre should focus on doing structural reforms in NREGA, and should focus on such states where administration is not so strong through which NREGA can operate successfully.
For its effective implementation, he said, the administrative system should focus on resolving the issue of unfilled panchayat office positions in states over the years. About 40% of such posts are vacant in Bihar, which should be filled immediately. Instead of improving such structure, the government is engaged in re-evaluation of NREGA, behind which the intention is to create hurdles for NREGA.
Stating that the government has not paid wages in West Bengal for one year by making the issue of corruption, he noted, “On the other hand, under the leadership of Amarjit Sinha, a committee has been formed, which will investigate the states which are in the most poor category for NREGA”, apprehending, “NREGA can be obstructed in the same way as it has been done in West Bengal, by making an issue that more money is being spent in one State as compared to other States.”
Annie Raja of the National Federation for Indian Women highlighted the importance of the process of social audit provisioning under NREGA, and how it has proven to be a compromise to eliminate corruption in NREGA.

% of initial budget spent in clearing past dues

For this, she gave examples of successful social audits done in the early days, criticising the Central government for not allocating any budget for social audit. Yet, she complained, without doing social audit, the Centre is accusing States of corruption for not giving money, which is completely contradictory.
Vijay from PAEG, talking about the ongoing havoc of the NMMS app, said, not only the government does not pay the workers for the work done on time, it is seeking to make attendance mandatory through the NMMS app, which makes it mandatory for workers to have Android mobiles. It is like a double whammy on the workers.
On the other hand, he added, there is no system to register attendance offline as an alternative to online attendance, due to which attendance missed due to lack of network in rural areas is not recorded again. In this way, a large number of labourers are being deprived of their right to work.
---
Click here for the detailed statement, here for video testimonies

Comments

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Civil society flags widespread violations of land acquisition Act before Parliamentary panel

By Jag Jivan Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in Scheduled Areas and tribal regions.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

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.

Beyond the island: Top mythologist reorients the geography of the Ramayana

By Jag Jivan In a compelling new analysis that challenges conventional geographical assumptions about the ancient epic, writer and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik has traced the roots of the Ramayana to the forests and river systems of Central and Eastern India, rather than the peninsular south or the modern island nation of Sri Lanka.

Concentration of wealth in India at levels 'comparable to colonial times', says new report

By Jag Jivan A new report published in March 2026 by the Centre for Financial Accountability and the Tax The Top campaign paints a stark picture of deepening economic disparity in India, documenting a concentration of wealth that it argues is “comparable to colonial times.” Titled Wealth Tracker India | Tax the Top. Close the Gap , the compilation presents data from the World Inequality Database and the Hurun Rich List to illustrate the meteoric rise of the ultra-wealthy alongside the stagnation and debt burdens of the majority.

Search This Blog