NREGS Promises Jobs But Wages are No Guarantee
Ruchika Chitravanshi
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New Delhi:
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CASH CRASH Eight states raise serious concerns with the Centre on a "terrible cash crunch" post demonetisation leading to difficulty in payments which are already delayed
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the government's flagship rural programme, has run into a major hurdle with payments to workers getting stuck due to demonetisation. At least eight states have raised serious concerns with the Centre on a “terrible cash crunch“ leading to difficulty in payments which are already delayed.Daily wages to NREGS workers call for payment to be made in smaller denomination notes which are in short supply even after the government has focused attention on making cash available in rural areas. The average wage rate in NREGS is about . 160 per day per person.` “We are assessing the situation and talking to all states on the impact they are facing after the demonetization drive,“ a senior government official said.
States which have flagged off such concerns include West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha and Manipur among others. The Centre has so far released nearly 90% of the total funds allotted to NREGS amoun . 38,935 crore.ting to ` India made the ` . 1,000 . 500 and ` notes, which accounted for 86% of currency in circulation, invalid on November 8.
It is also a month when activity in NREGS picks up after the labourers get free from agricultu re related work.
So far this year, 151crore person days have been generated under the scheme. Even though the Centre is able to transfer money into a large number of beneficia ries' accounts, the last-mile reach is still a challenge. Between 2,62,000 gram panchayats in the country, there are less than 50,000 bank branches.
While it is a wait-and-watch situation for states, the rural development ministry is taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's drive for cashless economy and Digital India. The government will train 150 people as national resource persons to further train people from states, districts till the gram panchayat level in conducting cashless transactions. The pool of 150 people would include bankers, state and district level officials from each state.
The two-day training programme has been designed by the National Institute of Rural Development and vetted by the NITI Aayog which has also conducted similar such training in government departments in Delhi.
As of now, there are 10.88 crore active workers in NREGS. Government wants to educate all of these workers on using digital payment tools. Besides, the government is trying other options to meet the last-mile challenge of delivering payments, through a better banking correspondent system, and use of mobile banking or interoperable cards in rural areas.
States which have flagged off such concerns include West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha and Manipur among others. The Centre has so far released nearly 90% of the total funds allotted to NREGS amoun . 38,935 crore.ting to ` India made the ` . 1,000 . 500 and ` notes, which accounted for 86% of currency in circulation, invalid on November 8.
It is also a month when activity in NREGS picks up after the labourers get free from agricultu re related work.
So far this year, 151crore person days have been generated under the scheme. Even though the Centre is able to transfer money into a large number of beneficia ries' accounts, the last-mile reach is still a challenge. Between 2,62,000 gram panchayats in the country, there are less than 50,000 bank branches.
While it is a wait-and-watch situation for states, the rural development ministry is taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's drive for cashless economy and Digital India. The government will train 150 people as national resource persons to further train people from states, districts till the gram panchayat level in conducting cashless transactions. The pool of 150 people would include bankers, state and district level officials from each state.
The two-day training programme has been designed by the National Institute of Rural Development and vetted by the NITI Aayog which has also conducted similar such training in government departments in Delhi.
As of now, there are 10.88 crore active workers in NREGS. Government wants to educate all of these workers on using digital payment tools. Besides, the government is trying other options to meet the last-mile challenge of delivering payments, through a better banking correspondent system, and use of mobile banking or interoperable cards in rural areas.
Source: Economic Times, 8-12-2016
