MGNREGA as a Tool for Rural Development

By : Narendera Singh Bohra

Page No: 244-251

Abstract
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), now Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is one of the largest rural development programmes, aimed enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It is a direct poverty reduction pathway through boosting employment and income for the poor. The basic economic logic of self-targeting employment guarantee scheme is that the households whose members are most likely to seek (MGNREGA) employment are those that are otherwise unemployment or whose self-employment or market wages option would yield less then the programme’s minimum wages. In the recent past (MGNREGA) is losing momentum, from a peak level of 54 person-days of employment per rural household in 2009–10, this scheme generated 47 person-days in 2010–11, 43 person-days in 2011–12 and 35 person-days in 2012–13 (till early February). Massive amount of funds in this remained unspent in 2010–11 and 2011–12. After the initial success until FY-10 when jobs went up to Rs 283.6 crore person-days, it fell to Rs 257.15 crore in FY-11 and stood at Rs 228.54 crore in FY-13. In the recent past scholars find that MGNREGA performance is disappointing due to certain reasons such as shift of labour from rural to urban areas, absence of transaction-based management information system and delayed payment of rural workers. In this present study, the scholar is focused to find out the application aspects of this scheme in such a place where control and communication system for supervision of this programme is very poor. This research study is aimed to highlight the ill effects of (MGNREGA) in Gangolihat Block in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. This research is divided in three major segments, first part of the research focuses on the budget amount spent in the last five years under the ambit of (MGNREGA), and the nature of work done under this scheme, second part is a study of the poor process by which the remuneration of rural workers is distributed in this scheme and last part of this research highlights how this can be improved by suggesting an alternative model of work and remuneration distribution. This study will help not only in finding the execution error of this scheme but also will suggest the alternative model of effective implementation of such schemes.

Author :
N. S. Bohra currently working as an Assistant Professor in Faculty of Management Studies, Graphic Era University Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Dr Bohra is Ph.D. from Kumaun University Nainital (UK), Management Post Graduate of UP. Technical University Lucknow (UP), Dr Bohra has qualified UGC (NET) (qualified in December 2013). His research interests are Micro Finance, Banking, and Rural development.