NREGA : A Perspective

By Jalnidh Kaur (St. Stephen's College)

Distance perpetuates poverty. As I travelled from the centre of the Sriganganagar district in Northern Rajasthan to the fringe, that is what I discovered - a parallel movement of the people working under NREGA from the centre to the fringes of their economic landscape.

The MGNREGA under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is indeed a commendable act. Every family in the specified rural areas, measured by the number of chulhas serving a group of people is entitled to 100 days of assured employment within 5 km of their house. I chose to survey two NREGA sites in the district on the basis of the diversification of work in these areas and to record the work progress and gauge the success rate.

The first site we surveyed was Mirzewala, 12 kilometres from Sriganganagar where the road widening work was in progress from 16.06.2011. The road, I was told, was a State Highway. The labor force of 65 comprised mostly middle-aged women. A possible reason for this could be the job card. Since each family is allotted one job card, workers may choose to complete their stipulated 100 days of work in turns with their family members – each member in a family of four could contribute 25 days of work, working together or in different shifts over the year. The NREGA in Rajasthan where the minimum daily wage, at present is Rs 119 promises a wage of more than 10,000 per year to every family (contingent on the task performed by the group under the group system). However, the wage as we enquired from the women laborers at this site, varied from Rs 90 to Rs 100. NREGA permits wage payments on a daily rate as well as on a piece rate. Since Rajasthan has followed the piece rate system – wages are paid in proportion to the work performed; earning the minimum wage requires completion of the prescribed task for the group.

The rest 265 days of the year, the source of employment for this section of people is agriculture which by its basic nature is seasonal in nature but promises a daily wage of Rs 60-70 for each labourer. NREGA has undoubtedly raised the wage income of the people during the period of off-season agriculture (non-sowing and non-harvesting months). Direct personal interview with the laborers here revealed a significant level of contentment at the wages received, which had improved their living although no assets had been created using the additional income.

The progress towards the second site at Sangatpura located right at the international border through the desert landscape was a drive towards an economic desert. No toilets, no pakka houses, no implements supplied by the NREGA reached the region.

Poverty has become such a mechanical term in textbooks and classroom discussions. The abstract version of the term was what I saw in the eyes of the people here. Some of the ladies cried as truth slowly emanated out of some feigned responses by the bunch of old ladies there. I was surprised to see the change in their tone as the Sarpanch joined us. They veiled their faces and replied rather laconically thereafter. Only some brave old ladies took courage and spilled the beans.

The heart of the matter, as it came up, was that much of the consumption expenditure gets drained into feeding their alcoholic husbands. They were also victims of domestic violence by the husband.

“Bachat karte hain aap?” I asked amateurishly. They looked at each other and smiled at the irrelevance of the question – There are no savings, the income ends in feeding the family and does not translate into assets. “Paise aande baad cha a, asi tan pehla kadhaan nu karde haan”, I was told in a Punjabi accent. (We desperately wait for them to credit our account with the fortnightly wage, which we withdraw completely right off the bat).

So, while the policy framed by the government is excellent, and its promulgation is smooth, this is where it ends in the end. The social complexities in a region where illiteracy is rampant clog the channels for economic development. It ends in the pockets of their alcoholic husbands; drug addiction among the male members eats up the wage that is earned. While the constant and reliant stream of income from NREGA will help them survive, it is doubtful if it will lift them above the poverty line.

As per the act, the wage is supposed to be transferred within 15 days to the accounts of the laborers, the villagers told us sometimes it took about 2 months for the transfer to occur and that the bank was far – it took a “hefty sum of Rs 5 to the bank and back”.

The survey of the border regions at Sangatpura and Sahibsinghwala presents a paradox. While the NREGA implements are not reaching the area, the laborers are bringing their personal implements to level the ground which banks the H5 minor distributary – there is easy availability of rivers of alcohol. The statistics are encouraging, the work is encouraging but the condition of the laborers is not. You find a disproportionate number of ladies working on the sites, a cursory inspection of their pale hands and nails points to their anemic condition. While the nurse appointed visits the site regularly, she can do little to save them from the beatings of their drunken husbands.

As a first year economics undergrad student who was on her first ground visit, I discovered how these labourers could not be crystallized into mere statistics I held in my hand. The dupattas of the women labourers wet with tears had tales to tell while I could just be a mouthpiece of their woes.