Editor's Pick: Govt forms panel to look into MGNREGA

Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit The Hindu newsletters page here 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID The Central Government has constituted a committee to review the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, especially to assess the programme’s efficacy as a poverty alleviation tool. The committee, headed by former Rural Development Secretary Amarjeet Sinha, had its first meeting on Monday, and has been given three months to submit its suggestions. Passed in 2005, the MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of unskilled work per year for every rural household that wants it. Currently, 15.51 crore active workers are enrolled in the scheme. The Sinha Committee has now been tasked to study the various factors behind demand for MGNREGA work, expenditure trends and inter-State variations, and the composition of work. It will suggest what changes in focus and governance structures are required to make MGNREGA more effective. “MGNREGA was launched as a poverty alleviation instrument for the rural region, providing them with a safety net in the form of guaranteed work and wages. It was felt that States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where there is higher level of poverty, haven’t been able to utilise the scheme optimally,” a senior official aware of the developments said. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed MGNREGA a “living monument of [the] Congress government’s failure.” In a speech in Parliament, he had said, “After so many years in power, all you were able to deliver is for a poor man to dig ditches a few days a month.” The scheme has also been criticised by economists like Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya as an “inefficient instrument of shifting income to the poor.” The committee has also been set up at a time when at least 15 States, including West Bengal and Bihar, have complained that the Centre had not been releasing MGNERGA dues. The Union Rural Development Ministry cited procedural lapses including lack of social audits and corruption on the ground for the delay in releasing funds. With four months to go for the financial year to end, ₹59,420 crore has already been spent out of the ₹73,000 crore sanctioned for the scheme. The Rural Development Ministry has asked for an additional ₹25,000 crore from the Finance Ministry for the anticipated expenditure before the financial year ends. Regardless of the criticism, MGNREGA acted as a crucial safety net during the COVID pandemic. In the financial year 2020-21, the number of person days of work provided under the scheme rose to 389 crore, in comparison to the previous year’s figure of just 265 crore. As per the current statistics, 196 crore person days of work have already been generated this year. The Hindu’s Editorials A deeper message: On Nepal elections Election as referendum: On Scotland’s independence The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz In which year did Meghalaya become a full-fledged state? 1972 1976 1968 1982 [logo] Editor's Pick 26 NOVEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Govt forms panel to look into MGNREGA Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit The Hindu newsletters page [here]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID The Central Government has constituted a committee to [review the implementation]( of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, especially to assess the programme’s efficacy as a poverty alleviation tool. The committee, headed by former Rural Development Secretary Amarjeet Sinha, had its first meeting on Monday, and has been given three months to submit its suggestions. Passed in 2005, the MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of unskilled work per year for every rural household that wants it. Currently, 15.51 crore active workers are enrolled in the scheme. The Sinha Committee has now been tasked to study the various factors behind demand for MGNREGA work, expenditure trends and inter-State variations, and the composition of work. It will suggest what changes in focus and governance structures are required to make MGNREGA more effective. “MGNREGA was launched as a poverty alleviation instrument for the rural region, providing them with a safety net in the form of guaranteed work and wages. It was felt that States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where there is higher level of poverty, haven’t been able to utilise the scheme optimally,” a senior official aware of the developments said. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed MGNREGA a “living monument of [the] Congress government’s failure.” In a speech in Parliament, he had said, “After so many years in power, all you were able to deliver is for a poor man to dig ditches a few days a month.” The scheme has also been criticised by economists like Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya as an “inefficient instrument of shifting income to the poor.” The committee has also been set up at a time when at least 15 States, including West Bengal and Bihar, have complained that the [Centre had not been releasing MGNERGA dues](. The Union Rural Development Ministry cited procedural lapses including lack of social audits and corruption on the ground for the delay in releasing funds. With four months to go for the financial year to end, ₹59,420 crore has already been spent out of the ₹73,000 crore sanctioned for the scheme. The Rural Development Ministry has asked for an additional ₹25,000 crore from the Finance Ministry for the anticipated expenditure before the financial year ends. Regardless of the criticism, MGNREGA acted as a crucial safety net during the COVID pandemic. In the financial year 2020-21, the number of person days of work provided under the scheme rose to 389 crore, in comparison to the previous year’s figure of just 265 crore. As per the current statistics, 196 crore person days of work have already been generated this year. 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