Implementation of MGNREGA & Its Impact on Rural Madhya Pradesh

Author(s): Denzil Fernandes

Source: Indian Journal of Industrial Relations , January 2015, Vol. 50, No. 3 (January
2015), pp. 505-516
Published by: Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24549111

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Implementation of MGNREGA & Its Impact on
Rural Madhya Pradesh

Denzil Fernandes

Introduction

The National Rural Employment

Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employ Guarantee Act (NREGA), legislated in
ment Guarantee Act 2005, is considered one of the best legis
(MGNREGA) has been lations by the erstwhile Dr. Manmohan
providing
Singh-led
100 days employment to the UPAru Government as it has
been a bold
ral poor since coming into force attempt to make the devel
in 2006. However, theopment process more participative and
progress
of the implementation ofThis
inclusive. legislation embodies the
this
flagship scheme of true
the spirit of the Directive Principles of
govern
ment has been ridden with sev State Policy enshrined in the Constitu
eral bottlenecks that prevented tion of India by providing the right to work

it from giving the desired results. to the poorest sections of society in rural
Taking the case of Madhya India. In order to boost economic growth
Pradesh, which is one of the through inclusive development policies
backward states in the country, that reduce rural unemployment and un
this study, carried out in 2012, der-employment, this legislation aims at
dwells into awareness levels, (i) providing guarantee of gainful employ
implementation status and the ment within the vicinity of the rural
impact of the scheme on rural people with a statutory minimum wage;
employment, agriculture, and (ii) creation of durable assets and
women's empowerment and local strengthening the resource base of the
governance. rural poor. Renamed in 2009 after the
Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi,
this Act provides at least one hundred
days of guaranteed wage paid public
employment in a financial year to every
household whose adult members volun
Denzil Fernandes is Editor of Hashiye Ki Awaz and
teer to engage in unskilled manual labor.
HoD, Department of Dalit Studies, Indian Social
It is hoped that the implementation of this
Institute, New Delhi. E-mail: denzil.sj@gmail.com

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 3, January 2015 505

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 Denzil Fernandes

scheme would increase availability of Tribes. In addition, MGNREGA wor

employment in rural areas resulting in an resulted in the development of rura
increase in rural incomes and purchas- sets such as roads and irrigation cana
ing power of rural poor; ensure greater besides water conservation, water h
participation of women and backward vesting, flood protection, drought pro
communities; improve agricultural pro- ing and renovation of traditional wate
ductivity; reduce distress migration from bodies,
rural areas; and strengthen rural infra
structure through asset creation in vil- Periodic independent evaluation
lages and regenerate natural resources the implementation process
required to boost the local rural economy. MGNREGA as well as its impact on
ral India is essential for an unbiased view
of an important flagship rural develop
On an average 5 crore households , j ° - ... ,
., , . , , ment program undertaken at the national
were provided with employment
level. Since Madhya Pradesh is one of
annually since 2008.
the under-developed states in India, an
analysis of the implementation and im
The first phase of the implementa- pact of MGNREGA in Madhya Pradesh
tion of MGNREGA began in 2006 cov- provides many insights into the effective
ering 200 most backward districts of In- ness of the implementation of govern
dia, which was later extended to all the ment policy and programs at the grass
nearly 600 districts in the country in 2008. root level.
Madhya Pradesh, being one of the back
ward states in India, accounted for 18 Madhya Pradesh is geographically
districts that were covered in the first the second largest state situated in Cen
phase of implementation. The all-India tral India. With a population of 7.26
performance of MGNREGA has been crores, it is the sixth most populous state
impressive according to Government sta- in India. A large proportion of its popula
tistics. Since its inception over 1200 crore tion consists of backward communities
person days of employment has been such as Scheduled Castes (15.6 %) and
generated and over Rs. 1,00,000 crore Scheduled Tribes (21.1%), according to
of wage payments were made to rural Census 2011 the share of agricultural
households. On an average 5 crore workers in total rural work force was
households were provided with employ- 82.5 percent in 2004-05. Out of the total
ment annually since 2008. Since wage rural workers, farmers constitute 61.4
payments are made through bank/post percent and 38.6 percent belong to agri
office accounts, over 10 crore new bank/ cultural laborer category. In the same
post office accounts were opened. Ru- survey, it was found that out of the total
ral wage rates increased enhancing ru- agricultural laborers Scheduled Tribe and
ral household incomes, especially those Scheduled Castes constitute 35.9 per
belonging to marginalized communities cent and 28.5 percent respectively
such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled (NSSO, 2006). If we look at the data of

506 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 3, January 2015

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 Implementation of MGNREGA

Rural Labor Enquiry Report 1999/ while 63.2 per cent of them are small and
2000, Scheduled Caste male and Sched- marginal farmers. Poverty estimates
uled Caste female laborers earned Rs. 2011-12 of the Planning Commission re
30.1 and Rs. 24.44 per person respec- veal that 35.74 per cent (i.e. 190.95
tively and Scheduled Tribe male and lakhs) of the rural population in Madhya
Scheduled Tribe female laborers earned Pradesh are living in poverty. This is only
Rs. 29.85 and Rs. 26.05 per person re- marginally lower than the NSSO data for
spectively in Madhya Pradesh. Accord- 2004-05, which estimated that rural pov
ing to the 66th Round ofNSSO data, 12.3 erty was 36.8 per cent in Madhya
per cent of rural households are landless Pradesh (Table 1).
Table 1 Number (Lakh) and Percentage of Rural Persons Below Poverty: 1983,1993-94 and
2004-05

1983 1993-94 2004-05

State No. of % of State's No. of % of State's No. of % of State's

Persons Persons share in Persons Persons share in Persons Persons share in
the Poor the Poor the Poor

Madhya 215.5 48.9 8.6 216.2 40.6 8.9 251 36.8 10.8
Pradesh
INDIA 2519.6 45.7 -
2440.3 37.3 -
2321.6 28.3

Source: 1. For 1983 and 1993 -94, Govt, of India, National Human Development Report, 2001,
Planning Commission, March 2002.
2. For 2004-05, Mahendra Dev and C. Ravi, "Poverty and Inequality: All-India and State
1983-2005", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLII, No.6, January 10-16, 2007.
Table compiled by G.K. Chadha for ILO Asia-Pacific Working Paper Series, "Emplo
ment and Poverty in Rural India: Which way to Go Now", October 2008.

ertheless they also highlighted several

The period during which shortcomings in the implementation
MGNREGA was implemented in sc]iemej such as inadequate imp
Madhya Pradesh did not result in mentation apparatus and lack of admin
a significant reduction in rural pov
istrative and technical manpower, that
erty. reduces its efficacy to become a means
Macro-economic data indicate that of inclusive development in rural India
the period during which MGNREGA was (Chhabraet. al., 2010). In addition to the
implemented in Madhya Pradesh did not evaluation reports of the Government on
result in a significant reduction in rural MGNREGA, an analysis into the imple
poverty as one would have expected, mentation process and impact of
Earlier studies have also pointed out that MGNREGA in Madhya Pradesh is es
there have been encouraging results in sential after seven years of its implemen
various aspects of MGNREGA such as tation in order to uncover the impediments
increase in job demand and registration that Prevent the effectiveness of the
of workers (Ambasta et al., 2008); nev- sc'iem

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 3, January 2015 507

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 Denzil Fernandes

Objectives & Methodology implementation of NREGA from Febru

ary 2, 2006.
In response to the need to evaluate
the effectiveness of the implementation In addition to the survey method,
of MGNREGA during the last 5-7 years, qualitative data was collected in the form
Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, con- of case studies and in-depth interviews
ducted a research study on the "Impie- of officials at the village, block and dis
mentation Status and Impact of trict levels. The primary data collection
MGNREGA in Madhya Pradesh". This took place from August to October 2013.
research project was part of a larger
study of MGNREGA in six States, The objectives of the study are as
namely, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, follows:
Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh. The study of MGNREGA in 1. To investigate the level of under
Madhya Pradesh was conducted in col- standing and awareness level about
laboration with Gopal Kiran Samaj Seva MGNREGA among the villagers at
Sansthan (GKSSS), the Gwalior based the district level in the state of
local project partner agency, which pro- Madhya Pradesh.
vided its services in data collection and
2. To review the current status of the
other research activities from August . , . .
2012 to April 2013 implementation of
Madhya Pradesh.

The study adopted the survey method 3. To assess th

drawing a sample of 480 households, in the selecte
which included 30 households randomly larly on rural
chosen from each of the 16 villages cho- ties, agricult
sen from 8 blocks in 4 districts of Madhya ment
Pradesh. This implies that after 4 districts panchayati r
were chosen from 50 d istricts of Madhya
Pradesh, 2 blocks were chosen from Pr°R'e °f Re
each sample district. Further, two villages
were chosen from each block. The main ëenera' pr
criterion for choosing districts, blocks and holds reveals
villages was the highest SC/ST popula- nant|y ma,e (74
tion using data from Census of India, women (25.4 per
2001. This criterion sought to assess the Wlth hl8h Proport
state of implementation of MGNREGA communities we
in the socially most backward districts of responden
Madhya Pradesh. The sample districts Castes (38.3 pe
chosen were Dhar, Sagar, Siddhi and (37.7 per cent),
Chhindwara. Dhar and Siddhi were (16.8 per cent) an
among the first 200 districts chosen for Per cent>- They P

508 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.

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 Implementation of MGNREGA

to communities practicing Hindu religious supplement MGNREGA in order to bring

traditions (97.9 per cent) and the remain- down poverty levels in rural India,
ing respondents belonged to minority
communities. Awareness Levels about
MGNREGA

They pre-dominantly belonged to

In a demand driven employment gen
communities practicing Hindu re
eration scheme such as MGNREGA, the
ligious traditions.
awareness among the people about the
important provisions of the scheme is
The socio-economic profile of the critical for its success. In spite of
respondents reveals a grim picture. The studies indicating that there is a hig
household income of 83 per cent of the of awareness about MGNREG
population is less than Rs. 65.8 per day research reveals that the aware
or less than the international standard of els of basic provisions of the A
$ 1.25 dollars a day. As far as land hold- rural households were not encou
ing is concerned, 73.1 per cent of the Only 51.6 per cent of the hou
households are landless and another 16.5 were aware that job card holde
per cent are small and marginal farmers, can apply for employmen
The educational attainment levels of the MGNREGA and only 47.2 per c
respondents are also dismal. 55.6 per cent the households were aware th
of them are illiterate and another 29.7 were entitled to 100 days employ
percent are school dropouts. Their ac- a year (Table 2). Awareness o
cess to some decent housing is also poor provisions of the Act was very p
as 86.3 per cent of them live in kutchha instance, only 5.2 per cent of t
houses. Excluding employment generated holds were aware of unemploym
by MGNREGA, 68.1 per cent of house- lowance, 11.7 per cent were a
holds are otherwise either unemployed or compensation in case of inj ury cau
engaged in casual labor. Finally, the ex- an accident at the worksite and
tent of poverty in the region is borne out cent of respondents were awar
by the finding that 71.8 per cent of the amount sanctioned and sp
sample households were below the pov- MGNREGA works in their villag
erty line and had BPL cards in their pos
session. Therefore, it is pertinent to note
The awareness levels of basic pro
that MGNREGA provides employment to
. .. e it .• u visions ofvisions
the Actof the Act rural
among amongI rural
the poorest sections of rural India. How- , ,, .
f. c n r • I ... households were not encouraging.
ever, after 5-7 years of implementation 6 &
of MGNREGA, the people in these back- ^
ward regions of Madhya Pradesh con- Implementation Process
tinue to remain under impoverished con
ditions. This implies that a lot more ini- Institutional arrangements for the
tiatives and efforts need to be made to implementation of MGNREGA have been

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 3, January 2015 509

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 Denzil Fernandes

Table 2 Awareness of MGNREGA

Sr.
Sr.No. Awareness Awareness
No. Respondents
Respondents
(%) (%)
I. 1.Only
Onlyjob
job card card holder
holder can apply for employment can apply for employment 51.6 51.6
2.2. MGNREGA
MGNREGA guarantees guarantees
100 days of employment 100 days of employment 47.2 47.2
3. 3. Provision of allowance
Provision of unemployment unemployment allowance 5.2 5.2
4.4. Compensation
Compensation for injury fordue to injury due to accident at worksite 11.7
accident at worksite 11.7
5.5. Amount sanctioned
Amount sanctioned and works
and spent for MGNREGA spent for MGNREGA works 6.4 6.4

Source: Primary data from Field Survey

in place in Madhya Pradesh with Gram Panchayat registers households, is

panchayats being engaged in a major way. sues job cards, registers demand for work
Consequently, the Department of and allots employment opportunities within
Panchayat and Rural Development is 15 days,
made the nodal agency overseeing its
implementation. It is responsible for pre- With 99.6 per cent of the sample
paring annual plans, ensuring that the state households having job cards and 92.5 per
receives its share for the implementation cent of households getting employment
ofMGNREGA and ensuring smooth flow under the scheme, our primary data
of funds to the districts. There is also the shows that the coverage of MGNREGA
Madhya Pradesh State Employment Guar- in rural areas has been impressive. How
antee Council that periodically reviews, ever, the implementation ofMGNREGA
supervises and monitors the implementa- has been very inefficient. In fact, sev
tion ofMGNREGA. It also publicizes it in eral irregularities have been noticed in the
the widest possible manner and advises process of implementation,
the State Government on all matters con
cerning its implementation. At the district
The implementation ofMGNREGA
level, the District Program Coordinator
has been very inefficient.
consolidates plan proposals of Panchayats
and prepares a Labor budget for sanction
by the District Panchayat. The Coordina- Earlier studies had already highlighted
tor also coordinates the activities of Pro- the structural challenges to the implemen
gram Officers, reviews, monitors and su- tation apparatus of MGNREGA, which
pervises MGNREGA works and redress was found to be inadequate and ill-capaci
grievances, if any. At the block level, the tated. Firstly, several Program Officers of
Janpad-level Program Officer matches MGNREGA were found to be govern
demand for work with employment oppor- ment officials, who have been overbur
tunities, prepares block plans, ensures dened with this responsibility as an addi
prompt and fair payment of wages as well tional charge. Besides, there has been a
as allowances and ensures regular social shortage of administrative and technical
audit, in addition to the normal function of personnel for MGNREGA works at the
monitoring the projects and addressing Block and Gram Panchayat levels, espe
complaints. Finally, at the village level, the cially Program Officers, Technical Assis

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 Implementation of MGNREGA

tants, and Employment Guarantee Assis- Chhindwara district, due to the political
tants. In some places there was the ab- machinations of the dominant castes in the
sence of annual plans, while in others the village, in spite of having a Sarpanch from
annual working plans were inadequate, ST community, 150 SC/ST families have
delayed or not ratified by the gram sabhas. not got job cards even after completing
Similarly, some gram sabhas were not ac- all formalities for the purpose.
tively involved in the process of planning
and panchayats were forced to implement
Job cards were not issued free of
action plans made by the district. Besides,
cost to 37.8 per cent of households
systems for financial management and
and only 14.7 per cent got their job
tracking were deficient, with numerous —— —
b „,. ..... , cards within a month
instances of diversion or misutihzation, and
delay in transfer of state share. Further,
maintenance of records at the block and Facilities a
GP levels was extremely poor, and the
status of monitoring, evaluation and social MGNR
audit was also not up to the mark (Chhabra local panch
et. al., 2010). In some districts there was facilities, suc
neither social audit nor village level vigi- kit, crèche a
lance committees (Ambasta et al., 2008). However,
Pradesh reveals that the facilities at the
Job Cards work site have also not been satisfac
tory. Primary data from the four
One of the formalities which are es- of Madhya Prad
sential for getting employment under cent of respon
MGNREGA is the making of a job card, had been prov
Each family has one job card with details water, 22.5 p
of the family and bank account. Earlier knowledged th
studies had indicated that there has been Box and only 8.3
an increase in registration of workers as was a crèche
well as job demand. However, our find
ings reveal that there have been some 100 Days Em
constraints. Job cards are supposed to be
issued by the Gram Panchayat to the ap- As far as th
plicants free of cost within a month after employmen
application is made, but our primary data cerned, primary
reveals that job cards were not issued free the year 2011-1
of cost to 37.8 per cent of households and spondents got w
only 14.7 per cent got their job cards within days and only
a month. Besides, 16.4 per cent of them holds got 100 days
had to pay a bribe to get a job card. In year. Consequent
Datlawadi village of Junnardeo Block of cent of the r

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 Denzil Fernandes

come from MGNREGA works for vari- signatures or thumb impressions on

ous reasons such as not having job cards of paper called 'nikasiwaliparchi' or
or not demanding work, 64.2 per cent of drawal forms. Only 16.6 per cent o
the respondents received not more than respondents claimed that the detail
Rs. 5000 as income from MGNREGA the payment were made available to t
works during the year 2011-2012. in advance. In Upani village in Sidd
Block and District, a man belonging to
Payment of Wages Harijan community worked with his sons
—- for 15-35 days on each of the three
t, . t e - MGNREGA projects. The amount each
Payment of wages for nearly half of _ , v J „
the workers has been either de
of them was to receive was Rs. 3
but after 7 months they have rec
layed or irregular.
only Rs. 2,200. In spite of the provis
for compensation for accidents a
Accountability and transparency in MGNREGA work sites, our
the payment of wages for MGNREGA not find any person who re
works is crucial for the credibility of this dent compensation. In R
guaranteed employment scheme. In this läge of Block Parasia in
regard, all payments must be entered in District, a young widow a
the muster roll, which is displayed and mother of three small chi
read at the time of payment. Primary data jured while digging at a MGN
from the four districts of Madhya Pradesh However, she did not receive
reveals that the stipulated guidelines for cal treatment or compensation
payment of wages have been followed forwarding an application f
for only 47.9 per cent of the respondents. Since her job card is with the
Further, only 56 per cent of the respon- Secretary, she is helpless an
dents received the payment regularly his mercy. On a positive note
within a month after the work is done, of the respondents received
This indicates that payment of wages for ment allowance". This find
nearly half of the workers has been ei- earlier studies which indicat
ther delayed or irregular. Our findings is hardly anyone who gets un
corroborate with earlier studies that allowance and only a few
showed instances where less wages have able to get it after a lo
been paid. In Datlawadi village of (Siddhartha, 2008). Intere
Junnardeo Block of Chhindwara District, Umreth village of Parasiy
the Sarpanch is taking advantage of the Chhindwara District, a 12
lack of awareness among SC/ST com- received unemployment allow
munities by paying them Rs. 50 as daily 100 for 13 days. Another
wage for MGNREGA related works in development is that 8.1 pe
spite of the actual wage rate being Rs. spondents were provided extr
132. They are neither given job cards or travelling to the worksite
pass books, but they are made to put their away from their residence.

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 Implementation of MGNREGA

Execution of Works available and allotted for 47.7 per cent of

respondents and therefore, a majority of
Government of Madhya Pradesh has respondents got to know about it through
initiated twelve individual and community friends, relatives, neighbors, and other
assets building schemes under acquaintances. According to our primar
MGNREGA. They are: KapilDhara irri- data, only 15.2 per cent of responden
gation structures (dug well, check dam, were aware of a Gram Rozgar Se
farm pond on private land), appointed to supervise and measure th
NandanPhalodyan (horticulture on pri- work done under MGNREGA. It is al
vate land), BhumiShilp (farm bunding on pertinent to note that 18.3 per cent of t
private land), Shall Pam (soil conserva- households revealed that contractors ca
tion and plantation in degraded hills), out MGNREGA works. Further, 44.5%
Vanya (plantation in community waste the households were unhappy about
land), Resham (sericulture in community discrimination in work allotment an
as well as private land), NirmalNeer (well their perception, there was caste or
and tank construction for community drink- der discrimination at the worksite. In
ing water), NirmalVatika (construction of dition, 32.9 per cent of households claim
leaching pit and fruit tree plantation), that there was corruption in the implemen
Meenakhi (pisciculture), Sahasradhara tation process of MGNREGA. Due to h
(micro irrigation structure with canals), levels of inefficiency in the processe
Srunkhalabadh JalSanrachana (con- implementation, the impact of MGNREG
struction of series of stop dams in rivers) on the rural masses has been marginal.
and NahronkaRakhRakhav (construction
and repair of irrigation canals) (Dalapati, nder dis- I
There was caste or gender dis
2010). However, the entire process of crimination at the worksite.
decision-making and execution of the
works is an important aspect of
*,e_J
MGNREGA. In the beginning, it is impor- Monitoring of Works
tant to note that the success of any gov
ernment initiated program depends on the Monitoring and evaluation is an im
participation of the local population. Pri- portant aspect of any project work and
mary data in the four sample districts of therefore MGNREGA stipulates that there
Madhya Pradesh reveals that only 16.8 be a monitoring committee set up that pre
per cent of respondents felt that they were sents its report regularly to the Gram
part of the decision making process for Sabha. According to our primary data, only
the selection of projects by the Gram 15 per cent of the households were aware
Sabha. Further, only 37.5 per cent of the of a monitoring committee set up for
respondents claimed that there were MGNREGA works in their village. Be
project meetings held before MGNREGA sides, only 7.2 per cent of the respondents
works, though not very regularly. Inter- were aware of the committee presenting
estingly, the Gram Sabha was the source its report to the Gram Sabha. In addition,
of information on MGNREGA works only 19.3 per cent of the households

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 3, January 2015 513

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 Denzil Fernandes

claimed that there was indeed regular to increased liquor consumption and
scrutiny of MGNREGA records. cial evils associated with it.

Impact on Household Income Impact on Employment

T. , , . . . . , One of the main objectives of

It led to a sharp increase in rural ...
. , nur MGNREGA has been to generate em
wage rates for casual labor for men , .
■ . ... . . . , ployment opportunities in rural areas in
and women and this in turn has also , , ,
led to an increase in household in order to reduce rural unemploymen
comes.
under-employment. In spite of the
ficiencies in the implementatio
MGNREGA, to a large extent the
The main feature of MGNREGA is population has benefi
that it provides guaranteed wage employ- employment. For 89
ment for 100 days, thus enhancing house- households in the
hold income. In our study in four districts Madhya Pradesh at leas
of Madhya Pradesh, as many as 77.3 per the household got employm
cent of the households have got up to Rs. year 2011-12. Due t
5,000 as wages from MGNREGA works per cent of the househ
and 75.5 per cent of the households migrating to other pl
claimed that they have benefitted eco- work. MGNREGA was
nomically from MGNREGA as it has not lar among people livin
only increased household income but it has Madhya Pradesh for th
also given them an assured source of in- (1) It provided for em
come. One of the secondary effects of lean season; (2) It p
MGNREGA is that since the wage for availability of employm
MGNREGA was fixed at Rs. 100 per day own gram panchayat; a
and above, it led to a sharp increase in for employment for w
rural wäge rates for casual labor for men equal to men.
and women and this in turn has also led to

an increase in household incomes. In- Impact on Agriculture

crease in household incomes has the ca

pacity to improve human capital in rural A lot of emphasis of MGNREG

areas. Primary data from our study re- has been on water and soil conser
veals that 19.5 per cent of households at- tion, building check dams, wells an
tributed the improvement of the educa- other assets in order to improve th
tional status of their children to the intro- productivity of agriculture especially o
duction of MGNREGA. There have also small and marginal farmers in rural a
been some secondary negative effects of eas. Primary data from the four dis
MGNREGA such as the perception of tricts of Madhya Pradesh reveals th
50.6% of the households that higher in- agricultural output of 31.6 per cent
come on account of MGNREGA has led households improved. The collater

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 Implementation of MGNREGA

negative effects of MGNREGA include Impact on PRIs

the perception of 14.5 per cent of
households that there is insufficient la- MGNREGA has galvanized the local
bor for agricultural activity due to governance structures to function in a
MGNREGA works. way that benefits local communities in
rural areas. Primary data reveal that only
Impact on Women 28.5 per cent of the households have ac
knowledged the important role played by
The encouragement for the partici- the Panchayati Raj Institutions at
pation of women in MGNREGA works levels. Dasai village of Sardarpur
has created some impact in the gender in Dhar District has been a good e
relations in rural areas. Some studies of the effective functioning of P
found instances of turning away women the implementation of MGNRE
workers, but in this study 83.5 per cent MGNREGA wage rate of Rs. 1
of the households have acknowledged displayed in Panchayat Bhawan
that there has been a lot of emphasis as other government sites. A
given to the participation of women in chart of every scheme is proacti
works related to MGNREGA. This find- played in the Panchayat Office. A
ing confirms earlier studies that in some engaged in MGNREGA works in
panchayats, women are among the most läge got their wages on time. Ho
vocal members of the vigilance commit- the Sarpanch, who belonged to
tees and gram sabhas (Khera, 2008; uled Tribe community, was unhappy
Khera & Nayak, 2009). The availability the procedures of approval of pro
of employment for women under posais and the lack of funds ne
MGNREGA and the equal wages for provide 100 days of work to all
men and women has also led to the per- holders. Data reveal that there is
ception among 80.4 per cent of house- scope for improvement in the f
holds that women make a significant con- ing of PRIs so that the implem
tribution to household income, which has process of MGNREGA and ot
led to the improvement of livelihoods of ernment initiatives can reach the ta
rural households. In a country where the beneficiaries,
gender disparity is very high, primary data
indicates that there is a strong percep- Conclusion
tion that MGNREGA improved the sta
tus of women in 62.5 per cent of house- The findings of this study
holds as they are contributing to augment awareness levels of the rural popul
household livelihood. However, only 35.2 on MGNREGA, the processes o
per cent of the households were willing mentation of the scheme and the
to concede that the introduction of it has made on the lives of the rural com
MGNREGA has led to the improvement munities has shown some encouraging
in the social status of women at the vil- signs of making development processes
läge level. more participative and inclusive of all com

The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 3, January

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 Denzil Fernandes

munities but at the same time it also has

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516 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 3, January 2015

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