Do you think additional allocation must be supplemented with appropriate measures to make it MGNREGA more effective during the crisis? Comment (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· The lockdown has resulted in a massive loss of livelihoods, and the 400-million strong unorganised workforce is the worst hit. A significant part of this workforce has migrated to cities from rural areas. With the allocation of an additional Rs 40,000 crore as part of the stimulus package, the Union government has finally acknowledged the importance of MGNREGA.
· The most important part of MGNREGA’s design is its legally-backed guarantee for any rural adult to get work within 15 days of demanding it. This demand-based trigger enables the self-selection of workers and gives them an assurance of at least 100 days of wage employment.
· Given the scale and depth of the current crisis, this additional allocation too will be under stress, as both the number of people demanding work and the number of days of work they demand will go up dramatically.
· State governments must ensure that public works are opened in every village. Workers turning up at the worksite should be provided work immediately, without imposing on them the requirement of demanding work in advance.
· Local bodies must proactively reach out to returned and quarantined migrant workers and help those in need to get job cards.
· The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of decentralised governance. Gram panchayats and elected representatives need to be provided with adequate resources, powers, and responsibilities to sanction works, provide work on demand, and authorise wage payments to ensure there are no delays in payments.
· There needs to be flexibility in the kinds of work to be undertaken, while ensuring that the community and the workers are the primary beneficiaries. While many governments will possibly prioritise individual land-based works to comply with instructions of physical distancing, it is important to also keep community works going to ensure that landless workers are not crowded out of the programme
· With very little autonomy, gram panchayats had begun to find implementation cumbersome. Barring a few exceptions, state governments were only interested in running the programme to the extent funds were made available from the Centre.
· With nearly eight crore migrant workers returning to their villages, and with an additional allocation for the year, this could be a moment for the true revival of MGNREGA. A revival led by workers themselves.
SHUBHAM SHARMA 5 years
Please review, thank you
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
Sandeep 5 years
Kindly review
IAS Parliament 5 years
Try to provide reasons why allocation needs to be supplemented. Keep Writing.
Sanjeev Kumar Singh 5 years
Kindly give feedback
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
Dream high 5 years
Kindly review
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Try to stick to word limit. Keep Writing.
