DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA

• SUBJECT CODE : 18BPA61C

• PREPARED BY : DR.P.MAGUDAPATHY

Asst. Professor

• DEPARTMENT : PG & Research Department Of Public

Administration

• CONTACT NO. : 9994672379

• E-mail id : magudapathypalanisamy@gmail.com

The content is prepared according to the text book and reference book given in the

syllabus.

Year Subject Title Sem. Sub Code

2018 -19

Onwards

Core 10:Development Administration in India

VI

18BPA61C

Objective

To make the students to understand the Concept of Development Administration through

integrated, organized and proper Coordination in Governmental Action in India.

UNIT – I: INTRODUCTION

Meaning, Nature, Scope and Importance of Development Administration – Evolution of

Development Administration – Traditional Administration and Development Administration –

International Context of Development Administration.

UNIT – II: BUREAUCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

Development Planning in India – Bureaucracy and Development Administration – District

Collector – DRDA – Field Level Agencies.

UNIT – III: URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES

Urban Development Programmes– Urban Housing Development Programme– JNNURM.–Urban

Wage Employment Programme -Urban Self Employment Programme

UNIT – IV: RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES

Rural Development Programmes – Integrated Rural Development Programmes – Poverty

Alleviation Programme – SJSRY-MGNREGA.

UNIT – V: ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

NGOs and Development Administration – Citizens’ Grievances and Redressal Mechanism.

Textbook

1. Palekar-S.A ,Development Administration- Prentice hall India Publication -2012

Reference books

1. Narayanan Hazary ,Development Administration, Quest for identity Publication-

2005- -Aph Rup

2. KuldeepMatheer ,Development Policy and Administration ,SAGE

publication Pvt Ltd-1996

3. Anil K.Srivatsava ,Development of Public Administration in India, Kunal Book

Publishers, 2011

DEVELOPMENT ADMIISTRATION IN INDIA

SEMESTAR : VI SUB.CODE:18BPA61C

UNIT-IV

RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM:

Different ministries of the government of India formulate various development schemes not to

raise the profit but to maximise the welfare of the people. Some schemes like National Rural

Livelihood Mission, MGNREGA, Bharat Nirman etc. are made by the government for rural

development of India.

1. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojna:

I. This is a placement linked skill development scheme for rural poor youth.

II. It was launched by on 25 September 2014 by Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah

Naidu on the occasion of 98th birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. III. It aims to

target youth, under the age group of 15–35 years.

IV. A total of 52000 candidates have been skilled under this programme till 2014-15.

2. Roshni: Skill Development Scheme for Tribals:

I. The Ministry of Rural Development on 7 June 2013 launched a new skill development scheme

designed to offer employment to tribal youth in 24 Naxal -affected districts.

II. The scheme, which is named Roshni is supposed to provide training and employment to an

anticipated 50000 youth in the 10-35 years age group, for a period of three years.

III. As per the Ministry 50 per cent of the beneficiaries of the scheme will be women only.

IV. The scheme is designed in light of the Himayat project model, which was launched in Jammu

and Kashmir has been implemented in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, and West Singhbhum, Jharkand, on

a pilot basis over the last 18 months.

3. Swachchh Bharat Mission:

I. The Prime Minister launched Swachh Bharat Mission on the birth anniversary of Mahatma

Gandhi on 2nd October, 2014.

II. The concept of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is to pave access for every person to sanitation

facilities including toilets, solid and liquid waste disposal systems, village cleanliness and safe

and adequate drinking water supply.

III. The programme is to be implemented by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

IV. An action plan has been drawn up for Swachh Bharat to become a reality by 2019, the 150th

birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

V. The Mission aims to triple the growth percentage of toilet from present 3% to 10% by 2019.

4. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna:

I. This programme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the birth anniversary

of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan on 11 October 2014.

II. Ministry of Rural Development will be the supervising authority for this programme.

III. Under this programme each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility for developing

physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.

5. Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojna (HRIDAY):

I. This scheme was launched on the 21 January 2015 under the care of The Union Ministry of

Urban Development.

II. Its aim is to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country.

III. In the initial phase of HRIDAY, 12 heritage cities have been identified which will be

rejuvenated and developed. Union Government will provide 500 crore rupees to these 12 cities.

6. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS):

I. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, was launched on the 2nd Feb.2006. Now the

new name of this scheme is "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act" (or,

MGNREGA).

II. This scheme is an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to provide ‘right to

work' to the people falling Below Poverty Line.

III. It guarantees 100 days employment in a year to the village people.

IV. Fifty percent workers should be women.

V. Its 90% funding is borne by the central government and 10% by the state government.

Salient Features of Indian Economy

7. National Rural Livelihood Mission:

I. This scheme was restructured from the Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna in 2011.

II. National Rural Livelihoods Mission (Aajeevika) is aimed to empower the women’s self-help

group model across the country.

III. Under this scheme govt. provides loan up to 3 lakh rupee at the rate of 7% which could be

lowered to 4% on the timely repayment.

8. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna:

I. Initially it was 100% centrally funded scheme, launched on the December 25, 2000.

II. After the recommendation of 14th finance commission report now expenditure will be shared

by the centre and state at ratio of 60:40.

III. The main aim of this scheme is to provide all weather road connectivity to the rural areas

whose population is more than 500 persons and in terms of hilly areas it is 250 persons.

IV. This scheme is launched by the Ministry of Rural Development.

9. Training to Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM)

I. This centrally sponsored programme was started on august 15, 1979.

II. The main target of this scheme was to provide technical and business expertise to rural BPL

people who are in the age group of 18-35.

III. This programme has been merged with Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna on April1,

1999.

10. Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY):

I. The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Bajpayi on the 25 December

2000.

II. The scheme provides food grains to around 2 cr. Below Poverty Line (BPL) families at a very

subsidized rate.

III. Total 35 kgs of food grains is provided to a family. Rice is provided at the rate of Rs. 3/kg

and wheat at 2 Rs.2/kg.

11. Village Grain Bank Scheme:

I. This scheme was implemented by the department of food and public distribution.

II. Main objective of this scheme is to provide safeguard against the starvation during the period

of natural calamity or during lean season when the marginalized food insecure households do not

have sufficient resources to purchase rations.

III. Under this scheme needy people will be able to borrow food grains from the village grain

bank and return it when they have abundant food.

Features of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006

12. National Rural Health Mission:

I. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), now under National Health Mission is initiated

on 12 April, 2005.

II. Main aim of this plan is to provide accessible, affordable and accountable quality health

services even to the poorest households in the remotest rural regions.

III. Accredited social health activists (ASHA) scheme is also operational under this scheme.

IV. It is run by the ministry of health and family welfare.

13. Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna:

I. It was launched on october2, 2007.

II. It’s a social security scheme for rural households.

III. Under this scheme one member of the family is covered.

IV. The premium of Rs. 200 per person per annum is shared by the state and central government.

V. The insured person need not to pay any premium if his/her age is between the 18 years to 59

years.

14. Kutir Jyoti Programme:

I. This programme was launched in 1988-89.

II. Its main motive was to improve the standard of living of schedule castes and schedule tribes

including the rural families who live below the poverty line.

III. Under this programme, a government assistance of Rs. 400 is provided to the families who

are living below the poverty line for single point electricity connections in their houses.

15. Sarva Siksha Abhiyan:

I. SSA has been operational since 2000-2001.

II. Its main aim is to make free and compulsory education to children between the ages of 6 to

14, a fundamental right.

III. This programme was pioneered by former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

IV. Right to education is related to the 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India.

V. Currently its expenditure is shared by the centre and state into 50: 50 ratios.

Integrated Rural Development Programmes

For providing employment opportunities to the poor the Integrated Rural Development Program

had been launched. Besides providing the necessary subsidies to people below poverty line, this

scheme also helps them to enhance their living standards.

The Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) was launched by the Government of India

during 1978 and implemented during 1980. The aim of the program is to provide employment

opportunities to the poor as well as opportunities to develop their skill sets so as to improve their

living conditions. The program is considered one of the best yojanas to do away with poverty

related problems by offering those who fell below the poverty line the necessary subsidies in

tandem with employment opportunities.

Beneficiaries of the Integrated Rural Development Program

The beneficiaries of this program are as follows:

● Rural artisans

● Labourers

● Marginal Farmers

● Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes

● Economically backward classes with an annual income of less that Rs 11,000

Subsidies provided under IRDP

Subsidies are provided to the following people as follows:

● Small farmers (25%)

● Marginal farmers and Agricultural labourers (33.33%)

● SC/ST families and differently abled people (50%)

The maximum amount of subsidy amount has been fixed at Rs 6,000 for SC/ST families and

differently abled people, Rs 4,000 for non DPAP and non DDP localities and Rs 5,000 for DPAP

and DDP localities.

From this group SC/ST candidates, women and differently abled people are guaranteed subsidies

of 50%, 40% and 3% respectively. First priority is also given to those among this group who

have been assigned the ceiling surplus land while the Green card holders who fall under the

category of free bonded labourers and family welfare programmes are also given first priority.

Implementation of IRDP

The Integrated Rural Development Program is implemented through the following agencies:

● District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs)

● Block staff at the grassroot level

● State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) at state level

● Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment (who are responsible for the release of funds,

formation of policies, programme evaluation, monitoring and guidance)

Integrated Rural Development Program Funding

The Integrated Rural Development Program is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme funded on a 50:50

basis by the centre and the states. The scheme has been in operation in all the blocks of the

country since the year 1980. Under this scheme Central funds are allocated to states on the basis

of proportion of rural poor in a state to the total rural poor in the country.

Assistance is given in the form of subsidies by the government and term credit advanced by

financial institutions, such as commercial banks, cooperatives and regional rural banks.

The main objectives of the Integrated Rural Development Program are listed below

● To help families who lie below the poverty line and to enhance their state of living

● To empower the poor by helping them develop at every level.

● By providing productive assets and inputs to its target groups is the helpful work done by

the program.

● The assets provided in the program could be in the primary, secondary or tertiary sector.

● A kind of financial assistance to these families in the form of government subsidies as

well as loans or credit from financial institutions are encouraged by the program.

POVERTY ALLIVAATION PROGRAMME

The poverty alleviation programmes in India can be categorized based on whether it is targeted

either for rural areas or for urban areas in the country. Most of the programmes are designed to

target rural poverty as the prevalence of poverty is high in rural areas. Alsotargeting poverty is a

great challenge in rural areas due to various geographic and infrastructure limitations. The

programmes can be mainly grouped into

1) Wage employment programmes

2) Selfemployment programmes

3) Food security programmes

4) Social security programmes

5) Urban poverty alleviation programmes.

6) skill india programmes for employment.

The five year plans immediately after independence tried to focus on poverty alleviation through

sectoral programmes.

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY)Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) is the

restructured, streamlined and comprehensive version of the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY). It

was started on 1 April 1999. The main aim of this programme was the development of rural

areas. Infrastructure like roads to connect the village to different areas, which made the village

more accessible and also other social, educational (schools) and infrastructure like hospitals. Its

secondary objective was to give out sustained wage employment. This was only given to

BELOW POVERTY LINE families and fund was to be spent for individual beneficiary schemes

for SCs and STs and 3% for theestablishment of barrier-free infrastructure for the disabled

people. This scheme came into effect on 15 August 1995. The scheme provides pension to all old

people who were above the age of 65 (now 60) who could not fund for themselves and did not

have any means of subsistence. The pension that was given was ₹200 a month (now it is 2000

per month). This pension is given by the central government.

The job of implementation of this scheme in states National Old Age Pension Scheme

(NOAPS)and union territories is given to panchayats and municipalities. The states contribution

may vary depending on the state. The amount of old age pension is ₹200 per month for

applicants aged 60–79. For applicants aged above 80 years, the amount has been revised to ₹500

a month according to the 2011–2012 Budget. It is a successful venture. This scheme was started

in August 1995 . This scheme is sponsored by the state government.

It was transferred to the state National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)sector scheme after 2002–

03. It is under the community and rural department. This scheme provides a sum of ₹20,000 to a

person of a family who becomes the head of the family after the death of its primary

breadwinner. The breadwinner is defined as a person who is above 18 who earns the most for the

family and on whose earnings the family survives. This scheme provides a sum of ₹6000 to a

pregnant mother in three installments. The women should have age to be older than

National Maternity Benefit Scheme19 years of age. It is given normally 12– 8 weeks before the

birth and in case of the death of the child the women can still avail it. The NMBS is implemented

by almost all states and union territories with the help of panchayats and municipalities. During

1999–2000 the total allocation of funds for this scheme was 767.05 crores and the amount used

was ₹4444.13 crore. It is for families below the poverty line. The scheme was updated in 2005-

06 into Janani Suraksha Yojana with ₹1400 for every institutional birth.

Annapurna

This scheme was started by the government in 1999–2000 to provide food to senior citizens who

cannot take care of themselves and are not under the National Old Age Pension Scheme

(NOAPS), and who have no one to take care of them in their village. This scheme would provide

10 kg of free food grains a month for the eligible senior citizens. The allocation for this scheme

in 2000-2001 was ₹100 crore. They mostly target groups of 'poorest of the poor' and 'indigent

senior citizens'.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana

This scheme aimed at creating housing for everyone. It was initiated in 1985. It aimed at creating

20 lakh housing units out of which 13 lakhs were in rural areas. This scheme also would give out

loans to people at subsidized rates to make Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojanahouses. It was

started in 1999–2000. In 1999–2000, ₹1438.39 crore was used for this scheme and about 7.98

lakh units were built. In 2000-01 a central outlay of ₹1710.00 crores was provided for this

scheme. It improved the standard of living of rural areas:health,primary education,drinking

water,housing and roads. The scheme has proved to be a major boost in Indian rural population's

income To augment wage employment opportunities by providing employment on demand and

by specific guaranteed wageemployment every year to households whose adult members

volunteer to do unskilled manual work to thereby extend a security net to the people and

simultaneously create durable assets to alleviate some aspects of poverty and address the issue of

development in the rural areas. [4] The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) is the nodal

Ministry for the implementation of NREGA. It is responsible for ensuring timely and adequate

resource support to the States and to the Central Council. It has to undertake regular review,

monitoring andevaluation of processes and outcomes. It is responsible for maintaining and

operating the MIS to capture and track data on critical aspects of implementation, and assess the

utilization of resources through a set of performance indicators. MRD will support innovations

that help in improving processes towards the achievement of the objectives of the Act. It will

support the use of Information Technology (IT) to increase the efficiency and transparency of the

processes as well as improve interface with the public. It will also ensure that the implementation

of NREGA at all levels is sought to be made transparent and accountable to the public.Now 100

to 150 days work for all is provided. Integrated child development program is also one of the

poverty alleviation program.

SJSRY

Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) in India is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme which

came into effect on 1 December 1997. The scheme strives to provide gainful employment to the

urban unemployed and underemployed poor, through encouraging the setting up of self-

employment ventures or provision of wage employment. [1] The SJSRY scheme is being

implemented on a cost-sharing basis between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25.

Given the low allocations for the scheme, only about 2 lakh urban poor under skill development

and 50,000 under selfemployment are being benefitted under SJSRY annually. The target under

skill development of the urban poor is very small considering that the number of urban poor was

estimated at 81 million in 2004- 05 and that nationally a target of 500 million persons to be skill-

trained by 2022Last edited 15 days ago by Tom.Reding Content is available under CC BY-SA

3.0 unless otherwise noted. has been fixed by the National Council on Skill Development.

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation is implementing an employment oriented

Urban Poverty Alleviation Centrally sponsored scheme named Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar

Yojana (SJSRY), on all India basis, with effect from 1.12.1997. The scheme has been

comprehensively revamped with effect from 2009-2010. The scheme strives to provide gainful

employment to the urban unemployed and under employed poor, through encouraging the setting

up of self employment ventures by the urban poor living below the poverty line, skills training

and also through providing wage employment by utilizing their labour for construction of

socially and economically useful public assets. The thrust areas of the revised scheme are:

Supporting skill development and training programmes to enable the urban poor have access to

employment opportunities opened up by the market or undertake self-employment; and

Empowering the community to tackle the issues of urban poverty through suitable self- managed

community structures like Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs), Neighbourhood Committees (NHC),

Community Development Society (CDS), etc.

The major changes that have been effected in the new scheme compared to the old are:

(i). For special category States (8 NER States and 3 other hilly States i.e. Arunachal Pradesh,

Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir,

Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), the funding pattern for the Scheme between Centre and the

States, has been revised from 75 :25 to 90:10.

(ii). For the beneficiary under the Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP) component of

the Scheme, the education limit criteria of “not educated beyond 9th standard” has been removed

and now no minimum or maximum educational qualification level has been prescribed for the

purpose of eligibility of assistance.

(iii).For the self-employment (individual category), the project cost ceiling has been enhanced to

Rs. 2.00 Lakhs from the existing Rs. 50000/- and the subsidy has also been enhanced to 25% of

the project cost (subject to a maximum of Rs. 50000/-), from the existing 15% of the project cost

(subject to a maximum of Rs. 7500/-).

(iv).For the group enterprises set up by urban poor women, the subsidy has been made as 35% of

the project cost or Rs. 300,000/- or Rs. 60,000/- per member of the Group, whichever is less. The

minimum number required to form a women group has been reduced from 10 to 5. The revolving

fund entitlement per member has also been enhanced from the existing Rs. 1000/- to Rs. 2000/-.

(v). Under the Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP) component, which is

applicable to the towns having population less than 5 Lakhs as per 1991 census, the 60:40

Material labour ratio for the works under UWEP, flexibility of 10% (either side) is now accorded

to the States/UTs.

(vi).The Skill Training of the Urban poor component has been restructured and quality skill

training will be provided to the urban poor linking it with certification, imparted preferably on

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, with the involvement of reputed institutions like IITs,

NITs, Poly-techniques, ITIs, other reputed agencies etc. The average expenditure ceiling per

trainee has been enhanced from the Rs. 2600/- to Rs. 10000/-.

(vii). 3% of the total Scheme allocation will be retained at the Central level for special

/innovative projects to be undertaken to implement a time-bound targeting to bring a specific

number of BPL families above the poverty line through self-employment or skill development.

The revised scheme has the following components:

(i) Urban Self Employment Programme(USEP):

(ii) Urban Women Self-help Programme(UWSP)

(ii) Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor(STEP-UP)

(iv) Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP):

(v) Urban Community Development Network (UCDN):

MGNREGA:

Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (or, NREGA No 42 , later renamed as the

"Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act" or MGNREGA), is an Indian

labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the 'right to work'. This act

waspassed in September 2005 under the UPA government of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan

Singh.

It aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage

employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do

unskilled manual work. The act was first proposed in 1991 by P.V. Narasimha Rao. It was

finally accepted in the parliament and commenced implementation in 625 districts of India.

Based on this pilot experience, NREGA was scoped up to cover all the districts of India from 1

April 2008. The statute is hailed Launched 2 Feb 2006 Status In forceby the government as "the

largest and most ambitious social security and public works programme in the world". In its

World Development Report 2014, the World Bank termed it a "stellar example of rural

development". The MGNREGA was initiated with the objective of "enhancing livelihood

security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a

financial year, to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work".

Another aim of MGNREGA is to create durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds and wells).

Employment isto be provided within 5 km of an applicant's residence, and minimum wages are

to be paid. If work is not provided within 15 days of applying, applicants are entitled to an

unemployment allowance. That is, if the government fails to provide employment, it has to

provide certain unemployment allowances to those people. Thus, employment under

MGNREGA is a legal entitlement. MGNREGA is to be implemented mainly by gram

panchayats (GPs). The involvement of contractors is banned.Apart from providing economic

security and creating rural assets, NREGA can help in protecting the environment, empowering

rural women, reducing rural-urban migration and fostering social equity, among others." The

law provides many safeguards to promote its effective management and implementation. The act

explicitly mentions the principles and agencies for implementation, list of allowed works,

financing pattern, monitoring and evaluation, and most importantly the detailed measures to

ensure transparency and accountability.

History Since 1960, 30 years were expended in struggling to find suitable employment schemes

in India's vast rural hinterland. The experiences of these decades provided important lessons to

the government. These included the ‘Rural Manpower Programme’ which exposed the

tribulations of financial management, the ‘Crash Scheme for Rural Employment’ on planning for

outcomes, a ‘Pilot Intensive Rural Employment Programme’ of labourintensive works, the

‘Drought Prone Area Past Scenario …Programme’ of integrated rural development, ‘Marginal

Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Scheme’ of rural economic development, the ‘Food for

Work Programme’ (FWP) of holistic development and better coordination with the states, the

‘National Rural Employment Programme’ (NREP) of community development, and the ‘Rural

Landless Employment Guarantee Programme’ of focus on landless households. The Planning

Commission later approved the scheme and it was adopted on national scale. On 1 April 1989, to

converge employment generation, infrastructure development and food security in rural areas,

the government integrated NREP and RLEGP [n 1] into a new scheme JRY. The most significant

change was the decentralization of implementation by involving the local people through PRIs

and hence a decreasing role of bureaucracy.

On 2 October 1993, the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) was initiated by the then Prime

Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao to provide employment to agricultural hands during the lean

agricultural season. P.V. Rao had started discussions on thisact in the year 1991. The role of

PRIs was reinforced with the local selfgovernment at the district level called the ‘Zilla Parishad’

as the main implementing authority. Later, EAS was merged with SGRY in 2001. On 1 April

1999, the JRY was revamped and renamed to JGSY with a similar objective. The role of PRIs

was further reinforced with the local self-government at the village level called the ‘Village

Panchayats’ as the sole implementing authority. In 2001, it was merged with SGRY. In January

2001, the government introduced FWP(Food for Work Programme) similar to the one that was

initiated in 1977. Once NREGA was enacted, the two were merged in 2006. On 25 September

2001 to converge employment generation, infrastructure development and food security in rural

areas, the government integrated EAS and JGSY into a new scheme SGRY. The role of PRIs

was retained with the ‘Village Panchayats’ as the sole implementing authority. Yet again due to

implementation issues, it was merged with Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in 2006. The total

government allocation to these precursors of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA had been about three-

quarters of ₹1 trillion (US$14 billion).

According to the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–12), the number of Indians living on less than

$1 a day, called Below Poverty Line (BPL), was 300 million that barely declined over the last

three decades ranging from 1973 to 2004, although their proportion in the total population

decreased from 36 per cent (1993–94) to 28 percent (2004–05), and the rural working class

dependent on agriculture was unemployed for nearly 3 months per year. The UPA Government

had planned to increase the number of working days from100 to 150 before the 2014 Lok Sabha

Elections in the country but failed. The NDA government has decided to provide 150 days for

rain hit areas. The registration process involves an application to the Gram Panchayat and issue

of job cards. The wage employment must be provided within 15 days of the date of application.

The work entitlement of ‘120 days per household per year’ may be shared between different

adult members of the same household. The law also lists permissible works: water conservation

and water harvesting; drought proofing including afforestation; irrigation works; restoration of

traditional water bodies; land development; flood control; rural connectivity; and works notified

by the government. The Act sets a minimum limit to the wage-material ratio as 60:40. The

provision of accredited engineers, worksite facilities and a weekly report on worksites is also

mandated by the Act. Furthermore, the Act sets a minimum limit to the wages, to be paid with

gender equality, either on a time-rate basis or on apiece-rate basis.

The states are required to evolve a set of norms for the measurement of works and schedule of

rates. Unemployment allowance must be paid if the work is not provided within the statutory

limit of 15 days. The law stipulates Gram Panchayats to have a single bank account for NREGA

works which shall be subjected to public scrutiny. To promote transparency and accountability,

the act mandates ‘monthly squaring of accounts’. To ensure public accountability through public

vigilance, the NREGA designates ‘social audits’ as key to its implementation. The most detailed

part of the Act (chapter 10 and 11) deals with transparency and accountability that lays out role

of the state, the public vigilance and, above all, the social audits. [30] For evaluation of

outcomes, the law also requires management of data and maintenance of records, like registers

related to employment, job cards, assets, muster rolls and complaints, by the implementing

agencies at the village, block and state level. The legislation specifies the role of the state in

ensuring transparency andaccountability through upholding the right to information and

disclosing information proactively, preparation of annual reports by the Central Employment

Guarantee Council for the Parliament and State Employment Guarantee Councils for state

legislatures, undertaking mandatory financial audits by each district along with physical audit,

taking action on audit reports, developing a Citizen's Charter, establishing vigilance and

monitoring committees, and developing a grievance redressal system.

The Act recommends establishment of ‘Technical Resource Support Groups’ atdistrict, state and

central level and active use of Information Technology, like creation of a ‘Monitoring and

Information System (MIS)’ and a NREGA website, to assure quality in implementation of

NREGA through technical support. The law allows convergence of NREGA with other

programmes. As NREGA intends to create ‘additional’ employment, the convergence should not

affect employment provided by other programmes.

The law and the Constitution of India

The Act aims to follow the Directive Principles of State Policy enunciated in Part IV of the

Constitution of India. The law by providing a 'right to work' is consistent with Article 41 that

directs the State to secure to all citizens the right to The Constitution of India – India's

fundamental and supreme law.work. The statute also seeks to protect the environment through

rural works which is consistent with Article 48A that directs the State to protect the

environment. In accordance with the Article 21 of the Constitution of India that guarantees the

right to life with dignity to every citizen of India, this act imparts dignity to the rural people

through an assurance of livelihood security. The Fundamental Right enshrined in Article 16 of

the Constitution of India guarantees equality of opportunity in matters of public employment and

prevents the State from discriminatingagainst anyone in matters of employment on the grounds

only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, place of residence or any of them.

NREGA also follows Article 46 that requires the State to promote the interests of and work for

the economic uplift of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and protect them from

discrimination and exploitation. Article 40 mandates the State to organise village panchayats

and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function

as units of self-government. Conferring theprimary responsibility of implementation on Gram

Panchayats, the Act adheres to this constitutional principle. Also the process of decentralization

initiated by 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India that granted a constitutional status to

the Panchayats is further reinforced by the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA that endowed these rural

self-government institutions with authority to implement the law.

Academic research has focused on many dimensions of the NREGA: economic security, self-

targeting, women's empowerment, asset creation, corruption, how the scheme impacts

agricultural wages. An early overall assessment in the north Indian states suggested that NREGA

was "making a difference to the lives of the rural poor, slowly but surely." [44] Self-targeting

evidence suggests that though there is a lot of unmet demand for work. [45][46] Another

fundamental objective of NREGA was to improve the bargaining power oflabour who often

faced exploitative market conditions. Several studies have found that agricultural wages have

increased significantly, especially for women, since the inception of the scheme. [47][48][49]

This indicates that overall wage levels have increased due to the act, however, further research

highlights that the key benefit of the scheme lies in the reduction of wage volatility. [50] This

highlights that NREGA may be an effective insurance scheme. Ongoing research efforts try to

evaluate the overall welfare effects of the scheme; a particular focus has been to understand

whether the scheme has reducedmigration into urban centres for casual work.

Another important aspect of NREGA is the potential for women's empowerment by providing

opportunities for paid work, as well as mechanisms to ensure equal pay for equal work. One third

of all employment is reserved for women, and there is a provision for equal wages to men and

women, provision for child care Women employed under NREGA for de-silting a tankfacilities

at the worksite - these are three important provisions for women in the Act. More recent studies

have suggested that women's participation has remained high, though there are inter-state

variations. One study in border villages of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat studied the

effect on short term migration and child welfare. and found that among children who do not

migrate, grade completed is higher. The study found that demand for NREGA work is higher,

even though migrant wages are higher. Over the last decade, it has been observed that more than

half the NREGA funds havebeen spent on water related projects. This was very much needed

because water bodies have been shrinking, especially in rural India. India became a water

deficient nation 5 years ago, and every year since then, the water level has shrunk further.

Though over Rs 20,000 crores under MGNREGA has been spent each year during the last

decade on developing rural water bodies, wells, aquifers, catchment areas, etc, these were not

permanent assets. There have not been too many detailed studies on asset creation.

A few studies focusing on the potential for assetcreation under NREGA suggest that (a) the

potential is substantial; (b) in some places, it is being realized, and (c) lack of staff, especially

technical staff, rather than lack of material are to blame for poor realization of this potential.

Others have pointed out that water harvesting and soil conservation works promoted through

NREGA "could have high positive results on environment security and biodiversity and

environment conservation" A study conducted by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science

and other collaborators attempts to quantify the environmental and socio-economicbenefits of

works done through the NREGA Corruption in government programmes has remained a serious

concern, and NREGA has been no exception. According to recent estimates, wage corruption in

NREGA has declined from about 50% in 2007-8 to between 4-30% in 2009-10.

Much of this improvement is attributable to the move to pay NREGA wages through

bank and post office accounts. Some of the success in battling corruption can also be attributed

to the strong provisions for community monitoring. Others find that "the overall social audit

effects onreducing easy-to-detect malpractices was mostly absent". A few papers also study the

link between electoral gains and implementation of NREGA. One studies the effect in Andhra

Pradesh - the authors find that "while politics may influence programme expenditure in some

places and to a small extent, this is not universally true and does not undermine the effective

targeting and good work of the scheme at large." The two other studies focus on these links in

Rajasthan and West Bengal. Several local case studies are also being conducted to identify the

regional impacts of NREGA.

Assessment of the act by the constitutional auditor

The second performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India covered

3,848 gram panchayats (GPs) in 28 states and 4 union territories (UTs) from April 2007 to

March 2012. This comprehensive survey by the CAG documents lapses in implementation of the

act. The main problems identified in the audit included: a fall in the level of employment, low

rates of completion of …works (only 30.3 per cent of planned works had been completed), poor

planning (in one-third of Gram Panchayats, the planning process mandated by the act had not

been followed), lack of public awareness partly due to poor information, education and

communication IEC) by the state governments, shortage of staff (e.g., Gram Rozgar Sewaks had

not been appointed in some states) and so on. Not withstanding the statutory requirement of

notification, yet five states had not even notified the eight-years-old scheme. The comprehensive

assessment of the performance of the law by theconstitutional auditor revealed serious lapses

arising mainly due to lack of public awareness, mismanagement and institutional incapacity. The

CAG also suggested some corrective measures.

Even though the mass social audits have a statutory mandate of Section 17 (As outlined in

Chapter 11 of the NREGA Operational Guidelines), only seven states Major recommendations of

the CAG audit on MGNREGAhave the institutional capacity to facilitate the social audits as per

prescribed norms. Although the Central Council is mandated to establish a central evaluation

and monitoring system as per the NREGA Operational Guidelines, even after six years it is yet to

fulfill the NREGA directive. Further, the CAG audit reports discrepancies in the maintenance of

prescribed basic records in up to half of the gram panchayats (GPs) which inhibits the critical

evaluation of the NREGA outcomes. The unreliability of Management Information System

(MIS), due to significant disparity between thedata in the MIS and the actual official documents,

is also reported. To increase public awareness, the intensification of the Information, Education

and Communication (IEC) activities is recommended. To improve management of outcomes, it

recommended proper maintenance of records at the gram panchayat (GP) level. Further the

Central Council is recommended to establish a central evaluation and monitoring system for "a

national level, comprehensive and independent evaluation of the scheme". The CAG also

recommends a timelypayment of unemployment allowance to the rural poor and a wage material

ratio of 60:40 in the NREGA works. Moreover, for effective financial management, the CAG

recommends proper maintenance of accounts, in a uniform format, on a monthly basis and also

enforcing the statutory guidelines to ensure transparency in the disposal of funds. For capacity

building, the CAG recommends an increase in staff hiring to fill the large number of vacancies.

For the first time, the CAG also included a survey of more than 38,000 NREGAbeneficiaries.

Evaluation of the law by the government

Ex-Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh released an anthologys of research studies on the

MGNREGA called "MGNREGA Sameeksha" in New Delhi on 14 July 2012, about a year

before the CAG report. Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey said that "the MGNREGA Sameeksha is a

significant innovation to evaluate policy and delivery". The anthology draws on …independent

assessments of MGNREGA conducted by Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian

Institutes of Technology (IITs) and others in collaboration with United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) published from 2008 to 2012.