MGNREGA : A key to increase employment in the country - Group Discussion
MGNREGA
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
MGNREGA (Also known as NREGA) is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
It is said to be the largest welfare program in the world which is run by Government of India. It was started in August 25, 2005.
PROS according to me:
• This act was enacted to provide a job guarantee to the Rural People in India.
• This act guarantees to provide a minimum 100 days of paid employment every year to an adult member of any family with the minimum wage of approx. 120/day & who would likely do any unskilled work. (If they didn’t do so, then government will bear their salaries at their home).
• It has resulted (or expected to result, I would say) in increase in the rural employment, especially for women.
• People in rural areas now don’t have to wander everywhere to sustain their livelihood.
• As people working under this scheme are getting fixed wages, so they don’t have to fear about that & they work towards development of the country.
CONS:
• This act was disparaged by people as it was thought of no effectiveness than other acts which were running in the system. Every act/effort passed in the favor of people should not be just enacted & left to float away! It has to be seen that it is carried out successfully all around.
• Corruption! It is seen that whatever may be the issue in India, corruption is always the part of it. People say that they are often not paid, fewer wages are paid, they have to bribe the officer to get a job, their cards are used by other officers, dead people are also paid, etc… I think corruption is responsible for more than 80% of the failure of this act.
• It is also seen that the quality of work done by the unskilled labor is poor as compared to any skilled labor. People are not taught any new skills so that they can improve their quality of work & sustain their work for a longer period.
• And the important one is that despite of such programs migration from rural areas to urban area is not reduced.
To conclude, I think that this initiative is a better, almost best way to support the Indian society but people should change their way of thinking & try to support this development. Corruption should be barred from it. Mentality should be changed. Just implementing such programs is not enough but they should be supported with dedication to help people as a social & humanly cause. It will provide a bridge to India towards becoming a Super Power!
MGNREGA - A key to increase employment in the country.
For
- It is a scheme which provides legal guarantee for jobs or employment to the rural sector of our country.
- There is an increase in the number of people who are willing to do manual work for a minimum wage which has resulted in an increase in employment.
- It improves the purchasing power of the rural community, encouraging them to do work.
- Women have also come out and are now consist of more than one-third of the stipulated force. Further increasing the number of people employed.
- Rural people have shed their fear of coming outside and have started to work towards the development of the nation as they are getting wages, which is encouraging other unemployed people to work as well.
Against
- It is criticized as it is thought to be no more effective than the other employment programs that have been enlisted in the system.
- It has resulted in more corrupt officials which resulted in deficit in the source of funds.
- This is not effective as it has resulted in poor quality of infrastructure and has an unintended destructive effect on poverty.
- This scheme doesn’t teach new skills to the unemployed that is necessary for the development of the country.
- The conditions that are provided to the rural people are not sufficient to lure them to get employed.
Discussion
- RE: MGNREGA : A key to increase employment in the country - Group Discussion -Rishika Jalan (04/19/14)
- MGNREGA- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is the one of the largest programs in the world, which started in 2005. This welfare programs guarantees at providing 100 days of wage employment per year to households in rural areas. Its primary objectives are to eradicate poverty from the rural regions and to ensure sustainable development. This act was initiated with the aim of making sure that the adult member of each family gets minimum wages of Rs. 120 per day each year by doing unskilled work. Few of the achievement of this act are that it ensured livelihood for many people in the rural areas. It encouraged the participation of women in the rural regions to a great extent and increased their employment opportunities. Women of the STSC and other traditional societies were given a great boost. People worked for the development of the nation which helped in the creation of many infrastructure assets. Through this act, many households could survive and people were given encouragement to work.
- RE: MGNREGA : A key to increase employment in the country - Group Discussion -Aditi Aggarwal (01/07/14)
- The key point here is that this scheme is better than giving money to poor to sustain their lives but what would work the best for the country as a whole is providing them i.e. teaching the poor the skills so that they can have jobs not only for a quarter of the year but for the entire year.
- RE: MGNREGA : A key to increase employment in the country - Group Discussion -Rajani Sharma (12/30/13)
MGNREGA - A key to increase employment in the country
For:
- MGNREGA, assures job guarantee and the fixed wages to the people working under this scheme.
- This act guarantees to provide a minimum 100 days of paid employment every year to an adult member of any family who would likely do any unskilled work with the minimum wage of approx. 120/day.
- This act of Government has helped population in rural areas as now they don’t have to wander everywhere to find employment to sustain their livelihood.
- Now people don’t have to worry to get employment. Now they can focus on the development of the country instead of focusing on getting employed.
- It has resulted in increase in the rural employment, especially for women.
Against:
- Like other acts running in the country, this act will also not be that effective. As once the act is passed, then no one takes the responsibility of successful implementation of the same. Thus, unless the act passed in the favour of people is carried out successfully all around till then there is no use of such act.
- There are many social programmes in India which are beset with corruption. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi once suggested that only 15% of spending on such programmes actually reached the intended beneficiaries. The Planning Commission of India in 2005 estimated that a similarly low proportion, 27% of government transfers actually reach the poor. Such embezzlement adds to the strain on state finances, and may make these programmes more regressive than progressive.
- Corruption is reponsible for more than 80% of the failure of this act. As very often people are not paid, if paid then fewer wages are paid. In order to get the job they have to bribe the officer. Their cards are used by other officers, dead people are also getting paid etc.
- This act will not be beneficial for all the rural population. As per a study, farmers owning large size of landholdings and more number of livestock are not much interested in participating in MGNREGA works, as they are busy in their own activities. The farmers who have small land and livestock resources are more inclined to work in MGNREGA and their participation is also more.
- Under this act, quality of work done cannot be assured as the quality of work done by the unskilled labour is poor as compared to any skilled labour. Even people are not taught any new skills for improving their quality of work and sustain their work for a longer period.
- Despite of such programs migration of population from rural areas to urban area is not reduced.
- Just implementation of such acts will not increase employment in the country within few year. For that people should change their way of thinking and try to support this development.
