Curb ‘Mad Race’ for MGNREGA Work: Govt Tells States via WhatsApp

Far from guaranteeing employment, the rural development ministry told states to curtail work under MGNREGA.

Labourers work on a dried lake to try and revive it under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on the outskirts of Hyderabad. (Photo: Reuters)

The current Narendra Modi government is a social media savvy one. The government has made effective use of tools like Twitter and WhatsApp to reach out to the masses and strike a personal conversation with people.

But another off-record WhatsApp chat has a different story to tell. The rural development ministry has reportedly used a WhatsApp chat group to tell states it’s unfeasible for the ministry to get more funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Far from guaranteeing employment, the ministry had to resort to telling the states to curtail work under the programme and use the funds it has received judiciously.

The MGNREGA scheme mandates the government to provide funds as required for the work demanded. (Photo: Reuters)

The message goes against the principles of the scheme which mandates the government to provide funds as required for the work demanded and not hold back funds because of “budgetary decisions”.

Business Standard reported that the chat group named ENCORE — ‘Enabling Communication on Rural Employment’ — has senior ministry officials and state-level MGNREGA officials among others.

The ministry reportedly said the informal group was only created for “convenience” and for “showcasing good work by states through uploading of pictures”.

But instructions on the group show that the chat group is used as an informal platform for the Union rural development industry to pass on its message.

Also Read: Worst Year Ever For MGNREGA, 23 Percent Drop In Assets Created

(Photo Courtesy: Government of Chhattisgarh)

According to Business Standard, on 14 August, the ministry wrote on the group:

We ought to desist from campaigns for enlisting demand and indulging in the mad race of more and more personday generation (generating of wages). While the Act does not distinguish between APL and BPL (those above and below poverty line) and vulnerable/non-vulnerable, we have to “intelligently” communicate to the district/block/GP authorities to learn to target.

On 28 August, the rural development ministry official said:

To resort to the logic that it is a demand-driven programme and whatever is asked for will be given, does not cut much ice now. This has been voiced in the Supreme Court, too. There has to be a pragmatic handling of funds.

The ministry’s instructions, albeit informal, have compelled states to plead on the group for immediate release of funds so they can clear hundreds of crores of arrears for work already done.

Also Read: MGNREGA: NDA Claims it Has ‘Transformed’ ‘Pitiable’ UPA Scheme

FM Jaitley had kept his budget for 2016-17 focused on the 834 million people who live in rural India. (Photo: Reuters)

Some states warned the ministry that they had very little of the funds left to pay for work in the coming months.

On 19 August, Karnataka officials wrote in the chat:

(Karnataka chief minister) said the PM, on 7 May this year (sic) during drought mitigation meeting, had assured full support. Hence, works were ensured to needy people. The ministry of rural development had also allowed 150 days to drought-affected blocks. Now, all these poor workers must be paid at the earliest. Request for kind help urgently.

Apart from Karnataka, at least six more states made desperate pleas for funds, to come to terms with their wage liability.

The ministry maintained that the group was not a formal channel of communication and that the “ministry of rural development has not made any changes in its approach in the month of August, as is borne out by all formal communications to the states.”

As far as the ministry is concerned, formally and outside of the WhatsApp group, it is “committed to implementing MGNREGA in letter and spirit.”

Source: Business Standard