Anthoniammal, a senior citizen of the Sriramapuram village panchayat in southern Dindigul district, and Sonia, a woman in her 20s of the Melanthangal village panchayat in northern Tiruvannamalai district, are strangers to each other. But they have one thing in common. Both are the proud beneficiary-workers of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which entered its 20th year of implementation on February 2.
They also reject the criticism that the beneficiaries get paid for doing nothing under the scheme, also known as NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), or ‘Nooru Naal Velai Thittam’ (100-day job scheme). Engaged in the construction of an earthen bund and a distributary canal in their respective worksites, the women say, “See for yourself. Do you think that these assets could have been created without our hard work?” A community water harvesting structure, of the size of 40 metres x 40 metres, near Poothamedu in the Thennamadevi panchayat of Villupuram district has been raised by a group of persons with disabilities. M. Govindan, a member of the group who is about to turn 60, explains how he and his colleagues have created the pond, which is seasonally dry.
Monitoring application
In addition, the National Mobile Monitoring System application, or NMMS app, meant for ensuring transparency, has been in place for capturing real-time attendance of the MGNREGS workers twice a day for all projects. At 2 p.m. on February 28, in the Thiyagavalli panchayat of Kurinjipadi block in Cuddalore (where tree plantation is in progress), photos of the workers, totalling 10, were uploaded.
The MGNREGS envisages 100 days of work in a year for each rural family, especially those belonging to the weaker sections. Unskilled manual labour is the key element, though the material component is now allowed up to 40% of the total expenditure. “But the law does not state that a job has to be given only to the poor,” clarifies S.S. Kumar, Additional Director in charge of the MGNREGS at the office of the Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RD&PR) of the Tamil Nadu government.
However, it is another matter that this open-ended provision (Section 3(1) of the Act along with 2(a) — provision of unskilled manual work to every household with a willing adult member (having completed 18 years of age) — has become a contentious issue among land-owning agriculturists, who have been complaining for long that ‘Nooru Naal Velai Thittam’ has “caused” labour shortage. Samba Vaidyanathan, a farmer of Papanasam in Thanjavur district, holds the NREGA responsible for the “acute short supply in labour”. In addition, “high wages that are paid to the beneficiaries (₹319 per day) have led to a situation wherein people in rural areas are not willing to do farm work, even when they are unemployed,” he adds.
‘Landowners gain too’
But this “accusation” against the scheme is not true, according to Jayanthi, a middle-aged woman of the Sevalpatti village panchayat in Sivaganga district, which is in the southern belt of the State, and Vanitha, a young resident of Kilseesamangalam in the Vandavasi block of Tiruvannamalai district. “Small and marginal landowners are also beneficiaries of the MGNREGS. They plan our activity in such a manner that they cover the work under ‘Nooru Naal Velai Thittam’ as well as the farming operations,” the two women say. The State government and the Directorate of RD&PR have issued advisories to the village panchayats to avoid taking up labour-intensive MGNREGS projects when farming operations are under way, points out Director P. Ponniah. The scheme is being taken up “without any adverse impact on agriculture as far as possible”, he says.
“In fact, it was the NREGA — panchayats and civil society included — that saved India during the COVID-19 pandemic from what would have been a terrible calamity. It was then that many realised the importance of the scheme,” says S.M. Vijayanand, an officer of the 1981 batch of the Indian Administrative Service, who had worked as Secretary in the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj and as Kerala Chief Secretary.
Though water resources management — artificial recharge of the groundwater through harvesting structures such as checkdams, percolation ponds, trenches, soak pits, and farm ponds — remains one of the key areas of the NREGA, convergence with a number of other schemes, being carried out by the Central as well as State governments, is increasingly becoming the order of the day.
Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Additional Chief Secretary (RD&PR) to the Tamil Nadu government, lists the schemes that are being converged with the MGNREGS: Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin, Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, and Swachh Bharat Mission, all implemented by the Centre, and Mudhalvarin Grama Saalaigal Membattu Thittam, Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam, Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam, and the Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission, which are executed by the State. Compound walls for government schools, fair price shops, grain warehouses, and anganwadi centres have come up at many places, thanks to the convergence. Close to one-fourth of the projects under the NREGA come under the broad programme of convergence, which accounts for 3% of person days. Rural housing — be it under the Centre’s scheme or the State’s scheme — is one of the visible components of the convergence programme.
Sheikh Rahman, 54, a beneficiary of Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam in the Siruvalai panchayat in Villupuram district, has planned to invest almost double the estimated amount sanctioned (₹3.5 lakh) under the State government’s rural housing scheme. Even now, his under-construction house is bigger than the officially approved size of 360 square feet, but local officials say payment to the beneficiary will be limited to what is allowed. In close proximity to his house is one being built by Gangadevi, who has a school-going daughter. Despite being conscious of the house construction being a once-in-a-lifetime activity, Ms. Gangadevi is not as ambitious as her neighbour because she has to fund her daughter’s education.
Renewed attention is being paid to improving the green cover by making use of the NREGA. The visit to the five districts reveals that the services of a large number of beneficiary-workers are being utilised for raising seedlings at nurseries and plantations and for maintenance of seedlings, the activities that come under Green Tamil Nadu Mission. Due attention is being paid to the survival of the plants. Instructions have been issued that the saplings, which have grown beyond 6 feet, be planted and till then, they be nourished at nurseries. A provision has been made for watering the plants for the next two years, RD&PR officials say.
Helping small farmers
As part of the efforts to support small and marginal farmers (owning dryland of up to 5 acres or wetland of up to 2.5 acres), wells are being dug on private land, a feature that is quite recent in Tamil Nadu.
Though the officials, both at the district and State levels, emphasise that such work does benefit the local community by way of improving the groundwater table, there are works that have value higher than what the Central and State governments provide for houses.
For example, at an estimated cost of about ₹11.6 lakh, a well has been sunk in the Ammapatty village panchayat of Reddiarchatram block in Dindigul district. In contrast to this, a unit cost under Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam is ₹3.50 lakh per house. In the case of the PM JANMAN, the unit cost allowed by the State government over and above the cost permitted by the Union government — ₹2 lakh — is ₹3.07 lakh for the plains and ₹3.73 lakh for hilly areas. Totally, the unit cost is ₹5.07 lakh for the former and ₹5.73 for the latter, with the increased plinth area of 300 square feet. Even in the unit cost sanctioned by the Centre, the State’s share is 40%. Given this, the officials reject any suggestion of extraneous considerations or political pressure in the selection of beneficiaries for work taken up on private land.
The Sonias and Jayanthis across the State, most of whom get ₹1,000 a month under Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, are worried over the delay in the payment of wages, a matter being pursued by the State government at the highest level. Wage arrears have gone up to ₹2,400 crore. There is an element of fear of getting dropped from the scheme in the wake of rural local bodies being merged with urban local bodies.
Besides, Mr. Vijayanand points out that there is a case for “deepening social audits” in the State to address the issue of corruption. As explained by Additional Collector (Development) in Cuddalore district R. Saranya, the scheme, which is flexible, offers enormous scope for innovation and response to local requirements. If fully tapped into, the scheme, which has come to stay, can even be made productive not just for Sonias and Jayanthis but also for other sections in rural parts of the State.
Published – March 02, 2025 12:22 am IST
