MGNREGA IMPACT - Rural households' earnings up by 45%

BY RUHI TEWARI


The earnings of India's rural households increased by 45% in two years, thanks to the Union government's flagship job guar- antee scheme, says the rural de- velopment ministry, which over- sees the scheme.

The ministry says the figures are based on an independent study it had commissioned, but experts claim the scheme hasn't been as successful on the ground as the study suggests.

The Mahatma Gandhi Nation- al Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA, promises at least 100 days of manual work an- nually to one member of every poor rural household.

The ministry commissioned respected educational institu- tions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Insti- tutes of Management and agri- cultural universities to study its impact, minister of state for rural development Pradeep Jain said last week while responding to a parliamentary question.

According to the study, the job scheme has helped improve the purchasing power and quality of life of the rural poor since its launch in 2006. Earnings per household have gone up from Rs2,795 in 2006-07 to Rs3,150 in 2007-08 and Rs4,060 in 2008-09.

“Increase in income has result- ed in increase in ability of rural households to purchase foodgrains, other essential com- modities, and to access education and health care,“ the study con- cludes.

Nationally, average wages paid under the scheme increased from Rs75 in 2007-08 to Rs90 in 2009-10. The scheme has also brought down migration from vil- lages to cities, the ministry said.

But Vinoj Abraham, from the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, said these conclusions are off the mark.

“Even in states like Andhra (Pradesh) and Rajasthan, where the scheme's implementation has been lauded, the situation on the ground might be different. If you look at the national level, as against the 100 days of employ- ment that the Act promises, less than 50 days on average have ac- tually been provided,“ he said.

In some cases, payments have only been made on paper due to differences between the Centre and state governments over shar- ing of funds for the scheme, Abraham said.

“Hence, these figures and stud- ies may not be a reflection of the true picture. However, we cannot deny that (the programme) has had a positive impact on rural employment and the economy,“ he said.

The ministry has commis- sioned 20 studies this year to as- sess the impact of the pro- gramme.

So far, at least 452.5 million households have benefited from the scheme since its launch.

source;livemint