Bangalore: It is now clear that the NREGS was launched more as a vote-catching trick to deceive the rural poor — only because of pressure from Sonia Gandhi and not because there was any change of heart in the ruling class towards the “rural poor”’. Within one year the country’s single largest and the most ambitious economic programme collapsed — as predicted by DV:
Money not used
New Delhi: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in February 2006 has failed to achieve its fullest potential.
Proof of this lies in the fact that only 50% of the budgetary allocation to this scheme for this year has been used. Against the budgetary allocation of Rs. 14,300 crores, the Union Rural Development Ministry has released Rs. 13,008.95 crore to the states which have so far utilised only Rs. 7,617.95 crore.
The NREG Act, notified in Feb.2006, gives a legal guarantee of 100 days employment in a financial year to a rural household that demands employment. The NREGS has so far benefited only 1.4 crore rural households for nearly 580,000 rural works.
The implementation of NREGS has been affected due to lack of resources available at the level of panchayats which have been entrusted with 50% of work. “Lack of additional technical staff creates a chain of problems. “These constraints have persisted due to the limitation of administrative expenses to 2%”, a note prepared by the Union Rural Development Ministry said.
Admtting to a few irregularities Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh denied any large-scale misappropriation of funds as in other anti-poverty programmes. (Deccan Herald, Feb.7, 2007).
DV prediction: AS we have said enough on this subject and even predicted its failure, we have nothing more to add.
It is now clear the upper castes in charge of the NREGS have no heart in the scheme as it is not meant for their jatwalas. Anything that benefits their jati gets fully implemented and well in advance.
