MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)
(a): The salient features of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) are detailed at Annexure.
(b): The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven wage employment programme which provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. No State/UT-wise (including State of Assam) financial allocation is made under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.
The details of funds released by Central Government to the State of Assam for the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme and expenditure incurred by the State during the last three financial years 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 is given below:
(Rs. in crore)
Indicators 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
Central funds released 1,050.37 1,476.24 2,635.91
Expenditure (Including State Share) 1,338.44 1,476.29 2,525.26
(Source: Management Information System)
(c): The detail of number of works taken up in Assam under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the last three financial years is as under:
Financial Year 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
works taken up (in lakh) 2.74 3.13 4.26
(d): Details of new job cards issued to households in the State of Assam under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the last three financial years is as under:
Financial Year 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
New job cards issued 2,46,591 3,69,371 6,01,746
(e): Mahatma Gandhi NREG Act, 2005 is to provide at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult member volunteers to do unskilled manual work. State can provide additional mandays of work over and above of 100 days from its own resources. An additional 50 days of wage employment is provided over and above 100 days in the notified drought affected areas or natural calamity areas in the country on recommendation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. At present, there is no plan to increase days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
As per section 6(1) of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), the Central Government may, by notification, specify the wage rate for its beneficiaries. Accordingly, the Ministry of Rural Development notifies Mahatma Gandhi NREGA wage rate every year for States/UTs. To compensate the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers against inflation, the Ministry of Rural Development revises the wage rate every year based on change in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPI-AL). The wage rate is made applicable from 1st April of each Financial Year.
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Annexure referred in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.3504 dated 10.08.2021
(i) Adult members of a rural household, willing to do unskilled manual work, may apply for registration in writing or orally to the local Gram Panchayat.
(ii) The Gram Panchayat after due verification will issue a Job Card free of cost within 15 days.
(iii) The worker has a right to demand and receive work within 15 days of the receipt of the application or the date of the demand in case of advance application, whichever is later, as mandated by the Act.
(iv) In case employment is not provided within fifteen days from the date of registration of the demand for work or the date from which work has been demanded in case of advance applications, whichever is later, the worker is legally entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.
(v) Preparation of Labour Budget (LB) which is an essential annual work plan document that entails planning, approval, funding and project execution modalities.
(vi) The shelf of projects for a village will be recommended by the gram sabha and approved by the zilla panchayat. At least 50% of works will be allotted to Gram Panchayats for execution.
(vii) Permissible works predominantly include water and soil conservation, afforestation and land development works.
(viii) A 60:40 wage and material ratio has to be maintained at the district level. No contractors and labour displacing machinery is allowed.
(ix) The Central Government bears 100 percent wage cost of unskilled manual labour and 75 percent of the material cost including the wages of skilled and semi-skilled workers.
(x) Social Audit has to be done by the Gram Sabha.
(xi) Grievance redressal mechanisms have to be put in place for ensuring a responsive implementation process.
(xii) All accounts and records relating to the Scheme should be available for public scrutiny.
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