Question : Harvesting under MGNREGS

(a) whether the Government is considering to bring pre-sowing and post-harvest activities under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme(MGNREGS); and

(b) if so, the details of concrete proposal made or funds earmarked for the same?

Answer given by the minister

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a) & (b) 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.
Gram Panchayat is the implementing agency under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme at Panchayat level and at least 50 percent of the works are to be implemented by Gram Panchayats.

Sub-para 3 of paragraph 4 of the Schedule -I of the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Act provides as under: “Works, which are non-tangible, not measurable, repetitive such as removing grass, pebbles, agricultural operations shall not be taken up.”

Accordingly, there is no proposal to bring pre-sowing and post-harvest activities under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA).

However, it needs to be mentioned that as per para 4 (2) of the Schedule - I of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA provides that “The District Programme Coordinator shall ensure that at least 60% of the works to be taken up in a district in terms of cost shall be for creation of productive assets directly linked to agriculture and allied activities through development of land, water and trees.”

Thus, implementation framework has been designed in a manner which promotes agriculture and related activities. Under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA out of 262 permissible works, 164 works relate to agri and allied activities. Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is a demand driven programme and the permissible works related to agri and allied activities are taken up under the Scheme, as per demand.

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