Question : FARMERS UNDER MGNREGS

 

(a) whether there is any provision for providing wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to farmers for working in their own fields;

(b) if so, the conditions laid down in this regard; and

(c) the amount of money paid under this head during each of the last three years, State-wise?  

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRADEEP JAIN ‘ADITYA’) 

(a) & (b): The primary objective of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is to enhance the livelihood security of the rural households by providing up to 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a year to every household on demand for doing unskilled manual work. Schedule–I of MGNREGA as amended from time to time lists the category of works which shall be included in the Schemes formulated by the State Governments under Section 4(1) of the Act for giving effect to the provisions of the Act. As per the Amendment to Schedule I issued vide notification dated 4th May, 2012, the following activities on land or homestead owned by households belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes or below poverty line families or the beneficiaries of land reforms or the beneficiaries under the Indira Awas Yojana of the government of India or of small or marginal farmers as defined in the Agriculture Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008, or the beneficiaries under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Right) Act, 2006, have been included in the list of activities for focus in schemes formulated by States under section 4 of the Act:-

(i) provision of irrigation facility, dug out farm pond, horticulture, plantation, farm bunding and land development;

(ii) agriculture related works, such as, NADEP composting, vermin-composting, liquid bio-manures;

(iii) livestock related works, such as, poultry shelter, goat shelter, construction of pucca floor, urine tank and fodder trough for cattle, azolla as cattle-feed supplement;

(iv) works in coastal areas, such as, fish drying yards, belt vegetation;

(v) rural drinking water related works, such as, soak pits, recharge pits;

(vi) rural sanitation related works, such as, individual household latrines, solid and liquid waste management.

The above works shall be taken up subject to the following conditions, namely:-

(i) the households shall have the job card; and

(ii) the beneficiaries shall work on the project undertaken on their land or homestead. 

(c): The details of expenditure incurred on above category of works reported by States/UTs from 2010-11 onwards are given in Annexure.