Changes proposed by Centre weaken MGNREGA, says activist Aruna Roy

The document goes on to say there is “no case” or demand from any state, except Madhya Pradesh, to increase the material component.

Slamming the NDA-led government for attempting to “undermine” the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by restricting its coverage, squeezing funds and making it more material-intensive, social activist Aruna Roy Wednesday quoted internal government documents to claim the proposed changes would adversely affect as many as five crore households and would go against the “spirit of the Act”.

Roy, as part of the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), said the government is attempting to roll-back the Act in three ways — changing the labour-material ration from 60:40 to 51:49, rationing funds and restricting coverage to only one third of the blocks in the country.

“The government is in denial…It knows how important MGNREGA is but has initiated a discussion on it to spread misinformation…None of the people I’ve met in rural areas want the scope of MGNREGA to be reduced in any way,” she said.

Roy quoted internal communication of the Rural Development Ministry, obtained through RTI queries, in which senior ministry officials say the decision to change the labour is to material ratio and make it applicable to the district level “runs contrary to the spirit of the act” and that “5 crore households will be adversely affected by this decision”. The document goes on to say there is “no case” or demand from any state, except Madhya Pradesh, to increase the material component. “The labour-material ratio is being changed. It will lead to contractor Raj,” Roy said.

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