NREG struggles to meet targets

Meanwhile, Prof Jean Dreze, economist and former National Advisory Council member, says that the current level of employment under the scheme is well below estimates. The programme has so far generated just 3,663 lakh mandays as against the target of 200,000 lakh mandays, which is just two per cent of the estimates.

When asked whether this indicate lack of demand for employment as estimated by the employment guarantee council, Dreze said: 8220;There is no lack of demand for employment. There is something lacking in the way the programme is being implemented.8221;

In September, the Central Employment Guarantee Council had submitted a note indicating four major obstacles in implementing the scheme 8212; a lack of awareness in implementing agencies, the lack of sufficient provision for administrative expenditure, staff shortages at the local level, and the lack of an independent redressal mechanism.

Speaking to The Indian Express, employment guarantee council member Annie Raja said: 8220;The dismal performance of NREG in various parts of country is a product of lack of willingness in the bureaucracy and the political heads of different states.8221;

To its credit, the ministry has already started taking steps to address the points raised by the council. The ministry has managed to get an approval from the expenditure and finance committee to raise the proportion of budget for administrative expenses from current two per cent to five per cent. This is likely to be approved by the Cabinet soon.

The Rural Development ministry has also planned to intensify its campaign to raise awareness among the various stake holders.

On staff shortages, the proposed staffing pattern envisages one administrative assistant at gram Panchayat Level, one technical assistant for 10 gram Panchayats, a full time Programme Officer at the block level, and an accounts, technical and computer assistant. But most of the states have not been able to make these arrangements so far. In addition, to meet the demand for independent redressal mechanism, the ministry has recently started emphsizing the need for social audit in all the 200 districts. The ministry has conducted a national workshop for conducting social audit in select districts in UP, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

Raghuvansh Prasad said elections and monsoon had delayed implementation of the scheme in several states but assured that the programme will now soon see a jump in meeting targets. But it remains to be seen whether the ministry will be able meet the challenges by the end of the year.