In the first public acceptance that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) was not benefiting the poorest of states in the country, data submitted by the Ministry of Planning to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance reveal that Bihar and Uttar Pradesh households were employed just about half the number of days compared with the national average. While households in Rajasthan were employed for as many as 66 days and those in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh for 58 days each, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar households could manage work for just 28 and 22 days respectively. The national average was 43 days in fiscal 2006-07 and deteriorated to 38 days in 2007-08.Further, in the backdrop of the farmers’ suicides plaguing Vidarbha, the Ministry has admitted that the “rural distress districts in the region have failed to take advantage of the programme”. The NREGP is administered by the Rural Development Ministry and implemented by states.According to the Planning Ministry, even in terms of households provided employment as percentage of job cards issued, Bihar and Karnataka fared worse than Rajasthan (73) and even Himachal Pradesh (63) and Assam (71). In Bihar, only 40 per cent of those issued job cards got work. The House finance panel rapped the government for the other glaring shortcomings of the programme, including “corruption, shortfall in budgeted days of employment and lack of opportunities for educated persons and unnecessary paperwork”.In the first two years of NREGP’s implementation, the government incurred an expenditure of Rs 19,860 crore and engendered 200 crore-person days of employment. It provided employment to 5.01 crore households during 2006-08. After the NREG Act was passed in 2005, it covered 200 districts in 2006-07. An additional 130 districts were added in 2007-08. The Act covers all rural districts from April 1 this year.In 2006-07, Rs 8,823.36 crore was spent creating 90.51 crore person-days of employment to 2.10 crore households. Of the total person-days of employment generated, 25.36 per cent was for scheduled caste (SCs), 36.45 per cent for scheduled tribes(STs), and 40.65 per cent for women. All this involved working 8.32 lakh projects, of which 4.48 lakh are still ongoing while 3.84 lakh have been completed.In 2007-08, the NREGP consumed Rs 11,036.72 crore, creating 110.23 crore person-days of employment for 2.91 crore households. Of the total person-days of employment generated, 27.43 per cent has gone to SCs, 30.22 per cent to STs, and 42.93 per cent to women. The money was spent on a total of 14.95 lakh projects, of which 10.18 lakh are still ongoing and 4.77 lakh have been completed.In its recommendations to the Planning Ministry, the committee has also asked it to assess the quantum of assets created by the employment guarantee programme and file a status report within three months.Top 3 PerformersState Average days*Rajasthan 66Madhya Pradesh 58Tamil Nadu 58Worst threeBihar 22Uttar Pradesh 28Jharkhand 47* Average days of employment per household in 2006-07 was 43 days and in 2007-08 was 38 days
