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NREGA Archive
Articles on India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
NREGA is one of India’s most ambitious programmes to eradicate hunger. I have been involved with this since 2002 when a campaign started for the law. After its legislation I spent over one year in Tamil Nadu looking at its implementation. The following articles reflect this engagement. For a few useful links on NREGA, click here.
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Understanding Tamil Nadu’s commitment to public services: An institutional perspective
Posted on December 31, 2010 | No CommentsMy doctoral dissertation on the question of why Tamil Nadu has an impressive commitment to providing basic public services such as roads, water, electricity and education. -
Asset creation in private lands using NREGA: Problems & opportunities
Posted on September 24, 2009 | No CommentsNational Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is primarily a programme aimed at creating public assets that would be useful for the society at large. When NREGA was created, it relaxed this principle by allowing projects in private lands of selected marginalised communities including SCs and STs. The Minister for Rural Development is now trying to extend this by permitting works in private lands owned by small and marginal farmers who are not SCs and STs. This proposal has been welcomed by some like Mihir Shah and has been sharply criticised by Aruna Roy and Jean Drèze among others. I believe... -
What is NREGA-2?
Posted on September 11, 2009 | No CommentsThe Minister for Rural Development, Mr C P Joshi has announced that he will revamp NREGA with some major changes, and the new scheme of things has been informally labelled “NREGA-2”. News reports have indicated that the new scheme will be unveiled on the birthday of Rajiv Gandhi. As of now the Ministry has not made available for public discussion the set of changes that will be made, but some ideas have been making their way to the media periodically. This article synthesizes these ideas, and provides links to articles debating the so-called NREGA-2. -
Who cares about quality in NREGA?
Posted on August 30, 2009 | No CommentsNREGA has been relatively successful in many states in creating a large volume of employment, but critics have pointed out that the quality of projects is often poor. I agree with this assessment and argue that employment tends to be provided since there is a pressure for creating work and paying wages on a timely basis. But there is little pressure for quality from any source, be it administration, social movements or people at large. Unless we get some pressure group for ensuring quality, it is likely that quality of work in NREGA will continue to be poor in the years to come. -
Thinking of NREGA from the beautiful Adirondacks
Posted on August 30, 2009 | No CommentsMost great parks of the US were created by NREGA-like public works programmes. Here are some dreams for NREGA in India. -
NREGA for the disabled
Posted on August 15, 2009 | No CommentsNREGA presents an unprecedented opportunity for disabled persons across India to earn a living and to showcase their talents. But as things stand, NREGA is not designed for disabled people to participate in it, but we can change it all with some tweaking. -
Will trained workers in Panchayats improve the quality of NREGA?
Posted on August 15, 2009 | 3 CommentsMihir Shah argued in a recent article that trained workers should be appointed in each Panchayat if NREGA has to fulfill its promises. While Panchayats need personnel to implement NREGA, I argue that for the purpose of planning it would be better to create nodal agencies that take up planning sound works in a campaign mode. -
Politics, technology & accountability II
Posted on July 27, 2009 | No Comments“To be ruled is to be kept an eye on, inspected, spied on, regulated, indoctrinated, sermonized, listed and checked off, estimated, appraised, censured, ordered about…to be ruled is at every operation, transaction, movement, to be noted, registered, counted, priced, admonished, prevented, reformed, redressed, corrected”. Proudhon quoted by James Scott in Seeing like a state. The power of information is often used by those in powerful positions to control others. The right to information movement inverts this principle and turns the gaze on those in positions of power by making their actions visible and thus amenable to democratic control. Sharing information... -
Will the Unique ID project improve accountability?
Posted on July 5, 2009 | 3 CommentsImproving accountability depends on political and social initiatives, and not technological solutions. But technology can shape society and politics in limited ways. This article looks briefly at how the Unique id project can help in improving accountability of the government to people in India. -
Jharkhand police: Enquiry or cover-up in Lalit Mehta’s murder case?
Posted on June 17, 2008 | 1 CommentA report by the Dy. Commissioner, and SP Palamu indicates that police in Palamu is not serious about pursuing Lalit Metha’s murderers One of our colleagues, Lalit Mehta, was brutally murdered in Palamu, Jharkahand recently. A sloppy report has prepared by the Deputy Commissioner and the SP, Palamu indicates that the Jharkhand police is either insincere in pursuing the murderers or actively protecting them. Lalit was in the process of organising a survey on NREGA along with Jean Dreze and a band of volunteers. Instead of pursuing the murders, the report casts aspersions on the survey team and even goes...
