The need for a million worksites now

Context: Averting a humanitarian disaster in India calls for an explosion of NREGA work in the next few weeks 

Impact of COVID on migrants workers:

• No Food:  Azim Premji University (APU) Survey claims around 74% of the poor households are consuming less food today than before the lockdown.
• Financial Stress: Another study claimed that 90% reported “financial stress”.

Need for MGNREGA Reform:

• Insufficiency of PDS: For those who are covered, the PDS cannot ensure adequate nutrition 

• It still excludes around 500 million people living in poverty.  They urgently need to earn cash beyond small mercies.

• Unprecedented demand: Demand for MGNREGA work has increased despite low wages as there is nothing better on the cards.

• Non-empowered workers: Their inability to initiate work applications by themselves leads to a situation where NREGA works attract the workers as opposed to it being a demand-based work. 

• This is one of the reasons why the NREGA works remain low in small states.

• Vulnerable to leakages: The digital payment system has merely changed the modalities of corruption. High rejection rate and cumbersome process in KYC norms challenge the process.

• Wage issues: Wages are still low, and payments are still far from timely and reliable.
• Right v/s Obligation: it has now become an obligation as no-one can be employed unless his or her name has been entered in advance in the e-muster rolls.

Steps to be taken:

• Large scale opening of MGNREGA works on proactive basis: creating major worksite in each village, employment throughout monsoon etc.
• Veritable explosion of NREGA work: expanding the list of works, hiring more gram rozgar sevaks, mobilising para-teachers, simplifying process etc. 
• Switch to cash payment: it will help timely and reliable payment, reduce the problems related to workers extracting wages from banks. 
• Although they are little more vulnerable to leakages than digital payment.

• Increased Budget: open-ended budget to avoid wage arrears. Nothing in the Act authorizes the government to impose budget cap.