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Open Forum
New Delhi, 23 April 2025
Rural Employment
CENTRE, STATES BLAME GAME
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
There were recent protests in the Lok
Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament regarding long delays in the
release of funds to some states under the rural employment guarantee scheme,
stressing that the livelihood of the poor has been badly affected. MPs from
various parties, including the main opposition party, Congress raised the issue
but the junior rural development minister alleged misappropriation of funds and
other irregularities in the implementation of the scheme.
A Congress MP from Kerala said workers
had not received wages for the past three months and the delayed payment and
low wages had led to a sharp decline in the MGNREGA workforce. Another member
from DMK claimed that funds to Tamil Nadu amounting to over Rs 4000 crore had
been pending for the last five months.
It is understood that over 40 lakh
claims for wage payments under the 100-day rural job scheme have been delayed
beyond the stipulated 15 days. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the
minister for rural development Giriraj Singh highlighted the hardships faced by
poor rural workers, owing to the payment delay. According to the Centre,
the state governments have approved 49.18 lakh claims for delayed compensation
in 2024-25 till March 25 this year, of which 12.94 lakh claims have been
settled.
Delving into the matter, one finds
that in 90 percent of the cases, the delay happens at the end of the rural
development ministry in processing the FTOs (funds transfer order) but the
Centre does not pay any compensation. It may be mentioned here that a
parliamentary committee on rural development had recently expressed concern
over the delay in MGNREGA wage payment. The committee urged the government to
release funds in time and coordinate with the states to prevent delay in wage
disbursement. As of date the pending liability under the scheme is a massive Rs
27,000 crore!At the same time, the Committee had noted slow implementation of
projects by states, which had led to the accumulation of unspent balances. To
address the issue, Ministry of Finance has made approval of funds conditional
on utilisation of unspent balances.
The government cannot allocate
adequate funds and in time for the job guarantee programme though some renowned
economists have urged the need for starting a similar programme for urban and
semi-urban areas. But all this is not of primary concern for the government
which is more interested in subsidising land and other facilities to industry
so that they gain in wealth. Or is there any justification of a
resource-constrained country to exempt people drawing up to Rs 12 lakhs per
annum in the recent budget?
Economists and planners cannot fathom the
rural employment scenario sitting in a metro city like Delhi. The scenario is
indeed quite distressing as is revealed from NSSO facts. As per National
Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO, 2023), of the total rural workers, 63 percent
belonged to the category of self-employed, comprising their own account workers
and employers and helpers in household enterprises, earning a very low income.
Another 24.8 percent of workers are casual labourers, who only get a few days
of employment in a year due to the seasonal nature of their work.
Additionally, only 12 percent who are
salaried workers receive a regular income from rural employment. The earnings
of the self-employed are around Rs 11,612 on an average per month though males
get over Rs `13,800. Do the above figures in any way reveal that the country
will attain the status of a developed country within a few years?
While the government is turning a deaf
ear to the question of rural employment, it was indeed surprising that the Prime
Minister, speaking at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris,
heralded the “dawn of the AI age”, noting that it will create more jobs than it
destroys with unprecedented opportunities for enhanced productivity and innovation.
Political leaders may have the liberty of making statements even though there
is no rationale behind it. It has been estimated that 23 percent of the working
population is possibly facing an axe in India by 2040 as stated by none other
than the Niti Aayog though this figure would rise to 69 percent in the World
Bank’s more realistic presumption.
It is well known that politicians in
the country, like in others are in the habit of making unjustified statements
and unrealistic claims. It is worth mentioning here that agriculture and
textile workers became redundant with mechanisation and factory automation in
the 19th century and later as robots were introduced to assembly
lines, electronics, computers and other appliances with many being left by the
wayside. In this connection, it needs to be asserted that the benefits of
productivity gains have not been widespread in most countries and alsoin India.
Rather, they have led to insatiability of material desires and widening
inequality.
However, it needs to be pointed out
that there is a need to understand each country on a case-to-case basis,
depending on its population and workforce. India with such a huge population as
also a very large workforce, most of whom are in the unorganised sector with a
very poor pay package, does not compare with the western countries. It has to
adopt its own strategy of labour utilisation and employment generation.
Why can’t the government impose an
employment cess of just 0.5 percent for those who earn more than Rs 10 lakh per
month? There is need to generate productive employment for at least 150 days in
rural areas and say 50 days in urban and semi-urban areas. The government
instead of seeking donations for their parties can also seek donations for
employment generation which would go a long way in helping the impoverished and
marginalised sections of society.
The Ministry of Rural Development
claims it aims to improve the quality of life in rural areas of the country and
acts as the nodal agency for most development and welfare activities in rural
India. The Department of Rural Development says it implements programmes to
provide employment in rural areas, support economic development through
enhanced connectivity, and ensure livelihood and social security for the poor
and vulnerable.Major schemes run by the Department include Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojana (PMGSY), National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), and Pradhan Mantri
Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
In the present scenario, what is
needed is balanced development, that is, allocation of more resources to the
rural sector to create job opportunities. The priorities should include
modernising schools and health centres apart from ensuring more job
opportunities in rural areas. International organisations like Oxfam have been
urging the Indian government to impose a super-rich tax, say of just 1 or2
percent so that both social and physical infrastructure could be developed in
villages which, in turn, would create more employment opportunities. Why the
nagging delay? ---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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