Playing hide and seek on employment guarantee, Pg6

Key Highlights:

• The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB – G RAM G Act) has faced criticism, with most defenders linked to the Central government.
• Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan argued the VB – G RAM G Act mirrors the MGNREGA, but with 125 days of guaranteed work, a claim disputed due to a "switch-off" provision.
• The VB-G RAM G Act's shift to normative funding instead of a demand-driven approach may lead to budget caps, affecting equitable expenditure distribution across states.
• Advocates claim the VB-G RAM G Act will reduce corruption through digital technology, but similar technologies in MGNREGA have had mixed results.

Detailed Insights:

• The "switch-off" provision in Section 5(1) of the VB-G RAM G Act allows the Central government to selectively apply the employment guarantee, undermining its purpose.
• Removing the "disentitlement provision" from MGNREGA in the VB-G RAM G Act is insignificant, as it was rarely used and addressed an imaginary problem of frivolous work applications.
• Normative funding in the VB-G RAM G Act may lead to budget caps, potentially hindering poorer states from effectively utilizing the employment guarantee scheme.
• There's no strong correlation between MGNREGA employment and poverty rates across states, suggesting that budget caps may not address the issue of equitable distribution.
• The VB-G RAM G Act's reliance on digital technology to curb corruption overlooks past failures where technology undermined worker's rights and fueled corruption in MGNREGA.
• Claims that the VB-G RAM G Act strengthens social audits or mandates timely wage payments are misleading, as these provisions are largely copied from MGNREGA.
• The primary motive behind the VB-G RAM G Act appears to be for the government to take credit, sidelining the core principles of employment guarantee and worker's rights.

Key Concepts Involved:

• MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act): An Indian law guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment to rural households.
• Employment Guarantee: A legal assurance by the government to provide employment to those who demand it.
• Normative Funding: Allocating funds based on pre-determined norms rather than actual demand.