Karnataka - Bangalore

“With global meltdown, NREGS becomes more important”

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, with Supreme Court judge R.V. Raveendran (right) at a conference on the NREGS in Bangalore on Saturday. Also seen is Andhra Pradesh High Court judge T. Meena Kumari.

BANGALORE: The importance of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has increased in the wake of the global economic slowdown, the Editor-in-chief of The Hindu, N. Ram, said on Saturday.

The slowdown, he said, would put a squeeze on rural livelihoods and incomes. “Unless there is massive injection of demand into the economy that puts purchasing power into the hands of the rural masses, especially the poor, who have to go out and work to support their families, the economy will take a long time coming out of its difficulties.”

Mr. Ram was addressing a session on “National Perspectives on NREGS: Issues and challenges” held as part of a regional conference of southern States on “Initiatives on supporting the NREGS through State Legal Service Authorities” organised jointly by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, the Karnataka High Court Legal Services Committee and the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms here.

Tracing the implementation of the NREGS, he said its potential was weakened from the start as the programme was taken up in phases though the Common Minimum Programme had committed itself to its full implementation. The scheme thus proceeded very slowly — covering 200 districts in the first phase and 330 districts later. However, the many problems that confronted the scheme — irregularities in compiling muster rolls, corruption and siphoning off of funds and middlemen pocketing money — should not become reasons to bring it down. Rather, practical solutions could be found for these problems.

Mr. Ram stressed the need for increasing the minimum wages under the NREGS to Rs. 100 or more.

Congratulating the higher judiciary on supporting this scheme through such a conference, he said this would send out a moral signal to society of the vital importance of this issue before the people. The media too should play a greater role in creating awareness of the NREGS.

Mr. Ram referred to Karnataka’s poor funds utilisation under the NREGS compared to the other three southern States, and wanted the State government to ponder this issue, especially when the State is a leader in the new economy.

Andhra Pradesh Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Secretary K. Raju said the State had brought about transparency in the implementation of the NREGS, putting all details of the scheme on a website. Even minute details, including discrepancies, could be tracked through this website. He said social audits had resulted in detection of irregularities and recovery of funds to the tune of Rs. 2 crore.

Supreme Court judge R.V. Raveendran said creating public awareness of the scheme was a must for its success. State legal service authorities could play a key role in creating awareness in rural areas. He also stressed the need for ensuring that the scheme was free from corruption. There was need for putting in place an efficient grievance redress mechanism. He suggested that stake-holders undertake social auditing of the scheme on their own by using the provisions of the Right to Information Act.

Kerala High Court Chief Justice H.L. Dattu said the success of the scheme depended on the government effectively addressing challenges such as illiteracy, corruption, and delay in allotment of work.

Andhra Pradesh High Court judge T. Meena Kumari spoke.

Speaking at the morning session, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said entire State had been brought under the NREGS and 31 lakh families had registered for employment under it.

Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said the legal services authorities could play a vital role in educating and making the poor aware of the benefits of the scheme.

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