MGNREGA creating dearth of farm labour

-The Business Standard

Implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a flagship programme of the Central government to alleviate poverty, has resulted in an increase of up to 20 per cent in the cost of farm production in Karnataka. It has also created a shortage of labour in the agriculture sector in the state.

According to a study conducted by the Bangalore-based Institute for Social and Economic Change |(ISEC), the shortage of labour was observed during the kharif sowing season of July, August and September in majority of the villages. The scheme was implemented in February 2006.

ISEC released the findings of the study here on Sunday.

“A majority of the villagers were of the view that after implementation of the MGNREGA, the cost of production in agriculture has increased 10 per cent to 20 per cent because of a scarcity of labour,” said the study titled ‘Impact of NREGA on Wage Rate, Food Security and Rural Urban Migration in Karnataka (2011)’, the study said.

Authors of the study, Pramod Kumar, professor and head, Agriculture Development and Rural Transformation Centre (ADRTC), and I Maruthi of ADRTC of ISEC, said daily wages in the farm sector increased by 50 per cent after implementation of the scheme. “Works taken up under the MGNREGA should be planned in such a way that labour is strictly employed for the scheme after the sowing and harvesting seasons of rabi and kharif crops is over. This planning has to be done at the panchayat, block and district levels depending upon the cropping pattern of the respective regions,” they said.

The ISEC researchers conducted the study in the villages of Bidar, Bellary, Chamarajanagar, Chikmagalur and Dharwad districts with a sample of 254 households. “A clear majority of households indicated that the scheme has not been successful in raising their living standards or their consumption levels and the reasons were that the programme has not provided enough number of days of work to make a significant dent on the poverty level,” it said.

Against 100 days of guaranteed employment, the state provided on an average only 35 days of employment in 2008-09, 57 days in 2009-10 and 32 days in 2010-11 (up to November 2010). The percentage share of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and women in the total man-days was 17 per cent, 10 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively.

“The average wage rate was recorded at Rs 86 per day under the scheme whereas the stipulated minimum wage for unskilled labour in Karnataka is fixed at Rs 119,” the study said.

On the positive side, over 60 participants in the survey viewed that the scheme has given greater independence to women while 37 per cent agreed that it has provided protection against extreme poverty. Around 45 per cent indicated that it has helped reduce distress migration from villages to townsôcities. There were incidences of migration because of not getting work under the job schemes as well households returning to the villages to work under the NREGA, Kumar and Maruthi said.

Contrary to norms, social auditing has not been done in 10 districts of Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mysore, Tumkur, Udupi, Hassan, Bagalkote, Bijapur and Chamarajanagar. As of November 2010, of the 470,000 works taken up, only 6.7 per cent have been completed.

The percentage of works inspected at the district level remained between three and 13 per cent, it said.

For better implementation of the programme, the study suggested an increase in workdays and wage rate, providing food within the programme, and information on various aspects of the scheme. It also said that a proper punishment system should be put up in place for unscrupulous officials who are found guilty of indulging in corruption and other untoward activities.