SOIL Report 2008 - ACCESS Development Services

Chapter VOutreach and PerformanceA total of143.7 croreperson-days ofemploymentwere generatedin 2007-’08with 97 percent of householdsdemandingwork, whichwas provided atan average ofnearly 42 daysper household.NREGA has been in operation for over two years now. Details of outreach and performance are givenin Box 5.3. A total of 143.7 crore person-days of employment were generated in 2007-’08 with 97 percent of households demanding work, which was provided at an average of nearly 42 days per household.In physical terms, 17.92 lakh works were taken up in 2007-08, more than double the figure of 8.35 lakhthe previous year.Box 5.3: NREGA: Outreach and Performance*Employment Generation, NREGA 2007-08 (330 districts)Total:143.7 crore person-daysEmployment demanded:Employment provided:3.43 crore households3.39 crore households (97% of total demand)NREGA Expenditure 2007-08Total Expenditure:Rs 15,858 crore (82% of available funds)Total Expenditure per district:Rs 48.06 croreWorks Taken Up:17.92 lakhShare of different types of assets in total (December 2007):(i) Water conservation: 53%(ii) Irrigation facility on lands of SC/STs: 13%(iii) Rural Connectivity: 17%(iv) Land Development: 15%(v) Others: 3%Source: From MoRD (2008b) and NREGA Implementation Status report 2007-08 at NREGA website www.nrega.nic.inIn 2007-08, 3.5 million (or 11 per cent of all households obtaining employment) completed 100 days ofwork. The state-wise performance, however, has been very varied. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Manipur, and Tamil Nadu provided more than 50 person-days of employment per household during2007-08. On the other hand states such as Gujarat, West Bengal, Kerala and Bihar generated considerablyless than 30 person-days of employment per household. A notable point about state performance hasbeen that while NREGA was a major initiative of the UPA government, it is in the BJP-ruled states thatcoverage under the scheme has been greater with a dismal showing by the Left-ruled states.A feature of the scheme is the apparently attractive wages (ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 125 per day) paidunder NREGA as compared to prevalent wage rates, especially for women, in rural areas across thecountry − often a multiple of wage rates for agricultural operations in different states. However, giventhe fact that piece rates are usually applied for works undertaken, daily earnings of workers can be substantiallylower than these rates.The overall share of women in employment is satisfactory at nearly 43 per cent in 2007-’08. The highshares of disadvantaged groups in NREGA employment (Box 5.2) is seen as evidence that self-targeting,which is a unique selling proposition of NREGA, is working (Mehrotra, 2008).108