NREGA: Opportunities and Challenges - Diksha

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NREGA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGESChallenge of development inbackward districtsNREGA needs to be evaluated on its development impacts,rather just on creation of employmentNREGA has been in force for more than two years. The first cluster of 200 backward districts, wherethe Act is being implemented since February 2006, provides clear examples of the programme’spotential as well as its problems. Its potential lies in the fact that it may result in uplifting close to60 per cent of the population in these districts above the poverty line. Its problem: the challenge ofimplementing the Act as a development agenda instead of just a wage-earning scheme.NREGA targets development in these districts using the huge demand for casual jobs. Its challenge is toturn the demand for casual jobs into productive employment. Thus, it is imperative to understand thecomplex socio-economic and governance challenges of these backward districts. It can be said that thesedistricts hold the key to the overall success of the programme.It is against this backdrop that CSE researchers chose 12 districts, spread across nine states, to study theimplementation of NREGA (see Map: Districts studied by CSE) in terms of its development effectiveness.With respect to ecological and economical conditions, these 12 districts are eminently representative ofthe 200 backward districts implementing NREGA in the country. CSE’s researchers toured these districtsextensively, and this policy paper is the result of what they found.The objectives of this study are:● To investigate whether NREGA is being used for productive assets creation● To gauge the development potential of the Act● To examine the village planning process crucial to the Act’s successThe NREGA targetsdevelopment in backwarddistricts using the hugedemand for casual jobs. Itschallenge is to turn thedemand for casual job intoproductive employment. Thusit is imperative to understandthe complex socio-economicand governance challenges ofthese districtsThe districts studied for this policy brief are primarily agrarian anddominantly rain-fed, and represent different agro-ecological zones,ranging from the central drylands to the Deccan plateau. All the districtshave biomass-based economies, with agriculture and forests contributingclose to 80 per cent of their rural livelihoods (see Tables: Agriculture landuse and forest cover in select districts of the NREGA states). At the sametime, all of them are also witnessing large-scale environmental falloutslike land degradation and deforestation. Naturally, distress migration andlivelihood crisis are rampant in these districts, and they featureprominently in the Planning Commission’s list of most backward districts(see Map: Districts studied by CSE).These districts, thus, offer ideal conditions for gauging whether NREGA hasmade any development impacts. As this policy brief focuses on ecologicalregeneration and management in the village, CSE has deliberately chosendistricts with a history of public wage programmes like the National Food forWork Programme (NFFWP) that have focused on creation of productiveassets. All the 12 districts have, on an average, about 25 years ofexperience in implementing public wage programmes.26
NREGA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGESMap: Districts studied by CSETikamgarh(Madhya Pradesh)Rank: 244Dungarpur(Rajasthan)Rank: 23Banda(Uttar Pradesh)Rank: 154Chitrakoot(Uttar Pradesh)Rank: 155Pakur(Jharkhand)Rank: 69Sidhi(MadhyaPradesh)Rank: 47Birbhum(West Bengal)Rank: 108Balangir(Orissa)Rank: 82Rangareddi(Andhra Pradesh)Rank: 122Forest areaPosition of districts on Index of backwardness accordingto the Planning Commission’s ranking of 447 districts*Schedule V area200 Poorest districtsChitradurga(Karnataka)Rank: 117Nagappattinam(Tamil Nadu)Rank: 175Anantapur(Andhra Pradesh)Rank: 19827
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NREGA: Opportunities and Challenges - Diksha

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