MGNREGS: No dole, this!
By KN Kumar
Prof. Bibek Debroy, Picking up issues with an eminent economist like you would be akin to walking with banana peels tied to the feet, on a rain sodden track. It’s certain one will slip. But letting diffidence to prevail when statements made are likely to stick to the long term memories of the people if not countered, would be to betray a scheme whose positive impact on the rural areas is incalculably significant. Of the several barbs I had heard being made to injure the MGNREGS from time to time, the worst one was to equate the scheme to a ‘dole’, and that if only the governance was good, then we would need no ‘doles’ like the MGNREGS. I disagree with this assertion of yours entirely.
No economist or a bureaucrat of the country will render a service to her, without claiming a fee for it. We do care for our country, but you know, we charge – after all, how do we survive? But, hear this: the designated Secretaries, or the Chairmen of the Village Employment Councils in Meghalaya do not charge the country for the services they render, despite being poor themselves. They do this entirely voluntarily, year after year without getting any remuneration for their services. Here is a scheme that is entirely driven by the Village Employment Council on a voluntary basis and the Council is directly selected by the job card holders themselves with remarkable in-built accountability. The performance of the Council is measured scheme after scheme by the Job Card Holders – even minor aberrations are not tolerated. They may not theorize about the country’s ills as much as you and I do, but they certainly do care for their village, which is their world. After all, it is their village, their work and their money. Just imagine what would happen to us if we were to be assessed for all that we proffered to the country, advice by advice!
The loyalty to the scheme at the village level can be gauged by a small incident I will choose to narrate to you: Tezpur University was mandated by the Planning Commission to evaluate the impact of the scheme in West Jaintia Hills district. In a remote village, an Investigator of the University rather provocatively asked in a Focussed Group Discussion: ‘What if I recommend to the Government of India that this scheme be withdrawn?’ The villagers unhesitatingly told him that they would beat him up, if he ever dared to make any such recommendation’. Please discount the violence of the statement, which obviously was not meant, but did you notice the intensity of it? By the way, the Investigator lived to tell the story and returned -both bemused and satisfied.
Just to press this point further, the AG’s performance audit of the Scheme in Meghalaya conducted for a period of five years between 2007-12 indicated that the satisfaction levels among the MGNREGS beneficiaries solely on account of the improved family incomes was 97%. Can you recall any other scheme of the Government that has given this kind of satisfaction to the people in modern India?
And, why do I say that it is no dole? Elementary, Sir! It is payment made against the work that is done. There is nothing gratis here, and no favours are extended to anyone. Justifiable wage is paid to the workers for the work they do, as a matter of right. And the work is chosen democratically by the Council. A ‘dole’ is something that someone doles out to the needy or less needy, asked for, or unasked for, with nothing apparently expected in return. How will then MGNREGS qualify to be regarded as a ‘dole’ when community assets are being built across the state based on felt needs and democratically?
There is not a single village in the state of Meghalaya that has not been positively impacted by the scheme, either in the form of rural roads, water conservation works, fish ponds, play grounds, sanitary latrines, community halls, and such infrastructure that we can all take for granted in urban areas, but not at all in rural areas. And, just for your satisfaction, let me request you to randomly pick a remote village of your choice in Meghalaya and we will take you physically to that village so you can personally see the value that has been brought to that village through the scheme. And please speak to the villagers, without us being around you, and draw your own conclusions.
As for the impact that I was earlier referring to, you had said that just ‘Give them roads, all other development will take place automatically’. Well, it may not be that automatic, but I see your point. Connectivity, or the lack of it, is undeniably responsible for a large number of problems in the rural areas. 51% of the total works undertaken in Meghalaya under the MGNREGS is within the category of ‘Rural Connectivity’. Quite obviously, the humble villager is making wise economic choices when it comes to the allocation of the limited resources. That’s Economics-101, right? You said, give them roads – well, that is what we are doing in the scheme! And, 69% of the surveyed beneficiaries confirmed that migration to urban areas came down significantly because of the scheme.
Also, I heard you wondering aloud as to where the next big break was going to come for the state of Meghalaya, in terms of its growth. And you didn’t believe Agriculture and allied activities were likely to give that break, as you suspected there were not going to be sufficient economies of scale. A simple principle should answer you. The sector that supports the largest number of people will be the one which can give us that ‘big break’. Undeniably, that sector is Agriculture and allied activities like Animal Husbandry and Fisheries – the one sector that supports close to 90% of the rural population and with requisite skills that had been formed over centuries. A state with so much water, land and unemployment is importing 20,000 M.Ts of fish every year from a state 2,500 K.M. away, which is a shame. Just stop that import of fish and a very conservative estimate will reveal a saving of Rs. 250 crore a year. And then, with a little more persistence, our state could emerge as a fish exporting state for the whole of the north east, minus of course, Tripura which is self-sufficient.
The same logic can be applied to Eggs, Meat, Poultry, Flowers, Strawberries, etc. Scales will obviously come from the whole of the north eastern region if production constraints are removed and human capacities are upgraded. And, the impact of the MGNREGS is the deepest in this sector, especially through earth works, water conservation works and rural connectivity.
I am a die-hard supporter of the MGNREGS, with all its deficiencies, difficulties, and inefficiencies. I am firm in my conviction that contrary to what some eminent urban elite may think, MGNREGS has possibly averted a major upheaval in the rural areas. Not having the MGNREGS would have meant unrest of grave and unimaginable proportions which none of us could have handled. Even when the governance is perfect, the country’s rural areas will still need the MGNREGS. And in fact, the scheme has brought in a viable and democratic village governance structure in Meghalaya for the first time. In other words, an entirely new institution of governance known as the VEC came about in the villages thanks to the MGNREGS.
Just a parting thought: How would the MGNREGS investment compare with the humongous NPAs of industries supported by financial institutions? Some of which are waived too, right? And the multi-millionaires of urban Meghalaya incidentally, don’t need to pay income tax. Would that too count for a dole, Sir?
You had mentioned that you were trying to provoke, in the hope that we get some answers. I must compliment you because even a staid and reticent bureaucrat like me is sufficiently provoked to write to you. Let me assure you that my respect for you or your eminence is not a wee bit diminished because of what you had said. It is just that your opinion counts, so it has become my duty to respond.
(K.N. Kumar is Principal Secretary, Rural Development)