Empower NREGA workers, not NGOs: Centre to states -Governance Now

Empower NREGA workers, not NGOs: Centre to states

Do not pay NGOs and CSOs to boost job demands under NREGA, the rural development ministry writes to the states

Brajesh Kumar | November 23, 2010

The rural development ministry has strongly reacted to the reports of states giving money to NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs) for ensuring increase in job demands under NREGA saying it antithetical to the provisions of Act.

“It has been brought to the notice of the ministry that state governments have assigned NGOs and CSOs the responsibilities for ensuring demand for employment by households on the basis of fixed monetary incentives,” the ministry said in a note sent to rural development secretaries of the states on Monday.

“Getting 100 days of work is a legal right of the workers which can be assessed by the workers directly. However equating payments to the CSOs with increase in number of days of work received by the worker has the effect of linking legal rights of the worker with monetary incentive of CSOs which is not in conformity with the spirit of NREGA,” the note further read.

This in fact facilitates empowering of NGOs/CSOs rather than NREGA workers and opens space for commission agents or contractors in securing employment to rural households which they can demand as a legal right, the note said.

The ministry has also taken strong exception to state governments providing monetary incentives, in addition to monthly remunerations to rojgar sevaks in case they are able to generate in an a month the prescribed ceiling of persondays in a gram panchayat.

Such pecuniary incentives to personnel is also not in accordance to the spirit of the act, the note said.

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