Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad, chairman of the Central Employment Guarantee Council, said it had to be proven to the world that the programme can be made a success. Though already there have been several benefits for the most marginalised, he admitted that the programme suffered from the same malaise as the National Food for Work programme.

The reason: it is the same over-burdened administrative machinery at the panchayat level that is implementing the NREGA. Most states have not set up a separate machinery to oversee implementation. He informed the Council that he will be writing to the Planning Commission to increase administrative expense from 2 per cent to at least 6 per cent for the programme.

The meeting was also attended by Rural Development secretary Amita Sharma, secretaries of state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal; nominees of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Agriculture, Environment and Forests, Statistics and Programme Implementation, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs, Social Justice. Other members of the Council include Annie Raja, Aruna Roy, Subhasini Ali and Jean Dreze.

The Council reviews and monitors implementation of the Act, its redressal mechanisms and prepares annual reports to be laid before Parliament by the Central Government.

Where it’s falling short

Council Members Jean Dreze and Annie Raja have identified some gaping holes that needed to be plugged immediately.

• Lack of awareness: Most rural labourers who have job cards are not aware of the fact that they must apply for a job in order to get employment under NREGA as it is a “demand-driven” programme. This is the reason behind low rates of employment in some districts.

• Shortage of staff: Like in the Food for Work Programme, there is shortage of staff at all levels of the NREGA. The responsibilities of the programme officer at the block level have been assigned to the Block Development Officer who is already overworked. Most states are yet to appoint Gram Rozgaar Sevaks at the Gram Panchayat level. “Without adequate staff, NREGA cannot succeed,” the members wrote.

• Inadequate provision for administrative expenses: The shortage of staff is a reflection of the fact that financial allocation for administrative expenses is yet to be raised from 2 per cent.

• Weak redressal procedures: The existing procedures for recording and redressing grievances under NREGA are very weak. It is the same authorities who are responsible for redressal too. There are no explicit and automatic penalties even for gross violations of the Act, such as refusing an application for work. Stronger redressal procedures need to be put in place.