Ten months after its launch, the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme has failed to impress the central employment guarantee council even as the Rural Development Ministry is terming the scheme a great success.

Addressing NREG programme coordinators, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said he plans to extend the scheme from the current 200 to 400 districts. Interestingly, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who also addressed the meet, said: “I am satisfied with the work done by the Rural Development Ministry, but there are many states where a lot needs to be done”.

Meanwhile, Prof Jean Dreze, economist and former National Advisory Council member, says that the current level of employment under the scheme is well below estimates. The programme has so far generated just 3,663 lakh mandays as against the target of 200,000 lakh mandays, which is just two per cent of the estimates.

When asked whether this indicate lack of demand for employment as estimated by the employment guarantee council, Dreze said: “There is no lack of demand for employment. There is something lacking in the way the programme is being implemented.”

In September, the Central Employment Guarantee Council had submitted a note indicating four major obstacles in implementing the scheme — a lack of awareness in implementing agencies, the lack of sufficient provision for administrative expenditure, staff shortages at the local level, and the lack of an independent redressal mechanism.

Speaking to The Indian Express, employment guarantee council member Annie Raja said: “The dismal performance of NREG in various parts of country is a product of lack of willingness in the bureaucracy and the political heads of different states.”

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