Linking INRM with MGNREGS can prove to be a win-win option, with villagers building infrastructure on their lands are long term assets and being paid for their labour by the government.
Linking INRM with MGNREGS can prove to be a win-win option, with villagers building infrastructure on their lands are long term assets and being paid for their labour by the government.
T he Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA, 2005), is a landmark legislation in India’s policy-making history. It marks the country’s first substantial social security cover for the rural poor. This Act is particularly significant, in that it recognizes and establishes the Right to Work as fundamental to leading a life of dignity. This is in keeping with India’s rights-based approach to development.
MGNREGA, 2005, legally mandates provision of work within 15 days to anyone who is willing to do unskilled manual labour on public works at a statutory minimum wage, subject to a limit of 100 days of work, per nuclear family, per year. The Act clearly articulates transparency safeguards, which include the maintenance of records (job cards recording entitlements, written demand for work, muster rolls, measurement books and asset registers) held in the custody of multiple stakeholders, issue of dated receipts, strict time-bound allocation of work and payment of wages, worksite information boards, village-level monitoring committees, regular block-, district-and state-level work inspections and social audits.