The Demand and Supply of Employment Guarantee: Impressions from Khunti – 2

Employment guarantee has both a demand and a supply side. Balancing the two is certainly not an apolitical exercise. Both sides of the programme have to be steered sensitively, with an awareness of local power dynamics and at the same time ensuring that the weakest are not left behind.

Introduction

M GNREGA calls for a radical shift in the perspective of the State vis a vis the rural workforce in its territory. From being a beneficiary in anti-poverty programmes, rural labour is now to be recognized as a citizen, who can exercise his/her right to guaranteed and favourable employment. In doing so, s/he can become agents of her/his own development. The rural citizen, armed with the guarantee of employment and wage, has a choice to prioritize and fulfill felt needs at any point in time and enhance his/her life opportunities. The Act has made it legally binding on the State, as the duty bearer, to set up systems for actualizing this economic right as well as provide mechanisms to prevent its violation.

The following article is based on a recent visit to Tirla (Belahati and Saridkel) and Siladon (Irud and Sulhe) panchayats of Khunti block in Jharkhand, to understand the implementation of the programme through the experiences of the workers and the NREGA Sahayata Kendra set up by researchers from the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics and with support from the district administration. The Sahayata Kendra is mainly the brainchild of Dr. Jean Drèze, the chief architect of MGNREGA. It was conceived as a help centre for the implementation of NREGS and is run by a team of four people, of whom three belong to the local community. The Sahayata Kendra helps workers claim their right to work and puts in place favourable workplace conditions. The article looks at the issues from a demand-and-supply perspective and identifies the areas of engagement of civil society, at large, and Pradan, in particular.