For Nearly 5 crore NREGA workers and their families this will be a Black Diwali
8 crore NREGA payments are pending as on November 3, 2021 according to Report 8.1.1 of the NREGA Management Information System (MIS). This means, for nearly 5 crore workers across the country this will be a Kali Diwali. Following the raging debate about NREGA funds running out with 5 months remaining, the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) seeks to point out how serious the crisis currently is. The attached Note has detailed descriptions of the distressing extent of delays in wage payments across key States. On such a festive occasion when people not only expect to be paid their due wages and hopefully a bonus, NREGA workers have not been paid wages for the work they have done. The hope of being paid in the near future is also bleak.
The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) claimed that there are Rs. 8,900 cr available for work to carry on. But this is not borne out by the facts of allocations, payments made and pending liabilities. If MoRD’s claims are indeed true, then what explains 8 crore pending transactions as on November 3, 2021?
These payments are calculated from fund transfer orders (FTOs) that have been generated but not paid as of today. Each transaction represents a worker who has worked for a week or 15 days. There are some cases where one worker would have several pending payments due, which only intensifies the distress. It is worse for those workers whose payments have been rejected and yet not corrected. As on November 3, 2021, 24.15 lakh transactions adding up to approximately Rs 300 cr of NREGA wages are rejected due to technical reasons. It is worse for those workers whose payments have been rejected because they are not available to them unless corrected..
From the time the Central Government allocated Rs 73000 cr, reducing last year's revised estimate by 34 percent, it became clear that money would run out approximately half way through the year. The Central Government did find money to pay its own employees 28 percent Dearness Allowance and and 3 percent Bonus for diwali, but chooses to look away from existing dues for NREGA workers, leave alone their situation during festivals like Diwali.
Jayati Ghosh , Nikhil Dey, Rajendran Narayanan , Rakshita Swamy ( from Whatsapp post)
Two days after this press release, the Indian Express Editorial fails to mention how many NREGA workers ( 5 crore approx) have not been paid and prefers to state 71% payments were delayed more than 7 days, and 44 percent more than 15 days. saying govt must plug gaps in MGNERGA..https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mgnrega-scheme-rural-india-7606684/
NREGA: low funds, caste-based payment delays, and implications for the economy Udit Misra 2nd Nov. 2021
Thanks to a central government circular, MGNREGA is witnessing different caste workers getting paid at different times
Main takeaways from the latest ‘tracker’. Here are some of the key findings:
1. Inadequate Allocation and repeated payment delays
2. Demand suppression If due to inadequate budget allocation and resultant delays the rural workers do not get their dues in time, it discourages them to the extent that they do not ask for as much work as they would want to.
3. How the payments were delayed by caste for each of the 10 states.
Caste-based payment delays
As Wage Guarantee Scheme NREGA Sees Surge, Cash Runs Out | Reality Check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5ie5Ieitak
Nov 3, 2021
With the wage guarantee scheme NREGA witnessing a pandemic-induced surge, Centre's funds run out.
