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Posted: Fri, Oct 22 2010. 1:00 AM IST

NAC focus back on job scheme,

asks rural ministry for
details
Ruhi Tewari
Along with the proposed food security legislation and the c ommunal violence Bill
that have been its focus until now, the reconstituted National Advisory Counc il
(NAC) is beginning to foc us again on the government’s marquee rural job
guarantee scheme as well.

The ministry of rural development has been told to make a presentation on the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Ac t (MGNREGA) to a
working group of the NAC on Friday, said a ministry offic ial and an NAC member.

The 14-member NAC, the political interfac e between the Congress party and
the government it leads, is chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The
c ouncil, which was rec onstituted in June, essentially sets the government’s
soc ial agenda.

The first NAC was associated with the previous United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) government’s signature soc ial reforms, including MGNREGA and the Right
to Information (RTI) Act.

The new panel has been giving priority to draft legislations such as the food
sec urity Bill, whic h promises c heaper foodgrains to the poor, and the communal
harmony Bill, whic h seeks to improve relations between religious c ommunities.

The NAC working group on transparency and accountability, with member Aruna
Roy as its convener, has asked the ministry of rural development, which
oversees MGNREGA, to prepare a presentation on three aspects: entitlements,
wages and transparency.

MGNREGA assures 100 days of work a year to each poor rural household.

Launched in 2006, it has been one of the Congress-led government’s most

suc cessful welfare programmes, benefiting 35.2 million households in 619
districts. It has a budgetary alloc ation of `40,100 crore this fiscal.

“We have been asked to make a presentation by the working group of NAC on
everything about these three aspects of MGNREGA on the 22nd (Oc tober). The
sec retary (rural development secretary B.K. Sinha) will make the presentation,
and then it seems the NAC will give us suggestions on what the ministry should
do,” said an official in the ministry of rural development, requesting anonymity.

The NAC is scheduled to meet on Saturday.

“We have asked the ministry to make a presentation in the working group
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meeting tomorrow (Friday). We are an advisory group so we will make
suggestions to them. One of the crucial elements is the issue of wages,” said
NAC member Harsh Mander, who is also a member of the working group on
transparenc y and acc ountability.

Roy is also a member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), a

watchdog for the job guarantee scheme as provided by the Act.

The c ounc il has been urging the rural development ministry to index MGNREGA
wages to the price level, so the wages are consistent with the Minimum Wages
Ac t, 1948. It has also pushed for reducing work hours under the scheme from
nine to seven hours a day, among other recommendations.

Mint c ould not reach Roy despite repeated attempts.

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