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An Assessment
of Jawahar Rozgar Yojna in Manipur
By Thiyam Bharat
There are two important causes of rural poverty
in India. They are low productivity and
unemployment. Therefore, it is fundamental to
increase productivity
and employment in order to reduce rural poverty
in India. A number of rural development programs
have been in progression in India since 1970s.
The objects of these programs are:
1. to improve the economic conditions of the
rural poor so that their incomes may increase,
2. special area development,
3. to improve the consumption levels of the poor
in order to raise their productive efficiency
and
4. works program for creation of supplementary
employment opportunities.
Jawahar Rojgar Yojna (JRY) is a poverty
alleviation scheme, which falls under the
category of works program for creation of
supplementary employment opportunities. JRY was
formed in 1st April 1989 by amalgamating two
wage employment programs viz., National Rural
Employment Program (NREP) and Rural Employee
Guarantee Program (RLEGP). JRY includes two
sub-schemes, viz., Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), a
housing program and the Million Wells Scheme (MWS).
JRY aims at generation of additional gainful
employment through the creation of economic
infrastructure and community assets in the rural
areas. It is a self-targeting scheme and it
offers a legitimate minimum wage for unskilled labor, which is generally lower than
the prevailing market wage rates. The scheme
provides a means of livelihood to those people
who are at critical levels of subsistence. For
example, a person who is willing to do manual
work for the offered wage could seek employment
on these public works. Recently, JRY is restructured, streamlined and made more
comprehensive and has been named Jawahar Gram
Samridhi Yojana (JGSY). JGSY has been launched
on 1st April 1999 and the scheme is designed to
improve the quality of life of the poor.
The primary objective of the JGSY is the
creation of demand driven community village
infrastructure including durable assets at the
village level and assets to enable the rural
poor to increase the opportunities for sustained
employment. The secondary objective is the
generation of supplementary employment for the
unemployed poor in the rural areas. The wage
employment under the program shall be given to
Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
States in India have utilized Rs.251, 903
million under the JRY program, creating
employment of 6585 Million man days till
1996-97. Of the total employment
generated, the share of SCs/STs was 3659.5
million man days (55.57 per cent) and that of
women 1681.40 million man days (25.53 per cent).
(Raja J.Chellia &
Sudarshan, 1999). Apart from generating
supplementary employment of the casual labor
kind, the JRY also contributed to the
development of rural infrastructure through the
creation of medium irrigation works, soil
conservation works, land development, drinking
water wells, rural roads, construction of school
buildings, panchayat offices, Women’s Club
buildings, housing and sanitation and social
forestry
Since the inception of JRY in Manipur, the state
has been able to utilize a sum of Rs. 2,508.20
lakh till 1998-99 and it is encouraging to note
that the scheme
has so far generated employment to the tune of
47.53 lakh man days. The highest utilization of
fund available under this scheme was registered
in 1995-96
and the percentage of achievement was also
recorded highest in this year generating
employment of 9.98 lakh man days. Except in the
year 1995-96, the target fixed under JRY for
generation of man days has not been able to
fulfill over the years.
The Report of the Comptroller and Auditor
General of India, Government of Manipur, 1999
establishes the fact that the high incidence of
poverty in rural areas is directly related to
prevalence of large-scale unemployment and
underemployment. The assessment also reveals
that there were no reports relating to
registration of employment, issue of family
cards, etc. There was also shortfall in
generation of employment and documentation for
works executed and
assets created by the Gram Panchayats were not
recorded. Inventory of assets created was also
not maintained and assets were not handed over
to the
departments of the State Government for
preservation and maintenance. There was short
release of fund by the Centre and the state to
the extent of Rs. 8.67
crore for implementation of JRY during 1992-93
to 1998-99 and out of the funds released amount
ranging from Rs. 32.94 lakh to Rs. 2.70 crore
remained
unutilized resulting in overall less generation
of employment.
Thus, various flaws and shortcomings,
inefficiencies are observed in the performance
and implementation of JRY that led to less
generation of employment in the state. Hence,
JRY can be said to be relatively ineffective in
alleviating the rural poverty in the state.
These various factors that are largely
responsible for making the JRY ineffective need
to be minimized while implementing the program.
This can be done by making registration of employment seekers and completing the issue of
family cards, by releasing
the allocated funds to the implementing agencies
for the generation of employment, by making
payments to workers directly with proper
documentation,
maintaining inventory of assets created and
assets handed over to the concerned authorities
for preservation. However, this whole process
will require
political will and commitment of the state
government to fructify the scheme.
(Courtesy: Namaram
Kishalaya) |
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