Background

In India, public provisioning of protective livelihoods opportunities has been embedded in the developmental policies since the 1960s. In the early phase of development planning, employment in public works was envisioned as a crucial mechanism to alleviate poverty, hunger and protection during times of famine (see Box 1).

The Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in Maharashtra, guided by similar principles, was amongst the earliest and largest public works introduced in 1972-74. It is the first statutory effort that guarantees employment at a defined wage. (The EGS Act states that every adult in the rural areas of Maharashtra has the right to work, that is, a right to be guaranteed employment for doing unskilled, manual work and to receive wages on a weekly or, at the most, fortnightly basis. The Act was passed in 1977, and since then, it has undergone certain revisions, though the basic structure stays the same.)

The EGS tries to ensure `social security as a right` through job-creation on demand (Government of Maharashtra, 2002). The social security component includes an unemployment allowance, medical services, a shelter for rest, crèches, an ex-gratia payment (Rs 50,000) in the case of death while employed, and maternity benefits (women workers). The financing of the EGS is through taxes on professions, callings and employment, additional tax on motor vehicles, additional sales tax, special tax on irrigated agricultural land, surcharge on land revenues and non-residential tax on urban lands and buildings. Additionally, there is State budgetary support.

The implementation of new EGS projects is initiated only after the labour requirements in agriculture and other market activities are estimated to be fully met, and those of the presently implemented EGS works are also met. The EGS does not try to change or transform the existing configuration of labour or land relations; it is an add-on programme meant for higher labour absorption in rural areas. Projects initiated through the EGS are largely labour intensive in nature and the composition of most activities pursued in the scheme involves a 60 per cent share of labour inputs on a piece-rate basis (this is now revised to 51 per cent for the construction of different water structures and catchments and roads). As in 2001, the average wage under the EGS was Rs 48 per day. Wage rates are fixed such that the daily wages conform to the minimum wages prescribed for agricultural labour in the corresponding zone. However, the incessant spate of droughts in Maharashtra in the 1990s has resulted in a drop in agricultural activities and wages, at far below minimum wages.

It is three decades since the EGS was introduced in Maharashtra. This paper examines the analysis and the effectiveness of the scheme in Maharashtra in the present context of incomplete structural transformation, the fractured rural economy, the inadequate rural physical infrastructure and the lack of diversified livelihood opportunities. The next section presents administrative and programme implementation of the programme, followed by an analysis of the physical performance, the choice of projects and their completion: asset creation, wages and earnings: impact on rural poverty. The last section presents the summary and the conclusions of the programme.

Administration and Programme Implementation

The governance of the EGS is relatively decentralised. The district is the crucial level of the planning and implementation process, of which the collector is in charge. The tehsil serves as the basic geographic unit of planning and represents the lowest level at which the dual command system between the administrative and technical hierarchies operate.

Technical line departments, on directives from the revenue department, initiate work under the EGS. The prerogative of shutting down a project, however, rests with the technical departments, which they exercise when the worker strength falls below a critical minimum. In the event of closing an EGS project, the responsibility of re-deploying labour lies with the revenue department.

Inspection and the vigilance duties are assigned at the divisional level to the commissioner with the assistance of an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in each division. In addition, collectors, chief executive officers (of Zilla Parishads, ZP), deputy collectors, tahsildars and supervisory officers of implementing agencies supervise and inspect EGS works as per the norms prescribed.

To minimise malpractices, divisional commissioners have been empowered to take disciplinary action against implementing officers of the EGS under the Maharashtra Conduct, Discipline and Appeal Rules. Further, a high-level vigilance committee under the chairmanship of Secretary (Rural Employment) has been constituted. Vigilance squads have also been constituted at district/divisional and State levels.

With a view to minimizing droughts, the Government of Maharashtra has identified five priority projects.

1. Moisture and water conservation Labour intensive components of major and medium irrigation projects, canal works, State and local sector minor irrigation, percolation and village tanks and underground bandharas
2. Soil conservation and land development works
3. Afforestation, Road works, both plan and non-plan
4. Integrated Watershed Development Programme

The respective departments execute the works by engaging labourers on muster rolls (Government of Maharashtra, 2003). The labourers are, however, not paid according to the number of days they remain present on the work but according to the quantity of work done on the basis of rates fixed for different items of work. These rates for different items are so fixed that an average person working diligently for seven hours a day, should earn a wage equal to the minimum wage prescribed for agricultural labour for the concerned zone that ranges between Rs 45 and Rs 51 per day under the Minimum Wage Act. Ex-gratia payment up to Rs 10,000 is admissible in case of death or disablement of a worker on the work. Welfare amenities, such as drinking water, creches, rest shade, first-aid facilities, etc., are provided to the workers.

Since the early 1990s, a number of new initiatives have been introduced with private sector participation. There are new initiatives like the horticulture programme, which has been hailed as a great success.

Physical Performance : Employment Generation

The impact of EGS in providing social security in rural areas has been impressive. Since its inception in 1972-73 until 2002-03, the programme generated 3.7 billion person-days of work at a cost of Rs 86.8 billion (simple addition across years, unadjusted to price). On any average day, there are 0.2 to 0.4 million persons engaged in EGS-initiated work. There has been a partial improvement in the participation rates in 2002-03 and 2003-04 from 2.61 lakhs (annually) to 5.76 lakhs (Government of Maharashtra, 2003-04). The EGS has contributed to about 22.5 per cent of the total person-days created in rural areas each year and about 7 per cent among the target groups (the poor, SC/ST). It has helped reduce open unemployment at the aggregate by an estimated 20 per cent. However, its explicit contribution to poverty reduction has not yet been gauged.

The number of person-days created annually in the 1970s (annual average 1975-76 to 1979-80) was about 150 million; in the 1980s, it was about 140 million; in the 1990s, it reduced to about 100 million; and in the 2000s, it again rose to about 130 million. Meanwhile, the yearly increase in the rural labour force has been steady at a little over one per cent (compound), which implies that the share of the EGS in overall employment generated has been falling overtime, despite the proportion of casual labourers rising faster than the increase in the total rural labour force. The EGS has thus not found much appeal in the recent years. Many optimists might maintain that the collective success of agriculture, the EGS and other programmes has resulted in a smaller demand for the EGS overtime. But the rural economy has not performed spectacularly in the last decade or more (See Parikh, Alka, Acharya. S. and Maithreyi Krishnaraj. 2005. Impact of Maharashtra`s Agricultural Policies on Women Farmers: A Gender Budgeting Analysis. Human Development Resource Centre United Nations Development Programme, April, Discussion Series Paper 8, New Delhi). Thus, the relative demand for work under the EGS shrunk in the face of not-too-impressive development in the rural economy, a paradox that might have answers in increased out-migration from rural to urban areas.

Choice of Projects and Asset Creation

The projects chosen for execution under the EGS are labour intensive, usually having about 60 per cent labour component in the total cost; this has now been relaxed to 50 per cent. Many times, assets created earlier have withered away. Inflexibility in the project design, therefore, inhibits the programme from effectively utilising surplus labour for capital formation, though with the introduction of watershed and horticulture type programmes this problem has reduced.

Among the various forms of projects carried out in the EGS, soil conservation and land development account for the highest proportion (64 per cent) followed by irrigation (12 per cent) (Government of Maharashtra, 2003-04).

Table 1. Category-wise Number of Works and Expenditure Incurred in the EGS: 2001-04 (in lakhs of rupees)
Category of work	2001-02			2002-03			2003-04
	No of works	Expenditure	Avg. Cost per work	No of works	Expenditure	Avg. Cost per work	No of works	Expenditure	Avg. Cost per work
Irrigation	676	19,620.31	29.02	1434	10,961.44	7.64	1617	16,912.90	10.46
				112.13	–44.13	–73.66	12.76	54.29	36.83
land development	13,090	12464.51	0.95	19,648	23,343.83	1.19	25,623	46,040.68	1.80
				50.10	87.28	24.77	30.41	11,219	11,219
Forest work	761	10,224.83	13.44	1085	8631.40	7.96	11,219	6577.25	0.59
			Bibliography Author Name: Sandhya Iyer and Sarthi Acharya Title of the Article: Re-examining the Employment Guarantee Scheme in Maharashtra Name of the Journal: Labour File Volume & Issue: 4 , 1 Year of Publication: 2006 Month of Publication: January - February Page numbers in Printed version: Labour File, Vol.4-No.1, One Hundred Days of Work (Cover Story - Re-examining the Employment Guarantee Scheme in Maharashtra - pp 4 - 10) Weblink : https://www.labourfile.com:443/section-detail.php?aid=297 Bibliography Author Name: Sandhya Iyer and Sarthi Acharya, Title of the Article: Re-examining the Employment Guarantee Scheme in Maharashtra, Name of the Journal: Labour File, Volume & Issue: 4 , 1, Year of Publication: 2006, Month of Publication: January - February, Page numbers in Printed version: Labour File, Vol.4-No.1, One Hundred Days of Work (Cover Story - Re-examining the Employment Guarantee Scheme in Maharashtra - pp 4 - 10), Weblink : https://www.labourfile.com:443/section-detail.php?aid=297 Download PDFversion Print Keywords Employment Guarantee Scheme, Maharashtra Current Labour News Two day Nationwide General Strike of Workers on 28... Labour File News Service More than 20 crore workers, employees and the rura... Labour File News Service Declaration of the Joint Front of Central Trade Un... Labour File News Service Indian and Pakistani Fishermen: Bearing the Brunt ... Manan Kumar Recent Issues Vol. 9, Issue 2 Previous Issues Vol. 8, Issue 3 Vol. 6, Issue 6 Vol. 6, Issue 5 Post Your Comments To Post Comment Please Login Comments No Comment Found Please provide your email id. We will notify when new Issues will come. Go Useful Links Home About Us Editorial Donate Contact us Contact Us The Information and Feature Trust, Lakshmi, (Kayyadam), Thondayad, Cheverambalam (PO), Calicut , KERALA - 673017 Phone:+91 - 9526577902 Website: www.labourfile.com Email: edit@labourfile.com Email: sindhumenon@labourfile.com 2024 © All Rights Reserved. Website Design by Kash Web Tech