What… MGNREGA is a ‘useless legislation’??

Odisha legislatures terming MGNREGA as useless, if said as joke is ‘bizarrely humourless’ and if said seriously is the ‘irony of the decade’


Thursday’s newspapers have quoted some Members of Legislative Assembly terming MGNREGA as a ‘useless’ legislation. Not for the first time people have said such things about MGNREGA. Many people having their own set of interest have termed MGNREGS as ‘burden’, ‘useless’, ‘corruption ridden’, ‘thoughtless’ etc.. But when our MLAs curse legislation like MGNREGS as useless, we must admit that something is grossly wrong with the honourable members.

It is true that ever since the MGNREGA has been in implementation, news and instances of corruption, sometimes of grossly severe nature, is regularly emanating from ground zero. But then that is not the fault of the Act itself. The fault lies with the system which does not follow the principle of the Act and the supporting scheme. People are making corruption hues as if only the MGNREGA is beset with it and all other programmes and schemes are sparklingly clean. The truth however is something entirely different. Among all such schemes and programmes being implemented by the government, the MGNREGS is the only scheme and the MGNREGA is the only legislation which has strong inherent mechanisms to curb and expose corruptions. We must admit the fact that if so much of corruption can happen with MGNREGS, other schemes and programmes can only be far worse than that… not less. In other words, even with so much of corruption, when compared to other programmes and schemes, MGNREGA is the least corruption ridden.

From newspaper reports it is evident that MLAs trash MGNREGS mostly on its performance on two parameters, i.e., i) it is not realistic and difficult to implement; and ii) it is corruption heavy. The irony is that on both parameters the MGNREGS is way better than other schemes. It provides scope for people to identify and prioritise projects. It also has strong efficiency boosting and corruption control mechanisms where the community members, or in other words, the target community has the scope to play a key role. No other scheme has any mechanisms which come anywhere close to what MGNREGA has.

People having understanding of MGNREGA and other programmes can very safely assess how people who implement the programme appear to be so confused and distraught with MGNREGA. They appear so only because MGNREGS puts spanner to their uninhibited grabbing and gobbling instincts. If pocketing black money through other programmes and schemes is as free as a 100 meter race for these officials, contractors and politicians; MGNREGS puts at least some hurdles to such free reign. However, MGNREGA makes their task a little bit harder.

Then why our MLAs have joined anti-MGNREGA chorus? Have they got themselves enlisted to the list of corrupt officials, PRI members and contractors who rule over all other programmes and schemes but fail to have that much of a grip over MGREGA?? Not many are bothered how other programmes and schemes are functioning. Everybody is shouting as if only MGNREGA is bagful of sins. They forget that the frauds, cheatings and corruptions examples in MGNREGA come out into the open only because some of the transparency and social auditing mechanisms inherent in that legislation is still functioning quite well.

But what bothers even more is that our MLAs now view MGNREGA not just corruption ridden but a thoughtless and un-implementable idea. How…? They say earthwork is not possible everywhere and machines have to be utilised, wage seekers are not there, it will keep our workforce as labourer for ever etc etc. If MGNREGA is so bad then what stops the government from implementing other programmes?

MGNREGA is a legislation which gives at least 100 days employment guarantee to an employment seeking family. It does not set a target, unlike all other programmes and schemes, for you. If demand for employment comes from people then only you are required to provide them that through opportunity of wage employment. In the process it focuses on the importance of creating durable ecological assets which are cost effective and have a very small or no gestation period. What is even more significant is that MGNREGA empowers the people to demand and get their share of development expenditure. If people of a village demand work then the government cannot deny them that and money will flow to that village.

If the honourable members have truly said that MGNREGA is a stupid and worthless legislation then we have every right to suspect their intention. We hope that they are not a party to an unholy alliance of corrupt individual and system which is hell bent to prove MGNREGA a wretched idea. Rather the time has come when all other schemes, such as the PMGSY, SSA, NRLM, NRHM etc should also follow the foot step of MGNREGA. Then only the legislator can make a just comparison and find how great MGNREGA is. So please wake up legislators, be in good company.