Dzüvinuo Theünuo
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is aimed at poverty alleviation and sustenance of rural people scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
The Act has been bought after extensive consultations and inputs from social activists, NGOs, experiences administrators and from people living in rural areas themselves.
The Act aims to provide the enhancement of livelihood, security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
The adult members of every household are to submit their names, age and address for registration to the Gram Panchayat, who are duty bound to register them after making such inquiry as it deems fit. This registration will be valid for five years. After registration, every household will be issued a job card. However, issue of the card does not mean that employment will be automatically provided. It means only the ‘entitlement for employment’.
If someone is already employed, but wants work under the scheme immediately after completing their current work, the applicant should submit advance application stating the date from which he/she wants work.
There is no limit to the number of days of employment for which a person may apply or provided employment, subject to the aggregate entitlement of his/her household.
Employment will be provided within 15 days of submitting the application or the date from which employment is sought, whichever is later. If in any case that is not provided, then the applicant becomes eligible for unemployment allowance. The Gram Panchayat will allocate employment opportunities to labourers.
Not every adult members of a household will get 100 days employment. The household as a whole will get 100 days employment. These days can be split among adult members.
If any adult is already working for a few months in a year, he/she can also get employment under the scheme, provided he/she is willing to do unskilled manual work and also subject to household entitlement of 100 days employment in a financial year.
Under the scheme, guarantee will only be for unskilled manual work. However, implementing agency may employ semi skilled and skilled workers necessary for execution of projects.
Women will get priority for employment and one third among labourers will be women. Same wages will be given to women and men, hence there is no discrimination against women labourers. Shades shall be provided at work site for children below the age of six years accompanying the women labourers. If there are five or more such children accompanying the women labourers at work site, one women labourer shall be deputed to look after the children and she shall be paid full wages.
Minimum wages fixed for agricultural labourers by the respective state governments will be paid as wages under the scheme till such time that the central government specifies wage rate which will not be less than Rs 60 per day per person. Wages are to be paid on weekly basis and in any case not later than 15 days.
If any labourer gets bodily injured during the course of employment at work site, the person is entitled for free medical treatment from the state government. In case of hospitalization of the injured labourer, the respective state government shall provide complete treatment, medicines, accommodation without any charge and shall pay daily allowance to the injured person, which shall not be less than half of the wage rate applicable. In case of death or permanent disability to the registered labourer due to accident/other reasons at work site, an ex-gratia payment of Rs 25,000/- or such amount as may be notified by the Central Government shall be paid to the legal heir of the deceased/disabled, as the case may be.
For effective implementation of the programme, monitoring will be done at many levels which includes Panchayats at Intermediate and District levels, District programme Co-ordinator and programme Officers, designated by the Chief Executive Officer of the District Panchayat, the Collector or any other officer of equivalent rank.
(A DIPR feature)
