NREGA: Registration, Verification, Job cards, Application for Work etc

Process for Registration under the NREGA scheme

• The application for registration can be made at a local Gram Panchayat.
• You can register yourself via three different modes: via the prescribed form, on a plain paper or orally as well.
• Household as a unit is entitled to register under this scheme
• Prescribed forms are available at every Gram Panchayat for free of cost. If anyone is charging money for prescribed forms, you are not liable to pay it as it is illegal.

Verification procedure of the application under NREGA

• Verification of the forms is carried out by the Gram Panchayat. The verification is done on the basis of:
  1. Members of the household who have applied should be adults
  2. All the applicants should have a local domicile
• Any single women living alone is also eligible to apply under this scheme.
• No discrimination policy is adhered to during the registration and verification process.
• Once the verification process is complete, employees are given their Job cards.

Job cards under the NREGA scheme of the Government of India:

Once your application has been verified and accepted, you will be issued a ‘Job card’.

• The job card is for every rural household. A job card usually contains the names and photographs of all the members of the household.
• It is a legal document that allows you to exercise your ‘Right to Work’ under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
• Anyone possessing a Job card is eligible to apply for work under this scheme.
• For preparing the labour budget, Job cards are taken into consideration.
• Within 15 days of the application, the Job card should be issued.
• Somebody else’s job cards cannot be used to secure work. Job cards should be in the possession of the rightful owners.

This is how a typical job card looks like. Your job card will contain all the information listed above in the picture. So, it is imperative that you are furnishing correct information while registering yourself under the NREGA scheme.

How to apply for work under the NREGA scheme?

Once you have your Job card, you are eligible to apply for work under this scheme.

• Once you have applied for work, you should receive a receipt containing the date on which you demanded the work.
• You should receive work within 15 days from the demand for work.
• You can apply for work either individually or in a group.
• The application can be made via different modes like orally, on the telephone, via an online portal, and through a written application.
• Time and duration of the employment can be specified by the worker during the employment process. However, a minimum of 14 days of employment is mandatory.
• An advanced application or multiple applications can be submitted by the worker for employment in a different period.

Provision of work done in NREGA:

• You are entitled to unemployment allowances on a daily basis if you are not provided with any work within 15 days of applying for work.
• Only adult members are eligible to apply for work.
• The Panchayats are also responsible for maintaining a list of work which can be offered to the worker on demand.
• As mentioned above, each project should have at least ⅓ female workers.
• You are also entitled to obtain work within 5 km radius of your village.
• If the work allotted to you is outside the 5 km radius, then you can demand travel allowances from your employer. 10% of the extra wages should be provided to meet the travel and living expenses.
• Women and people older in age should be given preference for work in their own vicinity.

Facilities extended to workers under the NREGA scheme:

You (worker/employee) are entitled to several benefits under this scheme. Check the list below to know your entitlements:

• Workers are entitled to basic facilities like safe drinking water, resting place for children and workers, medical facilities to treat major and minor injuries of the minor and the workers. Along with this, the employer also appoints a caretaker to take care of the worker’s children below the age of 6 years.
• You can check the muster rolls anytime you want. You can also check the muster rolls online from the official website of NREGA or MNREGA, https://nrega.nic.in/MGNREGA_new/Nrega_home.aspx.
• You also have the right to check the measurement details.
• If your wages are not paid within 15 days, then you can demand a wage delay compensation.

Has NREGA been implemented effectively?

This scheme was implemented in 2006 and by 2008, it covered all the rural districts of the nation. As per the provision, if work is not provided within 15 days of asking for it, then the worker is eligible for unemployment allowance. Since our population is in billions, it was difficult to provide work to everyone and hence people were eligible for unemployment allowance. Due to these allowances, people didn’t want to work as they were getting money for free.

• Another major drawback was the ineffective implementation. Payment of the worker’s wages was delayed with months and no grievance redressal mechanism was operational. If the payment of the wages is delayed, then the workers are eligible for compensation under the ‘Payment of Wages Act’. Since the grievance redressal system was not operational, complaints weren’t given any attention.
• People faced problems due to job cards also. Hundreds of people were deprived of their job cards and without job cards, you cannot apply for employment. Apart from this, job cards which were already issued contained incomplete information. On some job cards, either the photograph of the worker was missing or the signatures of the issuing officer. If people had complete job cards, they failed to secure jobs. Women were in worse conditions. Only 5% of women were able to secure work under this scheme.
• Lack of technical support and human resources acted as a hurdle in the implementation of the scheme in a decentralised manner. The scheme has not been implemented properly due to excessive dependence on the village panchayats. Due to this, only ‘few’ people in close contact with the landlords got proper 100 days employment.
• Additionally, the workers/villagers play a huge role during the social audit which is conducted at least once every six months. But due to lack of knowledge and awareness of the scheme, workers/villagers involvement in the social audit was minimal.
• Despite transparency policies, high-level cases of corruption were uncovered and registered.

Current scenario of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act:

According to the latest news article, MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) has registered the lowest hike in employee wages. As per the data, in 34 out of 35 states and union territories, the employee wages have hit the rock bottom since the advent of this scheme. A huge difference was recorded between the centre recommended wages and the state recommended wages. For the 2019-2020 financial year, MNREGA recorded an average hike of 2.16%. Despite this, Nagaland is the only state which is providing higher wages to the workers as compared to the wages announced by the state. Nagaland is providing Rs. 192 per day which is 17% more than the centre notified minimum wage, i.e, Rs. 115 per day. In the last financial year, MNREGA wages were lower than the minimum agricultural wages in at least 28 states and union territories.
In states like Orissa, Goa, Gujarat, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Sikkim, the wages provided under MNREGA is approximately 70% less than the prescribed minimum wages. Under this scheme, Goa provides Rs. 254 per day whereas the minimum amount prescribed is Rs. 409 per day. Jharkhand and Bihar provide Rs. 171 daily whereas the minimum wages for these states is Rs. 239 and Rs. 246 respectively. A committee set up under the leadership of the Anoop Sathpathy, a fellow at the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, suggests that minimum wages should be revised to Rs. 375 and should be accepted across the country. The idea behind this suggestion was that NREGA stands for paying pages not less than the minimum wages. Currently, only five states have a daily minimum wage of Rs. 375 or more and Haryana is the only state which is providing Rs. 284 per day under MNREGA which is still less than the prescribed minimum wage.
To know the top and bottom ranking states/union territories in terms of wage provided and the prescribed minimum wages, check the table below:

In this year’s interim budget, MNREGA has been allocated Rs. 60,000 crore for the year 2019-2020. As per the data, the money allocated to this scheme in this financial year is 11% higher than the money allocated in the previous financial year.

Special provisions for workers belonging to these categories:

Under MNREGA, workers belonging to these categories are entitled to special provisions. Work for them is designed keeping in mind their physical capacity and mental capability. In some cases, volunteers are picked from the public who can assist people belonging to these special categories in completing their work. Special categories of the workers are:

• Recently released bonded labours
• People above the age of 65 years
• Groups marked as ‘Nomadic tribals’
• People with certain disabilities
• People belonging to primitive tribal groups
• Women with special conditions
• Individuals displaced internally due to several reasons
• People diagnosed with HIV
• Tribes which have been de-notified by the Indian government

MNREGA also prepares a list of work suitable for

• The differently abled person
• For the orthopedically handicapped person
• For visually impaired persons
• The hunchbacked persons and
• For a mentally handicapped person.

Special projects are designed to help such people to attain their livelihood.

Source: Live Website