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World’s largest social welfare scheme
The Ministry of Finance had released 784 billion rupees under this scheme till 31 March 2010. When you take into account the budget for 2010-11, the outlay jumps to almost 1.185 trillion rupees. The MG-NREGA could as well be the world’s largest social welfare scheme as far as the financial outlay is concerned. Is the nation getting enough in return after investing such a high amount of money? The Minister for Rural affairs, Jairam Ramesh, himself says that the execution is patchy. After spending such a big sum of money, the nation deserves something better than a faulty execution.
Now almost five years have passed since NREGA or MG-NREGA was first implemented, but we don’t see any decline in the levels of rural poverty. It is time the Congress party and the government accepted that there is something wrong with MG-NREGA, not just in UP but everywhere in the country. The massive government spending on this scheme could also be one of the reasons behind the soaring inflation that the country is facing today. If the scheme is not working, it should simply be repealed. Perhaps, a better way of creating jobs in rural areas is to give tax breaks and easy clearances to private companies.
Rajiv Gandhi had ushered in an age of cynicism in this country by openly accepting that well-meaning programmes meant for the poor are not reaching the poor. He did not use any statistics, but came up with the rough estimate that only 15 per cent of the expenditures meant for the poor actually reached them. Since then many experts have tried to verify Rajiv Gandhi’s 15 percent theory, and they have found a lot of truth in the statement.
It is well known that on the issue of corruption not much has changed in India since the time of Rajiv Gandhi. What if only 15 percent of the funds allocated to MG-NREGA were being put to effective use? We need to really ponder over this question. The world’s costliest and biggest social welfare could also turn out to be the most wasteful. Despite all the claims of it being in the interest of the rural poor, the scheme might filling the pockets of lot of corrupt rich. Many social activists and media reports are pointing in that direction.
World’s largest social welfare scheme
The Ministry of Finance had released 784 billion rupees under this scheme till 31 March 2010. When you take into account the budget for 2010-11, the outlay jumps to almost 1.185 trillion rupees. The MG-NREGA could as well be the world’s largest social welfare scheme as far as the financial outlay is concerned. Is the nation getting enough in return after investing such a high amount of money? The Minister for Rural affairs, Jairam Ramesh, himself says that the execution is patchy. After spending such a big sum of money, the nation deserves something better than a faulty execution.
Now almost five years have passed since NREGA or MG-NREGA was first implemented, but we don’t see any decline in the levels of rural poverty. It is time the Congress party and the government accepted that there is something wrong with MG-NREGA, not just in UP but everywhere in the country. The massive government spending on this scheme could also be one of the reasons behind the soaring inflation that the country is facing today. If the scheme is not working, it should simply be repealed. Perhaps, a better way of creating jobs in rural areas is to give tax breaks and easy clearances to private companies.
Rajiv Gandhi had ushered in an age of cynicism in this country by openly accepting that well-meaning programmes meant for the poor are not reaching the poor. He did not use any statistics, but came up with the rough estimate that only 15 per cent of the expenditures meant for the poor actually reached them. Since then many experts have tried to verify Rajiv Gandhi’s 15 percent theory, and they have found a lot of truth in the statement.
It is well known that on the issue of corruption not much has changed in India since the time of Rajiv Gandhi. What if only 15 percent of the funds allocated to MG-NREGA were being put to effective use? We need to really ponder over this question. The world’s costliest and biggest social welfare could also turn out to be the most wasteful. Despite all the claims of it being in the interest of the rural poor, the scheme might filling the pockets of lot of corrupt rich. Many social activists and media reports are pointing in that direction.
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