Job scheme funds to meet Centre’s ODF target
centre has fallen on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) – which Prime Minister Narendra Modi once called a “living monument” of the UPA government’s failure – to make the country open defecation free (ODF) by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma.
The government move comes, as many families were not covered in the Baseline Survey conducted under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in 2012 to build toilets.
At present only in Barmer there are 1,04,446 families which were not covered in the baseline survey, thus making them ineligible for ₹12,000 incentive provided for the construction of individual household latrine (IHHL) under the SBM.
Now, the government has issued new guidelines under the MNREGS to construct toilets in the households not listed in the baseline survey. “We got directions from the rural development ministry in the end of February to cover left out families under MGNREGS,” said Suresh Kumar Dadhich, additional project coordinator, MNREGS, Barmer. He said the design and budget for toilet construction will remain the same as for the SBM. “The directives say that we have to follow norms of MNREGS and maintain a labour-material ratio of 60:40,” he added. However, the arrangement has a problem. Dadhich says it leaves only ₹2,000 for the material. Only unskilled labour is part of the labour component. So, 60% of ₹12,000 – Rs 7,200 – will be spent on labour. The remaining ₹4,800 will be for skilled labour, such as mason, and material. “Construction of a toilet takes four days. The market rate of skilled labour is ₹700 a day. So, ₹2,800 will go to him, leaving only ₹2,000 for material,” said Dadhich, adding that, “It’s impossible to get material for a toilet with this amount.” However, the left out families were free to spend from their own pocket . “We will give them money only according to the MNREGS norms,” Dadhich said.
According the baseline survey, of 4.5 lakh households in the Barmer district, 3.86 lakh were without toilets in 2012.
We got directions from the rural development ministry in the end of February to cover left out families under MGNREGS