MNREGA theory debunked

In 2007, the number of casual farm labourers in Punjab was estimated at around 7 lakh, including seasonal migrants, who number around 3.5 lakh. “Now, it has seen a drop of at least 30%,” says Ram Charan Yadav, chairman of the Punjab Migrant Welfare Board constituted two years ago by the Akali-BJP government. He credits the NDA government of Bihar with having successfully implemented the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), and also the fact that the overall growth of economy has filled the wage gap.

AN Mishra of Ludhiana-based NGO Purvanchal Vikas Parishad adds, “There is a lot of infrastructure work going on in the eastern states, especially Bihar, which encourages labour to stay at home.”

This view is backed by several claims and data from the Bihar government, and was also perpetuated by the non-government Bihar Institute of Economic Studies, which said migration shrunk by 26% in 2006-08 as compared to 2001-03. The credit, here, too, was given to MNREGA.

However, government data says that with just 7.38%, Bihar ranks at the bottom of states utilising MNREGA funds in 2010-11, as compared to the national average of 40%. The figure for Uttar Pradesh is 38.8%.

Even in 2010, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had written to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar: “The average number of days of employment per person under MNREGA in 200809 was 26 (in Bihar), compared to the national average of 48.”