NREGA Sangharsh Morcha Calls for Urgent Action as it Marks 19 Years of the Act
Representational Image. Image Courtesy: Flickr
Delhi: On NREGA Diwas, marking 19 years of the legislation, the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha urged all political parties to include the strengthening of the act in their manifestos for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The Morcha, a national platform of workers organisations and individuals, also called for the introduction of the Urban Employment Guarantee Act “to address the livelihood crisis in the urban areas”, as highlighted in their recent statement.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) aimed to ensure the right to work and establish social and economic justice, among other things. However, it is a bad shape now, the Morcha said, narrating, “Today NREGA is dying a slow death- complete denial, forced implementation of anti-worker measures, and a complete lack of adequately functioning labour welfare boards. In the last few years, the act has been violated through unmet demand for work, payment delays, and non-payment of wages for work done.”
It said the challenges faced by NREGA have further intensified in the fiscal year 2022-2023, with the implementation of the National Mobile Monitoring System, an Aadhar-based Payment System, and inadequate budgetary allocations.
Over 7.6 crore job cards have been deleted, and there has been a staggering 273% increase in job card deletions since the new technological interventions, the statement cited. It added that pending liabilities for the current year surpass Rs 11,000 crores, creating a cycle of delayed payments and systematic suppression in demand.
The Morcha highlighted instances of violations of the act being violated through unmet demand for work, payment delays, and non-payment of wages for work done.
The situation is particularly dire in West Bengal, it said, explaining that the central government's withholding of funds for two years has resulted in a complete stoppage of work and non-payment of wages for work done. The Morcha points out that this denial of the right to work under NREGA is occurring amid a challenging scenario of unemployment, stagnation of wages, poor working conditions, and a lack of job opportunities, particularly affecting the youth and women.
The Morcha points out the critical budgetary shortfall, stating that despite claims by the Union government that budget allocation is not a constraint, ground realities suggest otherwise. This budget shortfall continues to violate the guaranteed right to work under NREGA, emphasising the urgency of addressing these issues for the welfare of workers.
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
