Inclusive Development Through Guaranteed Employment: India’s MGNREGA Experiences

Description

This book examines the inclusive development experiences and impacts of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It discusses the theoretical assumptions underlying the inclusive development of Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS), and draws conclusions based on robust data and real-world experiences with the MGNREGS – which has attracted global attention as India’s most ambitious, rights-based development initiative and most expansive work-based social security measure, the world’s largest public works programme, and people-centric approach to development. The book argues that the Scheme holds vast potential, and, in fact, has made significant contribution to the promotion of livelihoods of the poorest of the poor, but that the weak institutions of local-self-governance, entrusted for implementation of the Scheme, are incapable of exploiting them to the full. It ends with a concrete policy suggestion: the inclusive development experiences gathered with the EGS and presented here could offer a source of policy change in many developing Afro-Asian countries whose situations are similar to India’s, provided the local conditions in the respective country are taken into consideration when designing the EGS. Its significance as a social security measure has increased in post-COVID loss of jobs and livelihoods of the poor. Preface Contents About the Author Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1 MGNREGA for Inclusive Growth and Development 1.1 Context 1.2 Sluggish Agriculture and Rural Distress 1.3 Exclusionary Growth Post-1990 1.4 Employment-Centric Inclusive Growth in the Eleventh Plan 1.5 Evolution of the Right to Work in India: From Welfare Nudge to Socialist Promise 1.5.1 Right to Work in the Indian Constitution 1.5.2 Welfare Nudge 1.5.3 Socialists Promise 1.5.4 Congress’s Tryst 1.6 Public Works Programme in India 1.7 MGNREGS and Its Distinct Features References 2 EGS for Growth with Justice 2.1 Inclusive Growth and Development 2.2 Growth with Justice 2.3 Neo-liberalism, Growth and Exclusion 2.4 Exclusionary Production Process 2.5 EGS for Inclusive Growth and Development 2.6 Productivity Effects 2.7 Assets Effects 2.8 Multiplier and Accelerator Effects 2.9 Conclusion References 3 Design Salience Key to Objectives 3.1 Coverage of Population 3.1.1 Universal Versus Targeted 3.2 Entitlement of Employment 3.3 Seasonality of Employment 3.4 Fixation of Wage Rate 3.5 Types of Assets 3.6 Method of Financing 3.6.1 Additional Taxation 3.6.2 Borrowing 3.6.3 Deficit Financing 3.7 Special Provisions 3.8 Conclusion References 4 Seamless Reach Unto the Last 4.1 Massive Coverage 4.2 Inclusive Participation 4.2.1 SC and ST Beneficiaries 4.2.2 Lion’s Share of Women 4.3 Observations from the Field 4.4 Conclusion Annexure Tables References 5 Inclusive Development Experiences-I: Impacts on Poverty, Wages and Labour Market 5.1 Recapitulating the Framework 5.2 Employment and Income Effects 5.3 Income Transfer Under MGNREGA 5.4 MGNREGA’s Contribution to Household Income 5.5 MGNREGA and Poverty Reduction 5.6 Labour Market and Wage Effects 5.6.1 Labour Market Characteristics 5.6.2 Impact of MGNREGA on Wages 5.6.3 Floor Wage Effect 5.6.4 Distribution and Welfare Effects 5.7 Investment in Human Capital 5.8 Conclusion References 6 Inclusive Development Experiences-II: Assets Creation and Multiplier Effects 6.1 Assets for Inclusive Development 6.2 Agricultural Development Through MGNREGA Assets 6.3 Promotion of Livestock, Fisheries and Horticulture 6.4 Inclusive Development Through Individual Assets 6.5 Transformational Impacts of Individual Assets 6.6 Multiplier Effects 6.7 Conclusion Annexure A Note on Assets Creation Types of Assets Created 2006–07 to 2010–11 2011–12 to 2013–14 2014–15 to 2019–20 References 7 Social Empowerment an Unintended Consequence 7.1 Social Empowerment Through Guaranteed Employment 7.1.1 Liberating Effects of Lean Season Employment 7.1.2 Enhanced Bargaining Position 7.2 Empowered Workers 7.3 Changed Worksite Environment 7.4 Workers Collectives 7.5 Women’s Empowerment 7.5.1 Paid Employment and Contribution to Household Income 7.5.2 Control Over Wages and Expenditure 7.5.3 Intra-household Decision-Making 7.5.4 Financial Inclusion 7.5.5 Community Participation 7.5.6 Women in the Labour Market 7.6 Conclusion References 8 Oceanic Potentialities and Himalayan Hurdles 8.1 Recapitulating Achievements and Failures 8.2 Noticeable Achievements 8.3 Obvious Failures 8.4 Oceanic Potentialities 8.4.1 Poverty Reduction 8.4.2 Labour Market Impact 8.5 Last Mile Social Security 8.6 Transformation Through Individual Assets 8.7 Decentralized Development 8.8 Himalayan Hurdles 8.8.1 Demand-Based Employment Generation 8.9 Sustained Flow of Fund 8.10 Balancing the Two Wheels of Employment Generation and Assets Creation 8.11 Unrelenting Attack 8.12 Conclusion References 9 Conclusion: Optimizing Inclusive Growth and Development Effects Annexure Table Reference Annexure Tables Postscript-I Cash Transfer versus Guaranteed Employment: UBI Versus EGS In Defence of EGS The Urgency of Social Security Floor in India Conclusion References Postscript-II Last Mile Social Security during COVID-19 References