Is the national scheme for guaranteeing rural employment becoming dysfunctional? Activists believe it is and especially so after this year’s budget cut because there won’t be money enough to pay accumulated dues or to fund 100 days of work in the year ahead as stipulated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
While the recent cut in funds is the immediate problem, the scheme has been under constraints such as delayed payments from the Central government to the states and the use of online technology for identity verification which fails as a result. . .
