MGNREGA

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) promises the largest ever employment programme in human history. Entitlements under MGNREGA are demand-driven and constitutionally protected. Even so there is a real danger that lack of awareness among intended beneficiaries and absence of implementation capability among Gram Panchayats (GPs, the chief implementing agency), will mean that the full potential of MGNREGA is not realised. To meet this challenge SPS set up the National Consortium of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) for NREGA in 2007. The Consortium includes 51 CSO partners in 59 blocks of 44 most backward districts across 11 states of India, working with about 125,000 families to makeMGNREGA a success. The SPS role is the technical and social empowerment of these partners. The Consortium seeks to move beyond the more traditional civil society watchdog role to improving MGNREGA implementation in all its various dimensions.

This, of course, incorporates the vigilance role but focuses on an integrated approach to planning, implementation and social audit of MGNREGA works. A key element of the Consortium's strategy is to facilitate partnerships between grass-roots CSOs and GPs. Consortium partners have helped GPs develop action plans worth Rs.1.25 billion The Consortium's work on the ground has led to very significant improvements in awareness of entitlements among workers and quality of assets created under MGNREGA. The first Annual Report of the Consortium, released by the Union Minister for Rural Development in 2009, helped shape several initiatives in the policy space for MGNREGA reform. SPS Core Team member Pramathesh Ambasta is National Coordinator of the MGNREGA Consortium.