Is NREGA wage payment affecting local agriculture?

Union minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh recently said that his ministry has received petitions over the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) affecting domestic agricultural works. “We have been receiving letters from some parts of the country raising concerns over NREGA affecting domestic agricultural work, although it is too early to arrive at any conclusion. These concerns are very much local,” the minister said.

An association of NGOs from Andhra Pradesh had recently submitted to the ministry a brief report on the bad impacts of NREGA on agriculture. On September 1, farmers from a cluster of villages in Bonakal block in Khammam district appealed to the administration to suspend the implementation of NREGA at least during the kharif season.

Farmer communities have been experiencing a serious shortage of farm workers as the works under NREGA fetch them Rs 80 to Rs 100 as against Rs 60 offered by farmers as daily wage.

The Kerala government had also requested the rural development ministry to grant it permission to engage labour from NREGA to private agricultural farms. Kerala has reported least demand for jobs under NREGA due to a high daily wage rate in the agriculture sector.

On the other hand, Kerala is facing a severe shortage of agricultural labour. The rural development ministry has declined the request. “Food security is more important. We have clear instructions that NREGA should be executed only during the lean period and should not affect agriculture. That is why it is for only 100 days and not the whole year,” Singh said.

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‘Triggers and multipliers in NREGA investments: Criteria and choice on works between growth, income and employment’ by K S Gopal

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