Employment Guarantee:
Articles and Op-eds

(This page has been sourced
from the website of Right
to Food Campaign India)

Note: The Employment
Guarantee Act has been widely welcomed by political parties, social
movements and ordinary people. However, there is also a small but
prolific "anti-EGA" lobby, with a particularly strong
influence in the corporate media. Writings from both sides are
included here in the interest of pluralism; we leave it to the
readers to evaluate the arguments on each side.

Latest
additions

• Karuna
  Vakati Aakella, Sowmya Kidambi, Social
  Audits in Andhra Pradesh: A Process of Evolution (Economic and
  Political Weekly, 24 November 2007) [5 January]
  

• Jean
  Drèze, NREGA:
  Dismantling the Contractor Raj (Hindu, 20 November 2007) [4
  January]
  

• Lalit
  Mathur, Employment
  Guarantee: Progress so Far (Economic and Political Weekly, 29
  December 2007) [4 January]
  

• Yamini Aiyar, A
  happy tale from two states (Op-ed, Indian Express, 27 December
  2007) [2 January]
  

December
2007

• 
  Lalit Mathur, Employment
  Guarantee: Progress so Far (Economic and Political Weekly, 29
  December 2007)
  

• Yamini Aiyar, A
  happy tale from two states (Op-ed, Indian Express, 27 December
  2007)
  

November
2007

• 
  Karuna Vakati Aakella, Sowmya Kidambi, Social
  Audits in Andhra Pradesh: A Process of Evolution (Economic and
  Political Weekly, 24 November 2007)
  

• Jean Drèze,
  NREGA:
  Dismantling the Contractor Raj (Hindu, 20 November 2007)
  

August
2007

• 
  Nirmala Lakshman, The
  Hundred Days Basket (Hindu, 14 August 2007)
  

• State
  Government considering creches on NREGA worksites (Hindu, 5
  August 2007)
  

• Jean Drèze
  and Sowmya Kidambi, Long
  road to employment guarantee (Hindu, 2 August 2007)
  

July 2007

• Social
  audit of job guarantee scheme (Hindu, 24 July 2007)
  

• 
  Jean Drèze and Siddhartha Lal, Employment
  guarantee: unfinished agenda (Jean Drèze and Siddhartha
  Lal, Hindu, 13 July 2007)
  

• Jean Drèze
  and Christian Oldiges, Commendable
  act (Frontline 24:14, July 2007)
  

June
2007

• 
  Pamela Philipose, Future
  in a job card (Indian Express, 28 June 2007)
  

• 
  Avijit Ghosh, New
  hope for NREGA from Chhattisgarh (Times of India, 25 June
  2007)
  

• 
  Aditi Nigam, Staff
  shortage, delayed wages under NREGA in Ranchi (Financial
  Express, 25 June 2007)
  

• Sambhavnayen
  apar magar samasyaon ka ambar [Hindi] (Bhanwar Meghwanshi,
  People's News Network)
  

• Pay
  Rs 2 for job guarantee (Financial Express, 5 June 2007)
  

• Self
  defeating game (Telegraph, 5 June 2007)
  

• Employment
  scheme takes its toll on farming (Khaleej Times, 1 June 2007)
  

May
2007

• Building
  Blocks (Hindustan Times, 30 May 2007)
  

• 
  Am Jigeesh, There's
  a bit of sociology in rural jobs (Financial Express, 29 May
  2007)
  

• ATM-type
  facility for NREGP beneficiaries (The Hindu, 29 May 2007)
  

• 
  Mukesh Ranjan, They
  don't trust private jobs anymore (Financial Express, 28 May
  2007)
  

• 
  Varun Jaitley, Barwani
  gets India's first wages for the jobless (Financial Express,
  26 May 2007)
  

• Koda
  passes job plan buck to Munda (Telegraph, 25 May 2007)
  

• Graft
  slur on postmaster (Telegraph, 24 May 2007)
  

• In
  Bilaspur, they've started dreaming again (Financial Express,
  24 May 2007)
  

• Corruption
  clouds UPA job scheme (The Indian Express, 23 May 2007)
  

• Rural
  job study reveals sad story (Telegraph, 22 May 2007)
  

• 
  P. Sainath, NREGP:
  no place for single women (Hindu, 22 May 2007)
  

• 
  Shauvik Ghosh, ATM's
  there, but where has the money gone? (Financial Express, 21
  May 2007)
  

• NREGA
  audit gets underway in Jharkhand (Financial Express, 19 May
  2007)
  

• Social
  audit of job guarantee scheme (Hindu, 15 May 2007)
  

• Teresa Rehman, An
  Infusion Of Hope From Job Guarantee (Tehelka, 12 May 2007)
  

April
2007

• 
  Saikat Datta, Call
  It A National Waste (Outlook, 23 April 2007)
  

• 
  Saikat Datta, Anuradha Raman and Arindam Mukherjee, A
  Ten Foot Trench, Rs 14.50 (Outlook, 9 April 2007)
  

• 
  John Mary, Too
  Late, Too Little (Outlook, 9 April 2007)
  

• 
  Madhavi Tata, A
  Rural Dream? (Outlook, 9 April 2007)
  

• Mahesh Langa, Staff
  crisis hits NREGS at Dangs (Indian Express, 9 April 2007)
  

March
2007

• Central
  scheme reaches right hands in Wayanad (NewIndPress.com, 27
  March 2007) [Subscription only]
  

• Women
  to benefit more from NREGP (NewIndPress.com, 27 March 2007)
  [Subscription only]
  

• Social
  audits should be given to individuals, not NGOs (Express News
  Service, 26 March 2007)
  

• NREGP
  - a pedestal for growth in rural India (MyIRIS, 25 March 2007)
  

• `Revise
  project guidelines' (Hindu, 21 March 2007)
  

• Now,
  NREGP wages through post offices, banks (Hindu, 14 March 2007)
  

• AIDWA
  seeks justice in payment of minimum wages (Hindu, 13 March
  2007)
  

• More
  spending on education and health (Economist, 6 March 2007)
  [Subscription only]
  

• Mahesh Langa Dangs
  gets second highest fund but utilises the least (Indian
  Express Ahmedabad Newsline, 3 March 2007)
  

February
2007

• Accountable
  & powerless (Central Chronicle, 5 February 2007)
  

• Karuna Vakati
  Aakella and Sowmya Kidambi Challenging
  corruption with social audits (Economic and Political Weekly,
  February 2007)
  

January
2007

• 
  Jai Prakash Yadav Among
  victims are Bihar labourers who had job guarantee cards but no job
  (Indian Express, 9 January 2007)
  

• IndLaw News Hundred
  percent muster roll verification for NREGA works (8 January
  2007)
  

December
2006

• Pamela
  Philipose, Getting
  on with the jobs (Indian Express, 30 December 2006)
  

• Subodh
  Ghildiyal Rural
  jobs scheme may get an expansion (Times of India, 22 December
  2006)
  

• Department
  of Information and Public Relations, Himachal Pradesh Himachal
  planing to implement National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to
  complete state (myHimachal, 21 December 2006)
  

• Tarannum
  Manjul No
  room for disabled in rural employment scheme (Indian Express,
  20 December 2006)
  

• Pawan
  Bali No
  guarantee under NREG scheme (CNN-IBN, 17 December 2006)
  

• Sutirtho
  Patranobis UPA
  flagship scheme attracts attention (Hindustan Times, 17
  December 2006)
  

• Kiran
  Bhatty Job
  Guarantee Plan Upsets Rural Pecking Order (Development-India,
  15 December 2006)
  

• Prakash
  Louis NREGA
  Implementation - II: Birth Pangs in Bihar (Economic and
  Political Weekly, 2 December 2006)
  

• Arun Jacob and
  Richard Verghese NREGA
  Implementation - I: Reasonable beginning in Palakkad, Kerala
  (Economic and Political Weekly, 2 December 2006)
  

November
2006

• Mick
  Moore and Vishal Jadhav, The
  Politics and Bureaucratics of Rural Public Works: Maharashtra’s
  Employment Guaranteed Scheme (Journal of Development Studies,
  November 2006)
  

• Palak Nandi Working
  Model: EGA in Dungarpur (Sunday Express, 5 November 2006)
  

October
2006

• Meera
  Vishvanathan, An
  act that works (Times of India, 18 October 2007)
  

• Waiting
  for job card, Dalit family die of hunger in India (Indian
  Express, 13 October 2007)
  

• Etmad
  Khan, Poverty
  guaranteed (Tehelka, 7 October 2007)
  

• Jasvir Singh Problem
  of wages (Times of India, 3 October 2006)
  

September
2006

• Tanushree
  Sood NREGA:
  Challenges in implementation

• Editorial
  First
  lessons: Focus on NREG programme in poorer states (Financial
  Express, 30 September 2006)
  

• Sonu
  Jain Gaps
  in implementation stifling NREGA success: Review panel (Indian
  Express, 28 September 2006)
  

• Rajiv
  Shah Report
  slams state record on rural jobs (Times of India, 15 September
  2006)
  

• Express
  News Service On
  EGS probe, State gets babus' rap (Indian Express, 12 September
  2006)
  

• Jean Drèze
  Employment
  Guarantee Inaction (Hindu, 12 September 2006) [pdf]
  

August
2006

• Sreelatha
  Menon Plugging
  It (Business Standard, 16 August 2006) [Subscription only]
  

• UP
  a laggard in rural job plan (Times of India, 9 August 2006)
  

• Sreelatha
  Menon Village
  `dole` takes baby steps amid apathy, graft (Business
  Standard/Rediff, 7 August 2006)
  

• Gayatri
  Sahgal A
  Survey of Reality

• Bela Bhatia and Jean
  Drèze Employment
  Guarantee on the Ground: Insights from Jharkhand (Economic and
  Political Weekly, July 22, 2006)
  

June
2006

• Reetika
  Khera Employment
  guarantee and migration (17 June 2006)
  

• Jayati
  Ghosh The
  Children of Migrant Workers (3 June 2006)
  

• PRIA Reports
  from National Consultation on NREGA (1 June 2006)
  

May
2006

• Nirmala
  Lakshman Employment
  guarantee - signs of transformation (Hindu, 11 May 2006)
  

• Sowmya
  Kerbart Sivakumar Walking
  with a purpose (Frontline 23:9, May 06-19)
  

• Kiran Bhatty Rural
  Job Guarantee Scheme Passes Muster (Inter Press Service News
  Agency, May 3)
  

April
2006

• Transparency,
  Accountability – Using the People's Right to Information for
  Proper Implementation of the NREGA (MKSS Rajasthan)
  

• Sandipan
  Sharma Centre
  planning EGA wage cut, say activists on ground (Indian Express,
  April 28)
  

• Mohammed
  Iqbal Public
  vigilance helps to minimise corruption in rural employment
  guarantee scheme (Hindu, April 28)
  

• Avijit Ghosh Job
  scheme gets feminised in south Rajasthan (Times of India, April
  26)
  

March
2006

• Krishnamurty,
  J Employment
  Guarantee and Crisis Response (Economic and Political Weekly, 4
  March 2006)A
  

• Bihar
  budget - a drop in the ocean: Rabri (Times of India, 1 March
  2006)
  

February
2006

• Bisht,
  Arvind Singh Rural
  employment: No guarantee yet (Times of India, 19 February 2006)
  

• Zora,
  Parwani and Kranti Kumara Band-aid
  for a social calamity (World Socialist Website, 14 February
  2006)
  

• Anand,
  Panini Bharat
  mein Rozgar Guarantee Yojana laagu (BBC Hindi, 2 February 2006)
  

• Anand,
  Panini 200
  zillon mein rozgar guarantee yojana (BBC Hindi, 2 February
  2006)
  

• Anand,
  Panini Kya
  hain yojana se judi ashaein (BBC Hindi, 2 February 2006)
  

• Anand, Panini Rozgar
  yojana nahi, rozgar kanoon (BBC Hindi, 2 February 2006)