Articles and Op-eds on Employment Guarantee
Nikhil Dey, Usha Ramanathan - Tool of Exclusion
“The UID in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act may simplify the administrator’s task, but will not make a poor man’s task any easier.”
Frontline, November, 2011
(Some contents on 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.
May 2010
- Wages of Delay (Reetika Khera, Frontline, Volume 27 – Issue 10, 8-21 May 2010) [12 May]
- MGNREGA status report| Social Safety Net Proves Elusive (Ruhi Tewair, livemint.com, 8 May 2010) [31 May]
- MGNREGA status report| New Model for success in Andhra (C. R. Sukumar, livemint.com, 6 May 2010) [31 May]
- MGNREGA status report| Working towards empowerment (Ruhi Tewair, livemint.com, 6 May 2010) [31 May]
- MGNREGA status report| In the shadow of Maoism (Liz Mathew, livemint.com, 5 May 2010) [12 May]
- MGNREGA status report| Political Will, NGOs hold key to success (Liz Mathew, livemint.com, 4 May 2010) [31 May]
April 2010[top]
- Slow but Steady Success (reetika Khera and Karuna Muthiah, The Hindu, 25 April 2010) [12 May 2010]
December 2009
- No guarantees for work in Melghat (Meena Menon, The Hindu, 21 December 2009) [9 January]
- The System strikes back (Vidya Subrahmaniam, The Hindu, 17 December 2009) [18 December]
- Violence and threats bring a government to its knees (Vidya Subrahmaniam, The Hindu, 16 December 2009) [18 December]
October 2009
- Programming NREGS to succeed (Pramathesh Ambasta, The Hindu, 31 October 2009) [7 November]
- Women workers and the Perceptions of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Reetika Khera and Nandini Nayak) [1 November]
- Social and Political dividends from NREGA (Vidya Subrahmaniam , The Hindu, 19 October 2009) [24 October]
- NREGA audit: Bhilwara Shows the way (Vidya Subrahmaniam , The Hindu, 17 October 2009) [22 October]
- A tool of empowerment only enables more exploitation (Kathyayini Chamraj , infochangeindia.org, October 2009) [10 October]
September 2009
- NREGS: not caste in stone (P. Sainath, The Hindu, 14/9/2009) [23 September]
- Rozgar ki Jung (Hindi) (Reetika Khera) [21 September]
- Where NREGA is a failure (Mahim Pratap Singh, The Hindu, 6 September 2009) [21 September]
- Rejigging NREGA, the wrong way (Brinda Karat, The Indian Express, 3 September 2009) [9 September]
August 2009
- They don’t see a drought (Richard Mahapatra, The Financial Express, 17 August 2009) [21 September]
- Entitlements under NREGA violated (Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta, Frontline, Volume 26; Isuue 16; August 01-14 2009) [9 September]
- Dalits, the Poor and the NREGA (Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy, The Hindu, 27 August 2009) [9 September]
- Draft Bibliography on NREGA [27 August]
- Find the side effects (Ila Patnaik, Indian Express, 10 August 2009) [22 August]
- Taking Goals of NREGA-I forward (Mihir Shah, The Hindu, 14 August 2009) [18 August]
July 2009
- The Unfinished Agenda (Udit Misra, Forbes India, 20 July 2009) [15 July]
- NREGA is a Promise Half-kept (Shankar Raghuraman, The Times of India, 12 July 2009)
- Bharat at Work (Sukumar Mahato, The Times of India, 12 July 2009)
- Act fair, Give Rural Workers their Due (Jean Drèze, The Times of India, 12 July 2009)
May 2009 [top]
- Multiplier accelerator synergy in NREGA (Mihir Shah, The Hindu, 30 April 2009) [3 May]
April 2009
- The Wages of Protest (Arundhati Dhuru and Sandeep Pandey, The Hindu, 5 April 2009) [6 April]
March 2009
- Operational Framework of NREGA needs overhaul (Jean Drèze, The Times of India, 30 March 2009) [31 March]
- NREGS: A Farce at Latehar (Pradeep Bhargava, India Together, 24 March 2009) [31 March]
- Broken Promises (Ashish Ranjan, Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 10, 14 March 2009) [31 March]
February 2009
- How safe are NREGS wage payments through banks and post offices? (Pradeep Baisakh, Infochange News and Features, February 2009) [27 February]
- Countering the Meltdown: Urban Employment Guarantee (Transparency Review, Volume II No. 1, January-February 2009) [27 February]
- Lok Adalat or Joke Adalat? (Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, The Hindu, 22 February 2009) [25 February]
- Work in Progress (Jean Drèze and Christian Oldiges, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 4), 14-27 February 2008) [25 February]
- Why the NREGA should not rely on banks (Anirban Kar, Business Standard, 02 February 2008) [25 February]
January 2009
- The Battle for Employment Guarantee (Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- Alternative to Migration (Kartika Bhatia and Ashish Ranjan, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- What Works Against Women (Reetika Khera and Nandini Nayak, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- Banned but still there (Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- All is not well with the Wells (Kamayani Swami, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- Accounts of Corruption (Anish Vanaik, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- Pati Experience (Reetika Khera, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- Rajasthan way ahead (Reetika Khera and Anish Vanaik, Frontline(Volume 26 – Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
- A Scene from the South (Karuna Muthiah, Frontline Volume 26 – Issue 1, 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
December 2008
- From Accounts to Accountability (Jean Drèze a Reetika Khera, 6 December 2008) [15 December]
October 2008
- Poverty, Migration and National Employment Guarantee Scheme (Sachin Kumar Jain, 2008) [30 November]
- Employment Guarantee and Women’s Empowerment in Rural India (Navjyoti Jandu, October 2008) [8 October]
September 2008 [top]
- NREGA: Andhra Pradesh shows the way (Mihir Shah & Prametheah Ambasta, The Hindu, 8 September 2008) [1 December]
- Songs of Hope (Nandini Nayak, The Hindu, 14 September 2008) [30 November]
- Poverty, Migration and National Employment Guarantee Scheme (Sachin Kumar Jain, 2008) [30 November]
August 2008
- Q&A: ‘Public action powerful guarantee for social security’ (Amrith Lal, The Times of India, 29 August 2008) [2 June]
- Empowerment Guarantee Act (Reetika Khera, Economic and Political Weekly, 30 August 2008) [21 September]
July 2008
- NREGA and the death of Tapas Soren (Anish Vanaik, Economic and Political Weekly, 30 July 2008) [21 September]
- M.P. Government’s tall claims on jobs scheme challenged (Staff Correspondent, The Hindu, 19 July, 2008) [2 June]
- Employment Scheme checking Migration (Special Correspondent, The Hindu, 20 July, 2008) [2 June]
- NREGA: ship without rudder? (Jean Drèze, The Hindu, 19 July, 2008) [22 July]
- NREGA: A Fine Balance (P. Sainath, India Together, 13 July, 2008) [1 December]
June 2008 [top]
- More is not enough (Sebastian PT, Outlook Business, 28 June 2008)
- Attacking the right to ask (Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, Indian Express, 14 June 2008)
May 2008
- From the Bottom Up (Yogi Aggarwal, Business India, 18 May 2008) [10 September]
April 2008
- India’s Rural Employment Scheme (The Economist (Print Edition), 24 April 2008) [2 June]
- Not much of a guarantee (Kaushik Basu, The Hindustan Times, 12 April 2008) [25 July]
- India’s jobs plan goes nationwide (Mian Ridge, Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2008) [8 August]
March 2008
- Falling through the cracks (Kiran Bhatty, The Hindu, 16 March, 2008) [15 August]
- Governance reform key to NREGA success (Mihir Shah, The Hindu, 14 March 2008)
- Nothing Ventured, Nothing learnt (C. P. Bhambhri, india-seminar.com, March 2008) [2 June]
- Employment Guarantee, Women’s Work and Child Care (Sudha Narayanan, 1 March 2008) [2 June]
February 2008
- In Orissa, NREGA is still a ray of hope (Pradeep Baisakh, India Together, 2 February 2008) [2 June]
- Two years of NREGA: The Road Ahead (Pramathesh Ambasta, P S Vijay Shankar and Mihir Shah, Economic and Political Weekly, 23 February 2008) [15 December]
- Corruption guaranteed (Bibhuti Pati, Tehelka.com, 8 February 2008) [4 August]
January 2008
- Lifeline for the rural poor (Hindu, 25 January 2008)
- Shivnath Thukral, My Budget Wish! (NDTV Profit, 24 January 2008)
- Jean Dr ze, Employment guarantee: beyond propaganda (Hindu, 11 January 2008)
- Sowmya Kerbart Sivakumar, Triumph of transparency (Hindu, 6 January 2008)
- S. B. Misra, Move beyond spadework (Hindustan Times, 2 January 2008)
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)
January 2006
- Sastry,Trilochan An autonomous NREG Agency needed (India Together, 29 January 2006)
- Sule, Surekha Gearing villages up for entitlements (India Together, 12 January)
