The National Rural Employment Guarantee (Amendment) Act, 2009

The Act may be called as the National Rural Employment Guarantee (Amendment) Act, 2009 which came in to existence on 2nd day of October, 2009, Act further passed by the Lok Sabha on 16th December 2009 and in Rajya Sabha on 17th December, 2009. National Rural Employment Guarantee (Amendment) Act, 2009 passed by the Houses of Parliament to amend the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.

National Rural Employment Guarantee (Amendment) Act, 2009 laid to fulfill the goals and objectives as specified in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 both the
Act deals with the same provisions and it includes only the term as specified in Section 1(1). In the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 as specified in Section 1 (1) the words “the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act” been substituted for the words “National Rural Employment Guarantee Act”

Article 48 A of the Constitution of India, directs the State to protect the environment especially by regulating them through rural works. Constitution of India not only directs the State to protect the environment but it also guarantees the right to life to every citizen with dignity to live. This Act by taking Constitution to its advantage imparts dignity to every people in rural areas through an assurance of livelihood security. Fundamental Rights enriched in Indian Constitution under Article 16 guarantees every citizens to provide them equal opportunities in matter of public employment and lays preventive measures to State not to discriminate any citizens on the grounds of caste, sex, race, religion, creed in the matter of employment. National Rural Employment Guarantee (Amendment) Act also follows the Article 46 of Constitution which says that it been the duty of the State to promote the interest of every citizens  includes the schedule castes and scheduled tribes and uplift them without any  discrimination or exploitation.

Article 40 of the Constitution made mandatory to the State Government to organize village Panchayat and give them the powers and authority as performing the functions laid as in units of self-government. Act adheres the Constitution principle as prime importance and implemented gram Panchayat in every state to fulfill the rural needs. Gram Panchayat also enriched with the constitutional status by the process of decentralization as created in the 73rd Amendment of Indian Constitution. By implementing the scheme as laid under Act Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNRGEA been further reinforced that specially laid for the implementation of rural self-government institutions

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, NRGEA includes several stages of implementation, as included in the Act of 2005, it includes the registration of families in scheme for manual work in rural areas, Distribution of job cards to the families, Selection and allocation of works, Preparation of technical estimates by Government with help of Gram Panchayat, implementation and supervision of work allocation by Gram Panchayat,  payment wages relating to employment, Social audit created in the Gram Panchayat by transparent process of evaluating which involves public vigilance and verification. There been a secretary appointed to look after the social auditing and other works incidental there to and secretary called by a name as Sarpanch, and there been other programme officers been designated under Sarpanch to look after work laid under Act.

MGNRGEA from day of its initialization is not worked without any disturbances and major fault done by the NREGA is it made the field of agriculture as less profitable as compared to other fields in rural development. Many scholars are viewed on the fact that the landless are become very lazy by implementation of NREGA as it gives the work to rural people by not providing  any tough work at the specified scheme and if the same thing persist agriculture will die if the NREGA continues.

However there been fall back of NREGA, workers need NREGA to continue in its existence as laborers under scheme gets enough pay compared to other agricultural work. Authorities under Union Rural development Ministry emerged to limit the MGNREGA programmes within tribal rural, and poor areas and  proposed to change the labour material ratio too. As NREGA budget got a clear cut and instead of focusing on new blocks of implementation of Scheme it limited it scheme with those blocks as of its disadvantages.

by Priyadarshini Chandrasekar