The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is the biggest public employment scheme sponsored by the State. This was introduced in India on February 2, 2006. However, there has been some example of such programmes elsewhere in the world like in Argentina, known as the Jefez de Hoger Plan, initiated after the economic collapse of that country in 2002. However, this plan was confined to municipal areas of that country where it covered community service, health, education, child care and self-employment. But in India, NREGA was aimed at the rural poor for its enormous stature, where employment and wage was the main component. It facilitated the rural poor to demand a job without losing his or her dignity as their rights enshrined in the Constitution. Initially, NREGA covered only 200 backward districts of India which was increased to 350 the following year. From April 1, 2008 it has been extended to cover the entire country and now is running on 619 districts of the country.

This flagship initiative has three core objectives:
• Supplement wage-employment opportunities in rural areas – provide a safety net to the rural poor
• Create sustainable rural livelihoods through rejuvenation of the natural resource base – land, water, forests
• Strengthen grassroots democra-tic processes and infuse transparency and accountability in rural governance

After three years, NREGA is being put under diverse kinds of assessment – impact related, service delivery related, participation related, etc. The interesting part is that the Government of India and several State Governments are supporting such initiatives and also looking at introducing innovative mechanisms that strengthen the outreach and benefit of NREGA. Several interesting developments are being undertaken under NREGS in different parts of the country like integrating techno-systemic mechanisms for enhancing accountability and transparency, piloting convergent action, development of alternative implementation mechanisms, etc., but simultaneously, there are several inherent issues confronting smooth implementation of NREGS, especially related to demand side participation in planning, implementation and monitoring of NREGS works and gaps in supply side capacity to strengthen delivery of services.

Development Alternatives (DA) has been championing several assessments and innovative initiatives in partnership with the Government of India; UNDP, ILO and State Governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Some of the important initiatives undertaken by DA are the scoping study in Bihar for development of alternative implementation models, piloting convergent action and strengthening planning processes in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, assessment of Green Jobs creation and correlation with decent work under NREGS in Bihar, etc.

This newsletter is an effort to share with the readers the different dimensions of studies and actions on NREGS undertaken by DA in different parts of the country. I shall be glad to receive your views and opinions on the articles in this newsletter.

I wish all the readers a happy and peaceful new year. q

Kiran Sharma
ksharma@devalt.org

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