Field‐level perspectives on Maharashtra's Employment Guarantee Scheme
| Date | 01 April 1985 |
| Published date | 01 April 1985 |
| Author | Samuel S. Lieberman |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230050203 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT,
Vol.
5,
NO.
2,
109-127
(1985)
Field-level perspectives on Maharashtra’s Employment
Guarantee Scheme
SAMUEL
S.
LIEBERMAN
The
Population Council
SUMMARY
This paper examines the implementation
of
the
Employment Guarantee Scheme
(EGS),
the
large scale rural works programme
in
operation since
1974
in
the Indian state
of
Maharashtra.
The analysis
of
programme management and execution of individual EGS projects draws
on
the experiences and observations of the unique cadre of employment officers, from different
departments,
with
field-level responsibilities. The first section of the paper describes the
organization which administers
EGS
and reviews the body of directives which guides
EGS
field operations. Subsequent sections discuss the background characteristics of field
functionaries and focus
on
various problems encountered and solutions adopted by these
officers
in
implementing EGS projects. The discretionary powers enjoyed by field officers as
a result of the absence
or
impracticality of government guidelines for many issues influence
the implementation
of
the project and make officials vulnerable
to
political pressures. The
implications
of
this discretion need to be recognized by the Government of Maharashtra.
Knowledge gained from EGS operations needs to be used to prepare officials for project
work.
INTRODUCTION
The Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) is
a
large scale rural works programme,
in operation in the Indian state
of
Maharashtra since
1974,
that has attracted interest
within India and abroad. The most daring aspect
of
EGS is its legal guarantee of the
right to work, which is contained in legislation enacted by the Maharashtra assembly
in
1977
and assented to by the President
of
India in
1978.
EGS is the vehicle chosen
by the Government
of
Maharashtra to honour the commitment to provide work
under specified conditions to needy adults living in rural areas. Another important
and unusual feature
of
EGS is its source
of
funding. EGS is paid for largely through
special taxes levied
on
the people
of
Maharashtra, supplemented with allocations
from general revenues received by the state government.
The administrative dimensions
of
EGS
have received less attention than have its
statutory and fiscal underpinnings, partly because the Government of Maharashtra
wants to understate for various political reasons the costs
of
running the
programme. Indeed, the government sometimes claims that EGS operates through
the existing bureaucracy in order to avoid the expense of
a
new organizational set-
up. In actuality, EGS relies on novel and intricate administrative structures and
practices. These operational arrangements have enabled the programme to mobilize
labour on
a
vast scale for productive purposes.
Dr. Lieberman is an Associate
of
the Centre for Policy Studies, The Population Centre,
I
Dag
Hammarskjiild Plaza, New York City, New York
10017,
U.S.A.
027
1
-2075/85/020109- I9$0 1.90
0
1985
by John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
110
Samuel
S.
Lieberman
This paper examines the implementation
of
EGS.
The analysis draws on the
experiences of the unique cadre of employment officers, drawn from different
departments, who have field-level responsibilities. Subsequent sections
of
the paper
discuss various problems encountered and solutions devised by these officers, and
note implications for programme management. The first section describes the
organization that administers
EGS,
and introduces the functionaries charged with
project execution.
ORGANIZATION
OF
THE SCHEME
EGS
was introduced in 1969 as a component of an existing rural development
scheme in Sangli district. This pilot employment security programme was
administered by the village panchayat (council), which prepared plans for
productive projects which could provide work for the unemployed in the
community. Responsibility for executing projects rested with the panchayat and its
parent bodies, the Zilla Parishad (district council) and the taluka (administrative
unit within the district) council.
The planned extension of this scheme to other areas
of
the state was disrupted by
the droughts that Maharashtra experienced between 1970 and 1973. The state
government responded to successive failures of the monsoon with a massive rescue
and rehabilitation programme. The drought-relief organization drew on the
personnel of different technical agencies as mandated in the Scarcity Manual
published by the state government in 1965. The emergency administration was run
by the District Collector and his staff in the Revenue Deparment. Tasks and projects
were allocated by the Collector to various agencies according to the expertise
of
these normally autonomous departments. The Collector retained the authority to
supervise execution of the numerous employment-creating construction works that
were taken up.
Many organizational features of this ‘synthetic’ relief administration were
adopted when
EGS
was implemented as a state-wide programme starting in
September 1974. As in the drought emergency scheme, the Collector has
administrative responsibility for
EGS
operations in his district. The key functions of
the Collector, who is assisted by the Deputy Collector
(EGS),
subdivisional revenue
officers (responsible for several talukas), and Tehsildars (responsible for revenue
and law and order in individual talukas) include maintenance of plans (known as the
‘Blueprint’) for labour-intensive works to be executed through
EGS
on an ‘as-
needed’ basis; surveillance of requirements for work on
EGS
within the district;
instructing various agencies to start designated
EGS
works in particular localities;
release of
EGS
funds to authorized departmental officers; field inspections to
supervise mustering procedures, wage payment and availability
of
specified facilities
for
EGS
labourers; transmitting information to the Planning Department in
Bombay on project labour attendance and expenditures; and responding to
recommendations of the district
EGS
committee, which is made up of locally elected
Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the state Legislative Assembly (MLAs)
and Members
of
the state Legislative Council (MLCs).
The principle of project execution by technical departments has also been carried
over to
EGS
from the emergency relief organization.
EGS
projects, except
for
the
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