of the Minimum Wages Act; 1948 (11 of 1948) for agricultural labourers, shall be — THE MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT, 2005

of the Minimum Wages Act; 1948 (11 of 1948) for agricultural labourers, shall be

section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act; 1948 (11 of 1948) for agricultural labourers, shall be considered as the wage rate applicable to that area 7 Payment of unemployment allowance: (1) If an applicant for employment under the Scheme is not provided such employment within fifteen days of receipt of his application seeking employment o from the date on which the employment has been sought in the case of an advance application, whichever is later; he shall be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance in accordance with this section. (2) Subject to such terms and conditions of eligibility as may be prescribed by the State Government and subject to the provisions of this Act and the Schemes and the economic capacity of the State Government, the unemployment allowance payable under sub-section (1) shall be paid to the applicants of a household subject to the entitlement of the household at such rate as may be specified by the State Government; by notification, in consultation with the State Council: Provided that no such rate shall be less than one-fourth of the wage rate for the first thirty days during the financial year and not less than oe-half of the wage rate for the remaining period of the financial year. (3) The liability of the State Government to pay unemployment allowance to a household during any financial year shall cease as soon as the applicant is directed by the Gram Panchayat o the Programme Officer to report for work either by himself or depute at least one adult member of his household; o (b_ the period for which employment is sought comes to an end and no member of the household of the applicant had turned up for employment; or (c the adult members of the household of the applicant have received in total at least one hundred days of work within the financial year; or the household of the applicant has earned as much from the wages and unemployment allowance taken together which is equal to the wages for one hundred days of work during the financial year. The unemployment allowance payable to the household of an applicant jointly shall be sanctioned and disbursed by the Programme Officer O such Iocal authority (including the Panchayats at the district, intermediate Or village level) as the State Government may, by notification, authorise in this behalf: 5) Every payment of unemployment allowance under sub-section (7) shall be made or offered not later than fifteen days from the date on which it became due for payment. 5 The State Government may prescribe the procedure for payment of unemployment allowance under this Act_ 8. Non-disbursement of unemployment allowance in certain circumstances: If the Programme Officer is not in position to disburse the unemployment allowance in time O at all for any reason beyond his control, he shall report the matter to the District Programme Coordinator and announce such reasons in a notice to be displayed on his notice board and the notice board of the Gram Panchayat and such other conspicuous places as he may deem necessary. (2) Every case of non-payment or delayed payment of unemployment allowance shall be reported in the annual report submitted by the District Programme Coordinator to the State Government along with the reasons for such non-payment or delayed payment: (3) The State Government shall take all measures to make the payment of unemployment allowance reported under sub-section (/) to the concerned household as expeditiously as possible. 9_ Disentitlement to receive unemployment allowance in certain circumstances. An applicant who does not accept the employment provided to his household under a Scheme; O (b) does not report for work within fifteen days of being notified by the Programme Officer or the implementing agency to report for the work; O continuously remains absent from work, without obtaining a permission from the concerned implementing agency for a period of more than one week O remains absent for a total period of more than one week in any month, shall not be eligible to claim the unemployment allowance payable under this Act for a period of three months but shall be eligible to seek employment under the Scheme at any time. CHAPTER IV IMPLEMENTING AND MONITORING AUTHORITIES 10. Central Employment Guarantee Council:-~(1) With effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification specify, there shall be constituted Council to be called the Central Employment Guarantee Council to discharge the functions, and perform the duties, assigned to it by O under this Act. (2) The headquarters of the Central Council shall be at Delhi. (3) The Central Council shall consist of the following members to be appointed by the Central Government; namely: a Chairperson; (b not more than such number of representatives of the Central Ministries including the Planning Commission not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India as may be determined by the Central Government; not more than such number of representatives of the State Governments as may be determined by the Central Government; not more than fifteen non-official members representing Panchayati Raj Institutions_ organisations of workers and disadvantaged groups: Provided that such non-official members shall include two chairpersons of District Panchayats nominated by the Central Government by rotation for a period of one year at a time: Provided further that not less than one-third of the non-official members nominated under this clause shall be women: Provided also that not less than one-third of the non-official members shall be belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the Other Backward Classes and Minorities; such number of representatives of the States as the Central Government may, by rules, determine in this behalf; Member-Secretary not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India: The terms and conditions subject to which the Chairperson and other members of the Central Council may be appointed and the time, place and procedure of the meetings (including the quorum at such meetings) of the Central Council shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government 11. Functions and duties of Central Council: (1) The Central Council shall perform and discharge the following functions and duties, namely: establish a central evaluation and monitoring system; (b) advise the Central Government on all matters concerning the implementation of this Act; review the monitoring and redressal mechanism from time to time and recommend improvements required; promote the widest possible dissemination of information about the Schemes made under this Act; monitoring the implementation of this Act; preparation of annual reports to be laid before Parliament by the Central Government o the implementation of this Act; any other duty or function as may be assigned to it by the Central Government. (2) The Central Council shall have the power to undertake evaluation of the various Schemes made under this Act and for that purpose collect O cause to be collected statistics pertaining to the rural economy and the implementation of the Schemes. 12. State Employment Guarantee Council. -(1) For the purposes of regular monitoring and reviewing the implementation of this Act at the State level, every State Government shall constitute a State Council to be known as the (name of the State) State Employment Guarantee Council with a Chairperson and such number of official members as may be determined by the State Government and not more than fifteen non-official members nominated by the State Government from Panchayati Raj institutions, organisations of workers and disadvantaged groups: Provided that not less than one-third of the non-official members nominated under this clause shall be women: Provided further that not less than one third of the non-official members shall be belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the Other Backward Classes and Minorities. (2) The terms and conditions subject to which the Chairperson and members of the State Council may be appointed and the time, place and procedure of the meetings (including the quorum at such meetings) of the State Council shall be such as may be prescribed by the State Government: (3) The duties and functions of the State Council shall include advising the State Government o all matters concerning the Scheme and its implementation in the State; (b) determining the preferred works; reviewing the monitoring and redressal mechanisms from time to time and recommending improvements; promoting the widest possible dissemination of information about this Act and the Schemes under it; monitoring the implementation of this Act and the Schemes in the State and coordinating such implementation with the Central Council; preparing the annual report to be laid before the State Legislature by the State Government; any other duty o function as may be assigned to it by the Central Council or the State Government: (3) The State Council shall have the power to undertake an evaluation f the Schemes operating in the State and for that purpose to collect or cause to be collected statistics pertaining to the rural economy and the implementation of the Schemes and Programmes in the State. 13. Principal authorities for planning and implementation of Schemes. (1) The Panchayats at district, intermediate and village levels shall be the principal authorities for planning and implementation of the Schemes made under this Act 2 The functions of the Panchayats at the district level shall be to finalise and approve block wise shelf of projects to be taken up under a programme under the Scheme; b) to supervise and monitor the projects taken up at the Block level and district level; and to carry out such other functions as may be assigned to it by the State Council, from time to time_ 3) The functions of the Panchayat at intermediate level shall be to approve the Block level Plan for forwarding it to the district Panchayat at the district level for final approval; (b) to supervise and monitor the projects taken up at the Gram Panchayat and Block level; and (c to carry out such other functions as may be assigned to it by the State Council, from time to time_ The District Programme Coordinator shall assist the Panchayat at the district level in discharging its functions under this Act and any Scheme made thereunder: 14. District Programme Coordinator: The Chief Executive Officer of the District Panchayat or the Collector of the district or any other district level officer of appropriate rank as the State Government may decide shall be designated as the District Programme Coordinator for the implementation of the Scheme in the district: (2) The District Programme Coordinator shall be responsible for the implementation of the Scheme in the district in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder: 3) The functions of the District Programme Coordinator shall be to assist the district Panchayat in discharging its functions under this Act and any scheme made thereunder; b to consolidate the plans prepared by the Blocks and project proposals received from other implementing agencies for inclusion in the shelf of projects to be approved by the Panchayat at district level; (c to accord necessary sanction and administrative clearance, wherever necessary; to coordinate with the Programme Officers functioning within his jurisdiction and the implementing agencies to ensure that the applicants are provided employment as per their entitlements under this Act; to review, monitor and supervise the performance of the Programme Officers; to conduct periodic inspection of the works in progress; and g to redress the grievances of the applicants. The State Government shall delegate such administrative and financial powers to the District Programme Coordinator as may be required to enable him to carry out his functions under this Act: 8 The Programme Officer appointed under sub-section (/) of

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