MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT, 2005

1 · Act and Schedule

1 · 1. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was notified in 2005. As per an amendment to the Act the words 'Mahatma Gandhi' were prefixed to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The Act covers the entire country with the exception of districts that have hundred percent urban population.

1 · 2. States have notified their respective Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Schemes, as per the requirement of the Act. The Scheme formulated by the State Government, should provide for the minimum features specified in Schedule I. Persons employed under any State Scheme made under the Act shall be entitled to minimum facilities listed in Schedule II of the Act. These State Schemes have to be consistent with the amendments made, from time to time, to the Act and its Schedules .

1 · 3. States are required to amend/ modify their Mahatma Gandhi NREG Schemes as per amendments made in the Schedule I & II from time to time.

2 · Entitlements under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

2 · 1 Mahatma Gandhi NREGA provides a number of legal entitlements to rural workers through a series of provisions in the law. While the Act makes provision for a hundred days work per rural household in a year, it is the strong legal framework of rights and entitlements that come together to make the hundred days of work per year possible. It is therefore essential that the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is read, understood and implemented keeping the entitlements in view.

2 · 2 The Annual Master Circular for the FY 2018 -19, like the earlier versions, is organised around the major entitlements of the workers and the mechanisms that enable the administration to implement the Act.

2 · 3 The Master Circular is a comprehensive document covering all aspects of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA implementation. However, Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, 2005 and the Schedule I and II as amended from time to time, should be referred to, as and when required.

3 · Entitlement I -Right to a Job Card (JC)

3 · 1 Possession of Job Cards

3 · 2 Regular updation of entries in the JCs

3 · 3 Verification/ updation of Job Cards through campaigns

3 · 4 Cancellation of Job Cards

3 · 5 Fresh/ new Job Cards

3 · 6 Implementation of Indicative Framework for new Job Cards

3 · 7 Pro -active inclusion of SECC Vulnerable households

3 · 8 Violations of any of the above provisions will be considered as an offence under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, thereby attracting the provisions of Section 25 of the Act.

4 · Entitlement II -Right to Demand and receive work within 15 days

4 · 1 Demand for work

4 · 1.1 Registering demand for work is central to the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. The Programme Officer and the Programme Implementing Agencies (PIAs) must ensure that the process of submission of applications for work is kept open on a continuous basis. Every demand for work is required to be acknowledged by a dated receipt.

4 · 1.2 Normally, applications for work must be submitted for at least fourteen days of continuous work and provision shall be made in the Scheme for submission of multiple applications by the same person, provided that the corresponding periods for which employment is sought, do not overlap.

4 · 2 Allocation of work

4 · 2.1 The Programme Officer and implementing agencies must ensure that workers in need of employment under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA are provided work within 15 days of the receipt of the application or the date of demand, in case of advance application, whichever is later .

4 · 2.2 The mandate of the Act is to provide at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult member volunteers to do unskilled manual work. The Ministry mandates the provision of additional 50 days of wage employment (beyond the stipulated 100 days) per Scheduled Tribe Household in a forest area, provided that these households have no other private property except for the land rights provided under the FRA Act 2006.

4 · 2.3 In exercise of the provisions under Section 3 (4) of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, the Central Government has decided to provide an additional 50 days of unskilled manual work in a financial year, over and above the 100 days assured to job card holders in such rural areas where drought or natural calamities (as per Ministry of Home Affairs) have been notified. The notification to provide additional 50 days of unskilled manual work over and above 100 days in drought or natural calamity notified rural areas, is issued by the Ministry of Rural Development as recommended by Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare.

4 · 2.4 As per the provisions of Para 9, Schedule I of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, State Governments must ensure that an adequate shelf of works is approved and made available in every Gram Panchayat of the State at all times to meet the demand for work of the job seekers, with or without prior registration of demand. Incomplete/ ongoing works should be given priority in allocation of work.

4 · . 3 Multiple mechanisms for demand for work

4 · 3.1 State Governments are mandated to put in place multiple mechanisms by which rural households can submit applications for demand for work at the Gram Panchayat (Gram Panchayat), Block and District level.

4 · 3.2 The multiple channels to receive applications for work should necessarily include Programme Officer (Programme Officer), Gram Rozgar Sahayak, Panchayat Secretary/other officials in the Gram Panchayat, Sarpanch, Ward members, Anganwadi workers, Mates, SHGs / Village Organizations, village level revenue functionaries, Common Service Centres, Producers' Groups under DAY-NRLM and Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Labour Groups.

4 · 3.3 Registration of demand should necessarily include provisions through multiple modes. It shall be ensured that concerned functionaries are sensitised on these multiple channels and modes, and demand from any one of them is considered valid and honoured as per timeline of 15 days. The multiple modes include:

4 · 3.4 The demand can be registered at the Gram Panchayat office, Block office, during the Rozgar Diwas as well as at the worksite.

4 · 3.5 The Gram Panchayat or the Programme Officer, as the case may be, shall be bound to accept valid applications of work.

4 · 3.6 The State may facilitate registration of demand and allocation of work at worksite through biometric or MMS facility.

4 · 3.7 In addition, the Ministry may facilitate direct registration of application for demand for work through a national IVRS and the NREGASoft (worker module) amongst others.

4 · 4 Dated Receipt

4 · . 5 Rozgar Diwas

4 · 5.1. Roles and Responsibilities for the conduct of the Rozgar Diwas are as under:

4 · 6 E -muster Roll

4 · 7. Violations of any of the above provisions will be considered as an offence under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, thereby attracting the provisions of Section 25 of the Act.

5 · Entitlement III -Right to Unemployment Allowance

5 · 1 Responsibility of the State Government

5 · 1.1 Specify the rate of unemployment allowance payable, which will not be less than one-fourth of the wage rate for the first thirty days and not less than one-half of the wage rate for the remaining period of the financial year.

5 · 1.2 Frame Rules governing the procedure for payment of Unemployment Allowance.

5 · 1.3 Make necessary budgetary provision for payment of Unemployment Allowance.

5 · 2 Calculation and payment of Unemployment Allowance

5 · 2.1 NREGASoft has been enabled to calculate Unemployment Allowance based on the data entered by the implementing machinery. The detailed section on Mahatma Gandhi NREGA MIS in the present document may be referred to for further information. NREGASoft will check for cases of demand which have not resulted in provision of work within 15 days from the date of registration of demand or the date from which work has been demanded, whichever is later. The provision of work is evidenced by the date at which the muster roll is started.

5 · 2.2 Based on this data, the Unemployment Allowance will be calculated and placed in the login of the Programme Officer (Programme Officer) for/ her/his decision in the matter. The decision of the Programme Officer will be made available on the web reports of NREGASoft. The Programme Officer will ensure that all entries relating to Unemployment Allowance are made through NREGAsoft only.

5 · 2.3 Following the process defined in the relevant rules framed by State Government, Unemployment Allowance shall be paid to the workers. The State Government, District Programme Co-ordinator (District Programme Coordinator) and Programme Officers will monitor this for each Gram Panchayat and also take all required remedial measures, like getting an adequate shelf of projects prepared in the Gram Panchayats. MIS Reports on payment of unemployment allowance and remedial measures taken will have to be part of the essential set of reports for monitoring at the State level.

5 · 2.4 The JC should contain the amount of Unemployment Allowance paid, if any. The Register -III (to be maintained at the Gram Panchayat) should contain requisite information of Unemployment Allowance paid to the workers.

5 · 3 Suggested procedure to State Governments for payment of Unemployment Allowance

5 · 3.1 Automatic generation of a payment order (requiring no separate sanction order) and payment of Unemployment Allowance from the SEGF or any other fund specified for this purpose, on the basis of the data in the Programme Management Information System (NREGASoft).

5 · 3.2 Payment is to be made no later than 15 days. If the decision is not taken within 15 days then it shall be deemed as approved, from when it becomes due or else the recipients shall be entitled to compensation based on the same principles as Compensation for Delayed Payment of Wages.

5 · 3.3 Unemployment Allowances to be credited to Bank/ Post Office account, as in the case of wage payments etc.

5 · 4 Cessation of liability to pay Unemployment Allowance

5 · 4.1 The work is allocated by Gram Panchayat or Programme Officer with the instruction to report for work, either by himself/herself or to depute at least one adult member of his/her household; or

5 · 4.2 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

5 · 4.3 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

5 · 4.4 The household of the applicant has earned as much from the wages and Unemployment Allowance taken together as is equal to the wages for one hundred days of work during the financial year.

5 · 5 Cessation of claim to Unemployment Allowance

5 · 6 Automatic Payment of Unemployment Allowance

5 · 7 Workers filing for unemployment allowance

5 · 8. Violations of any of the above provisions will be considered as an offence under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, thereby attracting the provisions of Section 25 of the Act.

6 · Entitlement IV -Right to Plan and Prepare a Shelf of Projects

6 · 1. Preparation of Labour Budget and the Annual Convergent Planning for Identification of Projects Exercise

6 · 1.1 Identification of Shelf of Projects and preparation of Labour Budget (LB) estimate is an essential annual work plan document that entails planning, approval, funding and project execution modalities. Since the Shelf of Works and LBs are prepared in accordance with the provisions under Sections 13 to 16 of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Act, the District Programme Coordinator has to ensure strict adherence to the principle of bottom-up approach from the stage of planning to approval of the selected shelf of projects by each Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha in the district. The District Programme Coordinator is also responsible for preparing in the month of December every year a labour budget for the next financial year containing the details of anticipated demand for unskilled manual work in the district.

6 · 1.2 The annual planning exercise for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA will be part of the Convergent Planning Exercise for the Ministry. The thrust is on planning for works related to Natural Resource Management (NRM), agriculture and allied activities and livelihood related works on individual's land leading to sustainable livelihoods as well as provisioning of livestock shelters for the individual households . The NRM related works under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA shall be taken up in convergence with Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) and Command Area and Water Management (CAD&WM) schemes for better outcomes of the water conservation and water harvesting measures. Technical inputs for planning shall be drawn from the technical resources available in the district under MGNREGS, CSO partners and other line department agencies. In case of planning for NRM works, the technical inputs will be drawn from the joint pool of technical personnel of IWMP in Watershed Cell cum Data Centre (WCDC), Mahatma Gandhi NREGA unit, Water Resource Department and the Agriculture Department. The technical inputs relating to Excavation, Renovation & Modernisation (ERM)/ water bodies may also be sought from Regional Office of Central Ground Water Commission (CWC).

6 · 1.3 The SelffHelp Groups (SHGs) and producers' groups under DAY- NRLM will be closely involved in the planning especially in case of implementation of watershed projects under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.

6 · 1.4 The Gram Panchayats while deliberating and finalizing prioritization of shelf of projects will keep Macro and Micro watersheds of 2500- 5000 hectares that often comprise 1-10 Gram Panchayats, in perspective. To facilitate evidence based scientific NRM planning process the recommended work plan on Watersheds/ Command Area approach as approved in the District Irrigation Plan will be sent to all the concerned Gram Panchayats for community validation and vetting. The final DPR, reflecting all community suggestions will then be recommended by all Gram Sabhas of all Gram Panchayats involved in the Watershed/ Command Area. The process of creating a community organization at the watershed level will also commence simultaneously so that a community led planning and implementation structure is in place well before financial resources are committed for the project.

6 · 1.5 The Gram Panchayat should also synchronize the shelf of projects with Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) so that all MGNREGS works are necessarily part of the GPDP.

6 · 1.6 Cluster Facilitation Teams of the MGNREGS and intensive block staff of DAY -NRLM should be actively involved in planning process, including in 2264 Blocks (93351 Gram Panchayats) identified under Mission Water Conservation.

6 · 1.7 Proceedings of each Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha in which the respective shelf of projects for the GP has been approved, have to be uploaded as an attachment to the respective LB in the MIS.

6 · 1.8 The State Government is also required to furnish a certificate to the effect that the provisions made in the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for preparation of Shelf of Works and LB have been taken into account and a bottom -up approach has been adhered to in the preparation of Shelf of Work .

6 · 1.9 The labour Budget should comprise a month wise anticipated quantum of demand for work along with a plan that outlines the quantum and schedule of works to be provided to those who demand work.

6 · 1.10 Steps in the Labour Budget Preparation and Consolidation; The District Programme Coordinator will ensure estimation of anticipated demand for unskilled manual work in the district . The assessment of need for asset creation through Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is to be undertaken at the community level, by the Gram Panchayat through participatory processes. The outputs of these processes need to be consolidated at the Gram Panchayat level and presented before the Gram Sabha for approval.

6 · 1.11 Role of District Programme Coordinator/ Collector: The Block plans will be consolidated and approved at the district level. The district will be the synergizing unit for convergent planning under the leadership of the District Collector, wherein, the DPC/ Collector should ensure that the Annual Action Plans relating to MGNREGS, IWMP and PMKSY are coordinated in such a way that with the convergence of the ongoing schemes in the area, a comprehensive project of village/ watershed/ command area, incorporating/ integrating all the works/ activities required for the integrated development of the village/ watershed/ CAD approach is prepared. The DPC/ Collector will ensure that the NRM component of Labour Budget of MGNREGS is essentially made part of the District Irrigation Plan (DIP) in consultation with Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Central Water Commission (CWC), Water Resources and the Agriculture Departments. The consolidation of Block plans will be followed with an approval process . For approval at the district level, for all the works planned to be implemented by the Gram Panchayats , and other IAs, the 60:40 ratio in wage and labour must be maintained at the district level . District Programme Coordinator/ Collector should ensure that at least 60% of the works taken up at the district level, in terms of cost, shall be for creation of productive assets directly linked to agriculture and allied activities through development of land, water and trees . The DPC/ Collector will further ensure that the planning for works is such that at least 65 % of expenditure under MGNREGS is on NRM works in FY 2018 -19, in the identified 2264 Blocks under Mission Water Conservation (MWC) rural Blocks of the country. The MIS is being enabled to monitor the performance in these blocks.

6 · 1.12 Role of State Government: Similar consolidation and approval process should also be undertaken at the State Level. The states/ UTs are advised to incorporate the advancement in space technology and remote sensing to take up GIS based planning.

6 · 1.13 Role of Empowered Committee (EC) of the Ministry: State Governments as well as the Governments of Union Territories should make efforts to present a realistic labour budget. The States and Union Territories are required to submit their Labour Budget proposal along with execution plans and strategies to the Empowered Committee of the Ministry by 20 th February, every year. The EC role is to pragmatically consider the proposal and arrive at an indicative LB for the state/UT through review of the performance, the planning process adopted, appreciation of the initiatives and strategies of the state as well as factoring the requirement of the state in terms of poverty (on basis of deprivation figures of the state/ UT as per Socio Economic Caste Census, 2011), natural calamities like drought etc. The LB, thus arrived at is in no way a cap on actual performance. The States/UT can exceed their LB, if there is demand on ground.

6 · 2 Focus on vulnerable households

6 · 3 Gram Panchayats as custodian of shelf of works

6 · 4 Expected outcomes

6 · 5 Entry of Works into MIS and implementation of works as per decided priority

6 · 6 Convergence

6 · 6.1 Integrated planning, by converging the resources available under five rural development schemes -Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, National Rural Livelihood Mission, Indira Awaas Yojana, National Social Assistance Programme, and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is encouraged .

6 · 6.2 The synergy of Deen Dayal Upadhaya NRLM (DAY-NRLM) and Mahatma Gandhi NREGA programmes should be utilised by facilitating the farmers identified under Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojna (MKSP) and other sustainable agriculture based interventions taken up under DAY-NRLM to create and access these assets under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. There are 33.06 lakh women farmers identified under MKSP. The majority of them are in Andhra Pradesh (1301107), Telangana (1022291), Kerala (339288), Bihar (135012), West Bengal (60790), Odisha (38620), Rajasthan (59824), Gujarat (24587), Karnataka (19000), Assam (14549), Maharashtra (108815), Chhattisgarh (26725), Jharkhand (66614), Madhya Pradesh (37166) etc and more and more women farmers are being added under the MKSP programme on a continuous basis. A concerted effort to facilitate these households (HHs) to access the following assets under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. 1. Farm Ponds, dug wells and other water harvesting structures 2. Vermi/ NADEP compost pits. 3. Cattle sheds, Goat sheds, Poultry sheds, pig sty. The states need to identify the beneficiaries, map the existing Job card holder families, issue new Job Card to households that do not have JC but are willing to work under MGNREGS, facilitate

6 · 7 Suggested timelines for planning

6 · 8 Violations of any of the above provisions will be considered as an offence under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, thereby attracting the provisions of Section 25 of the Act.

7 · Entitlement V -Right to obtain work within a radius of 5 km

7 · 1 Work Execution under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

7 · 1.1 Implementing Agencies

7 · 1.2 Wage Material Ratio

7 · 1.3 Use of Machines

7 · 1.4 Outcome Orientation of Works

7 · 1.5 Estimates/Design Preparation and Technical Vetting by Superior Authorities

7 · 1.6 Production of building materials

7 · 1.7 Procurement of Materials under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

7 · 2 Types of Works

7 · 2.1 Restructuring of list of permissible works

7 · 2.2 Non -permissible Works

7 · 3 Works Focusing on Agriculture and Allied Activities

7 · 4 Natural Resource Management Works - Mission Water Conservation (MWC)

7 · 4.1 A convergence Framework for scientific planning and execution of water management works with the use of latest technology has been mandated in consultation with and agreement of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. The focus will be on 2264 Blocks identified under MWC.

7 · 4.2 In pursuance of Schedule-I of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, 260 kinds of works/ activities have been identified as permissible works, of which 181 kinds of works relate to NRM alone and

7 · 4.3 The works taken up in MGNREGS should change from taking up individual, standalone works in a typical 'relief works mode' to an INRM perspective. Planned and systematic development of land and harnessing of rainwater following watershed principles should become the central focus of MGNREGS work across the country to sustainably enhance farm productivity and income of poor people. Even the works on private lands should be taken up following the principles of watershed management in an integrated manner.

7 · 4.4 Technological support shall be taken from National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO for identification and planning of watersheds and monitoring of each activity undertaken and missed out (in earlier plans).

7 · 4.5 Central Ground Water Board, a storehouse of information related to groundwater resources and having technical expertise available at regional/ State level on designs and structures suitable/ required for water stressed blocks based on their geomorphological and climatic zone, should be consulted for planning, monitoring and execution of structures impacting ground water resource.

7 · 4.6 Watershed management works can be taken up independently under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA where there is no IWMP project sanctioned/proposed, subject to the conditions that:

7 · 4.7 Watershed management works under MGNREGA in convergence with IWMP- wherever IWMP project is already sanctioned: It must be ensured that the material intensive works are taken up under IWMP, and all the other labour intensive NRM works are done under MGNREGS. Under no circumstance there shall be duplication or double counting of works. It shall be the responsibility of the Programme Officers of MGNREGS and IWMP to ensure this convergence and follow all non-negotiables and processes of MGNREGA.

7 · 4.8 Areas where DPR needs to be revisited due to inadequacy, the eDPRs of these watersheds should be used.

7 · 4.9 New IWMP projects-In all future IWMP projects where DPRs of IWMP will be prepared, the NRM activities to be taken up through convergence with MGNREGA need to be included and clearly indicated in the DPR in consultation with concerned officials of

7 · 4.10 Prioritising Works of Command Area Development & Water Management (CAD&WM), ERM and Water Bodies: The growing gap between irrigation capacity created and irrigation capacity utilised is a major challenge facing surface irrigation systems. The major reason for this growing gap is the neglect of Command Area development works, especially on farm development (OFD) works like field channels, field drains, farm drains, etc. The works permissible under MGNREGA will entail one-time rehabilitation of minors, sub- minors and field channels, including desilting, repair of minor cracks, land levelling, repair of earthen embankments, bank raising and resurfacing canal base with clay, lining of canals, field drains and farm net. Regular O&M will not be a permissible activity under MGNREGA. It is advised that proposal(s) of maintenance of irrigation channels of the GPs (after Compilation at Block and District level) should be considered in consultation with the Irrigation Department. Only cases where maintenance requirement is established, but could not be addressed as a part of the regular maintenance work, can be considered under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA which may include desilting, maintenance of canal bunds and repair of lining etc., for which detailed survey, with existing L-section & designed L-section has to be carried out.

7 · 4.11 Construction of Wells: A major activity that has been widely undertaken under MGNREGA is the construction of wells. To ensure that extraction of ground water is done referencing to the prevailing hydro-geological conditions and without threatening the quantity (depth) and quality of the resource, following conditions are being prescribed for undertaking digging of wells under MGNREGA:

7 · . 5. Works requiring special focus

7 · 5.1 During 2018-19 , a large number of farm ponds and Vermi/ NADEP composting pits should be targeted to be constructed across the country. Reexcavation/ renovation of farm ponds cannot be undertaken on private lands since this is not a permissible activity under MGNREGA, 2005.

7 · 5.2 Construction of Aanganwadi Centres (AWC) - AWC may be taken up under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA using appropriate labour intensive and cost-effective technologies and local building materials. Expenditure up to Rs. 5.00 lakh under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is allowed and the balance cost as per the state specific estimate may be mobilised from the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) schemes of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, GoI and other schemes. AWC building should be of at least 600 sqft plinth area and the design should be in line with the guidelines of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

7 · 5.3 Construction of Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA: In order to give impetus to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) to achieve a clean India by 2019, the scheme of IHHL construction under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA shall focus on construction of IHHLs in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna – Grameen (PMAY-G) houses, wherever required. The unit cost of IHHL under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA will be Rs.12, 000/ -and design of IHHL will be as in SBM (G). It should be ensured, however, that in cases, where Mahatma Gandhi NREGA funds are being used for the construction of IHHLs, funding under SBM (G) is not used, to avoid duplication. Wherever toilets have been constructed under SBM or by the beneficiary, IHHL under MGNREGS for PMAY (G) houses cannot be provided. Any beneficiary in a Mission Antyodaya Gram Panchayat whose name figures in the SBM survey list and who has not been able to get a toilet on account of fund constraint, can be provided IHHL under MGNREGS, on priority. State governments should provide list of such beneficiaries for coverage under MGNREGS at the Gram Panchayat level. In all other Gram Panchayats MGNREGS funds would be utilized only for PMAY-G beneficiaries, wherever required . No defunct toilets shall be taken up for construction of IHHLs under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.

7 · 5.4 Construction of School toilets and Anganwadi toilets: Moreover, School toilet units and Anganwadi toilets either independently or in convergence with schemes of other Government Departments as per prescribed norms can be taken up as per requirements in villages areas after approval of Gram Sabha.

7 · 5 . 5 Construction of Houses, sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Grameen (PMAY-G) or such other State or Central Government scheme under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA: The total number of unskilled person days required for construction of a house of at least 20 sqm plinth area is 95-person days for North East, Hilly region and IAP districts, and 90 -person days for other areas. This can be paid under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, over and above the unit cost fixed for PMAY -G/ other housing scheme. The building material produced under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for construction of houses may be availed free of cost, by the beneficiaries. It is important to highlight that the benefits from MGNREGS in PMAY -G or State housing schemes as per Schedule-I, para 4 (1) II. (iv) should be extended only for households in Paragraph 5 .

7 · 5 . 6 Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) was launched in year 2009-10 for the development of villages having a higher ratio (over 50%) of people belonging to Scheduled Caste, through convergence of Central and State schemes, and allocating funds on village to village basis. It was approved for implementation in 1000 villages in five States, namely, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. Concerned States are advised

7 · 6Afforestation, Tree Plantation and Horticulture

7 · 6.1 Afforestation, tree plantation and horticulture activities can be taken up under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA on common, forest and private lands (of households listed in para 5 of schedule – – I) viz.

7 · 6.2 Plantation can be linear or block depending on the site requirements.

7 · 6.3 Role of Forest departments: The states/ UTs are required to prepare a framework for afforestation and tree plantation under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA of the state/ UT in consultation with the Forest department, aligned with the afforestation plan of the state/ UT. A certificate to this effect is to be submitted by the States/ UTs. Technical resources of Forest department must be utilised for facilitating PRIs in planning for works within the perspective of the state/ UT plan. It is desirable that the implementation of plantation/ afforestation works is carried out under overall technical supervision of Forest department. As far as possible, the Forest department may be encouraged to be the Project Implementation Agency for such works as well as for works.

7 · 6 . 4 Selection of plant species: Plant species should be selected as per agro-climatic conditions, market opportunities, forward linkages, income generation etc. Economically beneficial plants species should be listed with due consultation of experts from Horticulture department/ Forest department/ ICAR/ ICFRE/ Agriculture Universities/ KVKs etc. before the start of the planning process. Plantation of Tasar host plants Arjuna and Asana may also be considered in consultation with respective State Rural Livelihoods Missions. This list of plant species will facilitate informed choice for the identified vulnerable households (including usufruct rights beneficiaries) during the Labour budget (LB) planning exercise. The technical prescriptions for the finalized plants species also needs to be prepared before the estimate preparation.

7 · 6.5 Estimation of costs: The plantation works may cover the cost of labour and material component as per the estimate prepared including the maintenance period for 3-5 years (depending on the species). This may include planting materials, labour for digging pits and planting, fertilizers (preferably organic), equipment for watering, labour for watering, protection and maintenance of plants. All costs should form part of one estimate. In case of convergence with any other scheme, funds to be used from MGNREGS against planned activities must be mentioned along with fund from converging scheme(s) and activities planned, therein.

7 · 6.6 Due permission of owner of the land/ concerned department should be taken before taking up plantation on their land.

7 · 6.7 Usufruct benefits: Wherever plantation is done on community lands, the usufruct benefits of these plants, preferably up to 200 trees, may be allocated to vulnerable households.

7 · 6.8 Procurement of planting materials: Plants should be procured from:

7 · 6.9 Nurseries under MGNREGS: The selffhelp groups/ individuals can take up nursery works under MGNREGA. They should be properly trained for improving their skills in raising good quality nurseries.

7 · 6.10 Protection of plantations: For the protection of Block Plantations, live fencing should be preferred, supported with ditch cum bund and for protection of Individual plants, tree guards prepared from locally available plant material like Bamboo etc. should be preferred. For the protection of forests, creation of forest fire lines is not a permissible work under MGNREGA.

7 · 6 . 11 Development of pasture lands: For development of pasture lands under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and for drought proofing, plantation of fodder trees or horticulture plants or a mix and perennial grasses of pines, stylo, etc. in consultation with the concerned technical Departments, suitable for the local soil and climate, with participation of Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha and SHGs is advised. For better germination of seeds, sowing in pellet (mixed with dung & black soil) after soil & moisture conservation works is also advised.

7 · 6.12 Plantation of tree borne oilseeds: To promote livelihood activities of the vulnerable sections, plantation of 11 major tree borne oilseeds (TBOs) is advised.

7 · 6.13 Plantation of Tasar Host plants: To promote Tasar based livelihoods activities with the vulnerable communities, plantation of Tasar host plants like Arjuna and Asana is advised. This plantation may be taken up in the areas where Tasar based livelihoods initiatives have been taken up under Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) by the State Rural Livelihoods Missions.

7 · 6.13 Roadside Plantation along PMGSY roads and other roads: Roadside Tree Plantations under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA are to be taken up along PMGSY roads, on priority. Under such works, vulnerable household can be allocated up to 200 trees with appropriate maintenance period (based on species planted). Beyond the maintenance period the same household is to be provided rights to enjoy the usufruct benefits accruing from the allocated trees. Monthly payments are based on survival of plants and accomplishment of notified tasks. A road which is completed should be taken up for roadside tree plantation. While conducting roadside tree plantation under MGNREGS, for the sake of better road safety, the first and second row of plants should be planted with small to medium sized trees and the third row with tall and shade bearing trees. The distance for the first row of trees should be 0.5 m away from the toe of the embankment. The spacing between plant to plant for first and second row should be 4 to 6 m. and from row to row should be minimum 3 m. The number of planted rows depends on the availability of land in the Right-of-Way. If enough space is not available for three or more rows then two rows with first row (small and medium trees) and last row (tall and shade bearing trees) should be considered. In rural roads

7 · 6.14 Integration of MIS of PMGSY (OMMAS Software) with NREGASoft has been completed for mapping of PMGSY roads with Roadside tree plantation. This report (R.6.25 of NREGASoft) may be utilised for planning, implementation and monitoring of plantations along PMGSY roads.

7 · 6.15 Month wise Schedule of Activities for Tree Plantation

7 · 6.16 Convergence activities relating to Afforestation, Plantation and Horticulture:

7 · 7 Rural Infrastructure

7 · 8 Promotion of Aquaculture

7 · 9 Solid Waste Management (SWM) under MGNREGS

7 · 10 Continuous availability of works

7 · 11 Quality Control & Maintenance of Works under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

7 · 11.1 Quality Control: Optimum utilization of scarce resources available in creating assets under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and optimizing outcome will be possible only when required quality management is carried out timely and systematically, so that the assets created are economical, durable, and productive. To achieve it, it is to be ensured that selection of work, site, survey, planning, design, layout, execution; monitoring and follow up are as per the technical norms.

7 · 11.2 Productivity/Outcome: The productivity/ outcome should be strictly monitored by measuring the 'expected' outcomes, before any work is placed before the Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha for approval, and should not be closed without measuring the actual outcomes .

7 · 11.3 Maintenance: Assets after creation will remain durable and strengthen the livelihood resource base of the rural poor only when they are maintained as per their schedule prepared for the purpose . Maintenance of rural public assets created under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is a permitted activity. In case, funds are to be used to rehabilitate assets created from schemes other than MGNREGA, such as one -time rehabilitation/ renovation of canals/ drains/ Water harvesting structures, etc., the full details of previous work done along with date, copy of estimate and measurement book should be placed as part of the work record before administrative approval is granted. The maintenance work will be considered as a separate work with premeasurement and post-measurement, following all the norms for new work.

7 · 11.4 Measurement of works: All measurements of work done, shall be recorded in the measurement book (MB) duly authorized and issued by competent authority. The relevant entries are to be entered in NREGASoft to determine the valuation of work done. All payments shall be made only after measuring the value of work done; and after check measurement by the Junior Engineer/authorised technical personnel, in the manner as prescribed by the State Government.

7 · 11.5 Provision of Core Staff for Ensuring Quality of Works under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA:

7 · 11.5.1In view of the requirements of planning, preparation of estimates, giving of markouts on the ground and taking of measurement of the work done, there shall be core staff in place. The State Government shall ensure that the following core staff are in place:

7 · 11.5.2 The appointment of core staff cannot be deferred on grounds of insufficient fund.

7 · 11.5.3 All payments shall be made only after measuring the value of work done; and after check measurement by the Junior Engineer in the manner prescribed by the State Government.

7 · 12 Convergence with National Rural Livelihood Mission under the Cluster Facilitation Team Strategy

7 · 12.1 Objective: This project is to synergize the functioning of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and DAY -National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) to substantially enhance the quality of assets being created in the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA with the assistance of Civil Society Organisations/Community Based Organisations and thereby address the issue of rural livelihoods with sharper focus.

7 · 12.2 Selection of Blocks: Cluster Facilitation Teams (CFT) are to be placed in backward blocks selected by State Governments as per the following criteria; poor human development indicators, tribal areas, high population of SCs, poor connectivity or having active presence of Civil Society Organisation (CSO) or Community Based Organisation (CBO). State governments may undertake this project in backward blocks with prior approval of the Ministry.

7 · 12.3 Selection of Civil Society Organisation: State Government will select a Civil Society Organisation or Community Based Organisation with demonstrated experience in Mahatma Gandhi NREGA to undertake this project in the selected backward blocks. Preference may be given to existing partners in Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) and

7 · 12.4 Composition and coverage:

7 · 12.5 Activities: The Cluster Facilitation Team will function like a technical secretariat to the Gram Panchayat and interface with community institutions. The Cluster Facilitation Team will mobilize the community, prepare plans and estimates for the Gram Panchayat and provide technical support for worksite management but the actual execution of work will remain with Mahatma Gandhi NREGA personnel. The detailed standard operating procedure on the expected activities of the Cluster Facilitation Team stands as is.

7 · 12.6 Deliverables: The Cluster Facilitation Team has four deliverables over a three -year period;

7 · 12.7 Role of DAY -NRLM: DAY -NRLM will facilitate in operationalizing this convergence through the State Rural Livelihood Missions and the Civil Society Organisations already working under Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP). NRLM may support Cluster Facilitation Teams to facilitate the following elements of convergence with Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and SelffHelp Groups (SHG) / producer groups under DAY-NRLM:

7 · 12.8 Project period and funding:

7 · 12.9 Monitoring Structure:

8 · Entitlement VI -Right to worksite facilities

8 · 1. Workers are entitled to the following facilities at Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worksite:

8 · 2 Para 25 to 28 of the Schedule II state the entitlements of the workers in case of injuries, accidents and death.

9 · Entitlement VII and VIII -Right to notified wage rate and right to receive wages within 15 days

3 · (2) of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA provides that the disbursement of daily wages shall be made on a weekly basis, or in any case not later than a fortnight after the date on which such work is done. All delay in payment of wages beyond 15 days after closure of muster roll shall attract a penalty as per Para 29 of Schedule II of the Act.

9 · 1 Central Government will follow Section 6 (1) of the Act and notify wage rates for each financial year. States may notify a higher wage rate and pay the difference in amount from funds made available at their level.

9 · 2 Accounts of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA wage earners may be opened in post office/bank, as per the convenience of workers and wages shall be credited into the post office/bank account as the case may be.

9 · 3 No cash payment of wages shall be made unless specifically allowed by the Government of India.

9 · 4 Wherever functioning Banking/Business Correspondents (BC) are deployed by Banks, wage disbursement should be made by the banking network operated by these BCs.

9 · 5 The State Government shall link the wages with the quantity of work done. It shall be paid according to the rural schedule of rates fixed after time and motion studies for different types of work and different seasons, and revised periodically. A separate Schedule of rates shall be finalised for women, the elderly, people with disabilities and people with debilitating ailments, so as to improve their participation through productive work.

9 · 6 The schedule of rates of wages for various unskilled labourers shall be fixed so that an adult person who has worked for eight hours, including an hour of rest, will earn a wage equal to the stipulated wage rate. The working hours of an adult worker shall be flexible, but shall not spread over more than twelve hours on any day. Services of the semi-skilled workers other than mates and skilled workers may be procured by the Project Implementing Agencies by following transparent processes. Wages payable to such workers will also be decided by the Project Implementing Agencies.

9 · 7 Enabling Structures: Payment Systems Under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA: E-FMS and Ne-FMS , through PFMS.

9 · 7.1 Electronic Fund Management System (e-FMS): e-FMS provides a platform for making e-payments to Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers, staff and vendors (wages, material and administrative expenses) using the payment network of financial Institutions e.g. NEFT/ RTGS/ Electronic Cash Transfer (ECS)/Aadhaar Based Payment System (APBS) / NACH/ Sanchaya Post. This reduces delay in payments.

9 · 7.2 Public Fund Management System (PFMS): All Mahatma Gandhi NREGA e-payment (through Fund Transfer Orders) are being routed through PFMS.

9 · 7.2.1 Registration of Accounts of Implementing agencies on PFMS

9 · 7.3 National Electronic Fund Management System (Ne-FMS): With a view to further streamlining the fund flow system and to enable the States to deliver entitlements in line with the objectives of the Act, without leading to parking of funds, Ne-FMS has been introduced in 24 States and 1 UT. It will be up scaled in phases. The significant features of the Ne -FMS are as follows:

9 · 8 Delay Compensation: According to Section 3(3) of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, workers are entitled to being paid on a weekly basis, and in any case within a fortnight of the date of closure of the muster roll. In case the payment of wages is not made within fifteen days from the date of closure of muster roll, the wage seeker, as per Para 29 of Schedule II of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, is entitled to payment of compensation at the rate of 0.05% of the unpaid wages per day of delay beyond the sixteenth day of closure of muster roll.

9 · 8.1 NREGASoft has a provision to calculate the total compensation payable, after due verification, based on the date of closure of Muster Roll (MR) and the date of generation of the pay order (Fund Transfer Order) for paying wages taking into account:

9 · 8.2 The compensation is to be paid after due verification. Every Programme Officer shall, within 15 days from the date that the delay compensation becomes due, decide whether the compensation that has been calculated by the NREGASoft is payable or not. The compensation shall be met from the State Employment Guarantee Fund (SEGF) upfront. This can be recovered from the functionaries/ agencies responsible for the delay.

9 · 8.3 The exceptions when compensation is not payable are:

9 · 8.3 The Programme Officer will ensure that compensation claims are settled during the prescribed time, i.e. within 15 days of compensation being due, and such claims will not be allowed to be accumulated without any decision of acceptance or rejection. In all cases of rejection, the Programme Officer shall give detailed reason(s) for rejection on NREGASoft and maintain record of the same, in her/ his office for future verification. All cases approved for payment of compensation shall be done in the same manner as payment of wages. District Programme Coordinator will monitor this regularly.

9 · 8.4 Failure to settle claims during the prescribed time shall result in payment of due amount into the account of the worker.

9 · 8.5 The State Government (District Programme Coordinator and Programme Officer in particular) shall be responsible for operationalising the system for payment of compensation for delayed wage payments. The details are to be uploaded on NREGASoft so that the liability of each functionary/ agency can be determined in case of a delayed payment.

9 · 8.6 Accounting for Compensation paid: For accounting for the compensation paid, a separate account within SEGF shall be maintained and reflected in the MIS under e -FMS. The District Programme Coordinator and Programme Officer shall follow the extant recovery procedures to recover the compensation amount so paid under the system from the

9 · 8.7 Measures to ensure timely payment of Wages: Timely payment of wages has emerged as one of the main challenges of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA over the last few years. Therefore, systematic solutions are required to ensure that wages are paid on time. Efforts will continuously be made by the Central Government to ensure adequate number of servers for the States. The States will ensure:

9 · 9 Violations of any of the above provisions will be considered as an offence under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, thereby attracting the provisions of Section 25 of the Act.

10 · Entitlement IX: Right to time bound redress of grievances, right to conduct concurrent Social Audits and Social Audits of all Mahatma Gandhi NREGA expenditure

10 · 1 Setting up of an Independent Social Audit Unit:

10 · 1.1 State Governments have to identify and/or establish independent Social Audit Units (SAU), to facilitate Gram Sabha/ Ward Sabha in conducting social audits of works taken up under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA within the Gram Panchayat. To this effect, State Governments are mandated to set up independent societies tasked with the exclusive responsibility of conducting social audits under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.

10 · 1.2 Every Independent Social Audit Unit shall be headed by a Governing Body which will be responsible for overseeing the performance of the Unit on a periodic basis and provide advice and direction to the Unit as and when needed. The following shall be the minimum composition of the Governing Body:

3 · representatives from Civil Society Organisations, Academic and Training Institutions, working in the State or outside, having long standing experience in working with issues related to transparency and public accountability.

10 · 1.3 Special Social Audit: In areas where social audits have not been conducted in the manner prescribed by the Rules due to social audit teams facing violence, non-cooperation , intimidation from officials/non -officials and the same is communicated to the Ministry in

10 · 1.4 Financial independence: The state allocation of 0.5% (i.e 1/12 parts of admin charge) to the Social Audit Unit will be released directly from the Ministry to the the respective Social Audit Unit of the state.

10 · 1.5 The suggestive norms for the costs of recruiting minimum core staff are as under:

10 · 1.6 Selection: The Social Audit Resource Persons at the State and District Level shall be drawn from people with experience in the conduct of social audits and have been working in the social sector. The following committee will be notified for selecting the final candidates from a shortlist of potential candidates prepared by the Social Audit Unit:

10 · 1.7 Trainings – The 30-day Certificate Course on Social Accountability and Social Audits is a mandatory requisite for all State and District level resource persons. Lead Course Coordinators certified by TISS shall conduct the trainings in SIRDs. All states must communicate to the Ministry about the completion of their training batches with details of resource persons trained in the capacity building initiative.

10 · 1.8 Payments to Social Audit Unit Resource Persons: State Social Audit Units will be authorized to make payments directly into the back accounts of its Resource Persons at the State, District, Block and Village Level. Payments to Social Audit Unit Resource Persons, at any level, shall not be dependent on gaining approvals from representatives of the implementing agencies.

10 · 1.9 Calendar: The Social Audit Unit is required to frame an annual calendar at the beginning of the year to indicate the roll out of social audits in at least 50% of the Gram Panchayats in consonance with the rules in a year. The Social Audit Calendar once formed is to be complied with strictly, and communicated to all District Programme Coordinators in advance. The Calendar should be pro-actively disclosed in the public domain.

10 · 1.10 Auditing Standards -The Ministry has introduced Auditing Standards, based on recommendations of the C&AG and Joint Task Force for Social Audits, in order to strengthen the process of social audits and ensure the compliance of Audit of Scheme Rules, 2011. The Ministry has advised all states / UTs to adopt the Auditing Standards for the functioning of social audit units and conducting Social Audits.

10 · 1.11 Deployment of Village Social Audit Resource Persons: Village Social Audit Resource Persons deployed for facilitating social audit in a Panchayat shall not be residents of the same Panchayat. It is mandatory for the state/ UTs to engage community cadre of village social auditors drawn from women members of SHG for an effective community accountability framework. These village social auditors will be imparted training for 4 days on basis of specific manual developed by MoRD with assistance from TISS.

10 · 1.12 Provision of Records: The Programme Officer shall ensure that all the required information and records of implementing agencies as detailed below are properly collated in the requisite formats and provided along with photocopies to the Social Audit Unit for facilitating conduct of social audit at least fifteen days in advance of the scheduled date of meeting of the Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha conducting the Social Audit. The following records are mandatorily to be Shared: the 7 Registers; Voucher Folder; Cash Book and Ledger; Stock register; Bank Reconciliation Statement Folder; Administrative sanction; Work Estimate, Technical sanction; Work commencement order; Measurement Book; Wage List; Work Completion Certificate; Audit Report; Labour Budget.(Refer: Annexure 2 regarding Access and Availability of Records in Auditing Standards for Social Audits)

10 · 1.13 Any request for copies of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA related documents has to be provided within 3 days and no information shall be withheld.

10 · 1.14 Verification: The resource persons deployed by the Social Audit Unit to facilitate the Gram Sabha/ Ward Sabha in conducting social audits are required to conduct a 100% verification of entries made against all job card holders of the Gram Panchayat and Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worksites.

10 · 1.15 Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha: A Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha must be convened to discuss the findings of the social audit verification exercise and also to review the compliance on transparency and accountability, fulfilment of the rights and entitlements of labourers and proper utilization of funds.

10 · 1.16 Social Audit Reports: Social Audit Reports must be prepared in the local language and displayed on the notice board of the Gram Panchayat. Social Audit Reports must be hosted in the public domain by the Social Audit Unit within 48 hours of the Social Audit being completed. State Social Audit Units are instructed to use the National MIS on Social Audit developed by National Informatics Centre to download reports required for verification during social audits and enter findings of the same. The Social Audit Unit shall ensure that Social Audit Gram Sabha reports are uploaded on the MIS within 2 days of the Gram Sabha.

10 · 1.17 Registration of grievances arising out of social audits: For every violation of the right of an Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worker identified in the social audit process, the Social Audit Unit should file a written grievance to be submitted to the Programme Officer and the Ombudsman during the Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha, while ensuring that the complainant is give a dated receipt. For every instance of financial irregularity found during a social audit, the Social Audit Unit must file a written complaint to the District Programme Coordinator for registration of a FIR. For every instance of a violation of record maintenance protocol and transparency norms identified the Social Audit Unit should file a written complaint with the Programme Officer/District Programme Coordinator and get a dated receipt for the same.

10 · 1.18 Follow up: The Implementing Agency is responsible for taking follow up action on the findings of the social audits in a time bound manner.

10 · 1.19 Social Audit Reports once approved by the Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha are required to be submitted to the District Programme Coordinator and the Social Audit Unit of the State within 24 hours of the completion of the Social Audit Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha.

10 · 1.20 Within a month of the Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha, the Programme Officer should submit the Action Taken Report (ATR) to the Social Audit Unit. 15 days before the subsequent social audit, the resource person facilitating the social audit should get a copy of the ATR from the implementing agency as well as report from the resource person who conducted the audit the previous time. During field visits, the Social Audit Unit should verify whether action as specified in the ATR has indeed been taken. At the start of the Social Audit Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha, the ATR of the previous report and findings from field verification should first be presented before the social audit report of the current social audit.

10 · 1.21 The Additional Chief Secretary/ Principal Secretary/ Secretary, Department of Rural Development/ Panchayati Raj shall conduct a monthly review of Social Audit wherein irregularities identified in the social audit reports and status of progress on action taken by the implementing agencies on redressing the same shall be reviewed.

10 · 1.22 Reporting: State Social Audits Units are required to submit Quarterly Reports to the Principal Accountant Generals of the States in a prescribed format that has to be adhered strictly. The format includes information on the Status of Social Audit Unit and its functionaries, the Expenditure incurred by the Social Audit Unit in the reporting quarter and the status of the schedule and conduct of the social audits as per Calendar in the reporting quarter.

10 · 2 Concurrent Social Audits

10 · 3 Ombudsperson

30 · of Schedule I of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA mandates that there shall be an Ombudsperson for each District for receiving grievances, enquiring into and passing awards as per Guidelines. Central Government norms for process of appointment; application, tenure and termination; autonomy; remuneration; powers and responsibilities; procedure for redress of

10 · 4 Grievance Redressal

10 · 5 Vigilance

10 · 5.1 The State Government must set up a State Vigilance Cell consisting of a Chief Vigilance Officer who shall be entrusted with the responsibility of receiving complaints, verifying complaints and conducting regular field visits. The State Vigilance Cell will be authorized to initiate recoveries of amounts through the Public Accountants Act in the case of officials and Revenue Recovery Act in the case of others; recommend initiation of disciplinary action against the officials found guilty and recommend to the District Vigilance Cell to file a FIR before the police in cases where criminal action needs to be initiated. The Chief Vigilance Officer shall be responsible for sending an annual report to State Employment Guarantee Council with suggestions on controlling irregularities and malfeasance.

10 · 5.2 A District Vigilance Cell must be set up and should be headed by district level officer and supported by an Engineer and an Auditor to carry out functions as per directions of the State Vigilance Cell. The District Vigilance Cell shall perform inspections on its own and take follow up actions for recovery, disciplinary action and filing of criminal cases in respect of non-officials and officials whose disciplinary authority is at the district level.

10 · 5.3 Vigilance and Monitoring Committees (VMC) must be set up in each Gram Panchayat consisting of 5 persons, with adequate representation from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe households, half of whom shall be women. The members of the VMC may be identified from teachers, AW workers, SHG members, SA Resource Persons, user groups, youth clubs, Civil Society Organisations etc. The VMC shall necessarily be appointed/nominated/elected by the Gram Sabha for a period of at least 6 months. The functions of the VMC shall include visiting work sites; interacting with workers; verifying records; verifying onsite facilities; assessing quality of works; assessing cost; end to end reporting on work; qualitative assessment of nature of work. The VMC may check all works

10 · 6 Mandatory Pro-Active Disclosure

10 · 7 Minimum Principles of Transparency and Accountability

10 · 7.1 In order to enable and empower citizens, individually and collectively, to effectively perform the function of monitoring the implementation of interventions rolled out in their name, various conditions need to be fulfilled. These include a widespread understanding of the entitlements, of the prescribed time frames, of who's responsible for what, of the prescribed standards and rates, of the decision -making processes, of the possibility for appeal, complaint or grievance redressal, and of the reasonably expected outputs and outcomes.

10 · 7.2 Concepts like transparency and accountability must be framed in a manner in which they are governed by universal and inclusive processes. This is essential to empower every individual or group with the right to monitor a programme and help facilitate beneficiaries' claim their rights.

10 · 7.3 There must be equal and open access of information to all citizens and should preclude any attempt that may restrict/exclude a citizen from using information or from having to prove their locus standi .

10 · 7.4 There may be a need to specially empower and facilitate certain marginalized groups to access information.

10 · 7.5 In all cases of pro-active disclosure or collective monitoring, there is an inherent need for facilitation by external agencies/individuals/groups.

10 · 7.6 All relevant information regarding programmes and public institutions must be proactively displayed (mandatorily) and made accessible through different modes and medium, ensuring local language compatibility and keeping in mind the needs of the semi-literate, the illiterate and the differently abled.

10 · 7.7 Information must be authenticated, updated with reasonable periodicity, and put across in a manner and format that is easy to understand. Towards that end, special proforma and formats need to be developed.

10 · 7.8 Relevant information must be appropriately displayed at the level of the village, Gram Panchayat, Block/Intermediate Panchayat and the District.

10 · 7.9 It must also be kept in mind that, as far as possible, all decision making should be done in public in the full view of all interested stakeholders. This is the best way of ensuring that decisions are not only fair but also appear to be fair.

10 · 7.10 Recognising that, despite best efforts, both the modes of providing information and of getting feedback can be corrupted or blocked, multiple modes and routes must be used in order to make it progressively difficult to inhibit the free flow of information to and from the people .

10 · 7.11 Whereas focus must be on using as far as possible culturally appropriate modes of communication, especially traditional modes with which the local people are familiar, the advantages promised by new and emerging technologies must also not be ignored. Of special relevance are mobile phones and social media which have effectively permeated rural households and promise an innovative, reliable and quick method of simultaneously communicating with a large number of people.

10 · 8 Record Keeping:

10 · 9 Violations of any of the above provisions will be considered as an offence under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, thereby attracting the provisions of Section 25 of the Act.

11 · Information Education Communication (IEC) Activities

11 · 1 IEC is critical for enabling all the 10 entitlements under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. The administration and the implementing agency must enable mechanisms to create awareness about the entitlements of the workers and the access to the entitlements.

11 · 2 Expenditure for IEC activities taken up by the States/Districts can be met from the funds earmarked for administrative expenses (6% of the state funds).

11 · 3 As per the National IEC Strategy for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, the suggested key messages of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, which need to be disseminated to various target groups are:

11 · 4 The States are required to prepare their State IEC plans every year, and send reports at regular intervals to the Ministry.

11 · 5 Uniformity in messaging needs to be ensured for better results. At the National, State, or Village level, a standardised message should be disseminated, based on the core of the programme.

11 · 6 State IEC Nodal officers are to be nominated by the States to look after IEC activities of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in the State. The name and details of State IEC Nodal officers need to be conveyed to the Ministry. For professional implementation of IEC activities, States are free to appoint Communication Officers with experience in development communication.

11 · 7 For effective IEC strategy the states need to integrate various non- negotiables like Social Audit, Rozgar Diwas, Citizen Information Boards, wall writing and Job Cards as IEC tools through which rural community can be made better aware of their rights and entitlements, and can be a part of monitoring as well as grievance redressal. Key messages on the Scheme may be disseminated through these platforms. Citizen Information Boards, Wall Writings and Job cards should become the prime medium for information dissemination. Job card apart from recording of entitlements, may be an important IEC tool to create awareness by incorporating relevant information package like salient features of the scheme, rights and entitlements of the enrolled worker, etc .

11 · 8 Using news media for disseminating good practices and information about the Scheme has been a focus of the Ministry. In the National IEC Strategy for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, a media advocacy strategy has been incorporated. States are to conduct State level and District level orientation of journalists.

11 · 9 The Ministry has come up with two volumes of SANKALAN which is a compilation of Innovations, Successes and Learnings along the Way', a compilation of 101 such stories from across the country achieved through the MGNREGA programme. The intention is to document and disseminate these learnings from the ground. This will be a regular feature with districts who are expected to submit at least 5 success stories/ innovations/ learning with proper documentation.

11 · 10 Library in MIS: A library has been provided for in the Management Information System of the MGNREGA. It will have 3 Sections viz.

12 · MIS (NREGASoft)

12 · 1 NREGASoft

12 · 2 To facilitate States/UTs NREGAsoft is being regularly enhanced by developing new modules in the MIS as per the requirements of the States/ UTs. In this context, following new provisions/ modules have been enabled:

12 · . 3 e -Muster Roll

12 · . 4 MIS Measurement Book

12 · . 4.1The following entries are required to be made for this purpose:

12 · . 4.2. States are advised to make the MB entry in MIS mandatory.

13 · GeoMGNREGA – – GIS implementation under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

3 · GeoMGNREGA Phase -II:

4 · Janmanrega – the Citizen Centric Mobile Application

14 · Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and the Aadhaar Platform

14 · 1 Under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Direct Benefit Transfer, all payments to the workers are to be credited into the accounts of the workers in the Bank/ Post Offices, unless exempted by the Ministry in special circumstances. The credit may either happen using the banks/ Post office account details or using the Aadhaar number of the beneficiary with which the account may be linked.

14 · 2 The account details of the workers are being updated regularly in the MIS by the States, but in order to make Aadhaar Based Payments (ABP), there is a need for Aadhaar seeding and its mapping at National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) mapper by the banks. The use of Aadhaar will be strictly in accordance with the order given by the Honourable Supreme Court.

14 · 3 In pursuance of the provisions of f Section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services Act, 2016 (18 of 2016), the Central Government in the Ministry of Rural Development has notified on 3rd January, 2017 that any individual registered under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA who is not yet enrolled for Aadhaar shall have to apply for Aadhaar enrolment by the date notified by the Ministry, and, in case, she or he is entitled to obtain Aadhaar as per the provisions of section 3 of the said Act, such individuals may visit any Aadhaar enrolment centre to get enrolled for Aadhaar. Till the time Aadhaar is assigned to the individual, she or he shall be allowed to work under the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Act, 2005 subject to the production of the following documents, namely: -

14 · 4 In order to provide convenient and hassle-free entitlements to the registered workers under the provisions of the said Act, the Department of Rural Development or Panchayati Raj (In-charge Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) shall make all the required arrangements including the following, namely: ––

14 · 5 DBT Strategy

14 · 6 Step by Step process of conversion of accounts into Aadhaar Based Payments (ABPS)

14 · 6.1 Aadhaar seeding in the NREGASoft database: Opportunity should be provided to all workers to voluntarily enrol under Aadhaar. A drive may be undertaken to ensure all Active workers are contacted, consent is sought and thereafter, they are enrolled under Aadhaar (if not yet done). The Aadhaar numbers of all active workers, thus enrolled must be seeded in the database. The computer operators in the Block/ Gram Panchayat Office shall be mandated to do the data entry after due verification of the accompanying details. The progress of data entry will be displayed on daily basis on the website and communicated to the District Programme Coordinators.

14 · 6.2 At the District level, the drive shall be led by the District Programme Coordinators. The State Government shall hold an orientation session with all the District Programme Coordinators to explain the task expected of them.

14 · 6.3 At the Block level, the Block Development Officers/ Programme Officers (BDOs/ Programme Officers) will be the Charge Officers for this drive. The District Programme Coordinator will be responsible for training the BDOs in conducting the drive.

14 · 6.4 BDOs / Programme Officers shall entrust the work of collection of Aadhaar numbers to the Gram Rozgar Sewak concerned.

14 · 6.5 A village-wise report is available on NREGASoft listing the names of active workers whose Aadhaar numbers have not been captured in the database. BDOs will ensure that this is printed and available with the Gram Rozgar Sewak. This whole process will take place after seeking consent of the workers and in line with the order of the Honourable Supreme Court.

14 · 6.6 At the Gram Panchayat level, the Gram Rozgar Sewak shall be the person to collect the Aadhaar numbers from the workers who have given their consent.

14 · 6.7 There shall be an orientation and training workshop for the Gram Rozgar Sewaks at the Block level to take up this work. During the workshop, Gram Rozgar Sewaks shall be explained the task and shall also be provided with the list of active workers whose Aadhaar numbers are not available in the database.

14 · 6.8 Gram Rozgar Sewak shall collect the Aadhaar number along with a Xerox copy of the Aadhaar letter or Aadhaar card for comparing at the Block level before data entry.

14 · 6.9 The Gram Rozgar Sewak shall be mandated to do this task in a satisfactory manner.

14 · 6.10 Every weekend, the Gram Rozgar Sewaks shall report back to the Block office along with a list of Aadhaar numbers collected during the week. These meetings shall be held weekly, till saturation is achieved.

14 · 6.11 Manual Verification in Case of Authentication Failure by The Programme Officers: Ministry does demographic authentication of the Aadhaar data which is seeded in NREGASoft using the Authentication User Agency-Authentication Service Agency appointed by UIDAI and ensures that Aadhaar numbers entered are correct. Wherever the records seeded with Aadhaar numbers fail the demographic authentication, they need to be manually checked for inaccuracies by the Programme Officer or some other senior functionary. This can also be done by physically checking with the workers' Aadhaar letters. There is a report in the MIS for cases waiting/ pending for verification. A list of such numbers is provided in each Programme Officer's login. Programme Officers shall be mandated to complete this verification for active workers. This task may be done on a regular basis.

14 · 6.12 Account Freezing Drive: All bank accounts where the payments are being made shall be verified with the Banks/Post Offices and confirmed in the online database by the Programme Officers, without which no payment can be made. The list of all such accounts that need to be confirmed (frozen) is placed in the Programme Officer's log-in, and can be printed Bank/Post office wise.

14 · 6.13 Updating Consent Form Details in MIS: Each Programme Officer shall ensure that the consent details shared by the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers is updated in the NREGASoft.

14 · 6.14 Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for expediting Aadhaar seeding in Bank Accounts: To expedite Aadhaar seeding and ABP conversion, the SOP has been worked out. This incorporates the process flow for obtaining, submitting and updating Aadhaar seeding consent forms of MGNREGA workers and the seeding of their Aadhaar number in their bank accounts. The Programme Officer will share details at the district level to the DPC and the DPC will hand over the following to the Lead District Managers (LDMs) for ABPS conversion: -

14 · 6.15 Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS) - The APBS works only with the bank accounts which are on Core Banking System (CBS) platform. Under this system, all transfers into accounts are electronic and near real time based on the Aadhaar number of the worker seeded into the bank account of the said worker and mapped on the NPCI mapper. As and when a pay order is released, the NREGASoft shares the files with PFMS; PFMS, in turn, shares the file with the States Sponsor Banks. Then the States Sponsor Bank processes these payments through NPCI, debits the account and credits the beneficiary account. PFMS, then, sends a response file to NREGASoft. All this is supposed to be done in T+1 days' timeframe for the Bank/ Post offices which are on core banking system. It has the capacity to eliminate delays an d bring transparency into the payment process.

14 · 7 Ministry has established a fully automated system through the central server to bring in APBS that completes the following tasks.

15 · Financing Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

15 · 1 Release of Funds

22 · of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA provides the framework for the funding pattern under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. Funds are released to the States/UTs normally in two tranches with more than one instalment in one tranche based on agreed to Labour Budget (LB), opening balance, pending liabilities of the previous year, if any, and overall performance. The first instalment of first tranche will to be released to the States/UTs in 1st half of April, 2018 .

15 · 1.1 First Tranche

15 · 1.2 Second tranche

15 · 2 Administrative Expenses

15 · 3 Complaints and fund release

15 · 3.1 Standard Operating Procedure on Complaints

15 · 3.2 Establishing Complaint Cells in States

15 · 3.3 Notwithstanding the detailed procedure listed above, that deals with the procedure for handling complaints received in the Ministry and referred to the States for necessary action, provision of Para 29 of Schedule I of the Act will be applicable to the complaints received directly by the Programme Officer/ District Programme Coordinator or State Government.

16 · Skilling and Capacity Building under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

16 · 1 Barefoot Technicians

16 · 1.1 'Barefoot Technician' is an educated person identified from the local Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worker households or from among the mates/supervisors and specially trained in civil engineering concepts using a customized training module such that she/ he, acquires required skills for identification and estimation of works, giving mark-out for works in the field and record measurement of the work done in the Measurement -Book of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. Every state/ UT government should have a deployment policy for the BFT.

16 · 1.2 GRSs should be also be formally trained as barefoot technicians to carry out essential engineering functions including those related to water supply and sanitation. They should function as TA of the GP and their work should be supervised by a qualified technical person at the cluster/Intermediate level . This arrangement is recommended for Panchayats or a cluster of Panchayats with population less than 20,000.

16 · 1.3 Eligibility: The following shall be the eligibility criteria for selection as BFT:

16 · 1.4 Identification:

16 · . 1 . 5 Customised Module: The module for the BFT consists of 12 Learning Units and 1 Trainers Guide. The Learning units are developed in both English and Hindi language. This is available in the Ministry website. The 12 learning units are to be provided free of cost to the BFTs during the training.

16 · 1.6 Training: The candidates so identified shall be sponsored by the State Government with a 'commitment to appoint the person as BFT in case of successful completion of the training programme. The training programme is residential in nature and is of 90 days duration. NIRD will anchor this process and work with the SIRD's/any other institutions as decided by the State Government to deliver the training with the support of the Ministry. The following are the steps to be taken:

16 · 1.7 Certification: On completion of training, Agriculture Skills Council of India (ASCI) will conduct assessment test and trainees qualifying the assessment test shall be provided certificates confirming to NSQF Level-4.

16 · 1.8 Employment: The State Government will devise guideline for deployment of Barefoot Technicians detailing the terms of engagement. The BFTs shall be deployed in identified cluster of Gram Panchayats keeping in view the Scope of work for BFTs.

16 · 1.9 Reporting and Monitoring:

16 · 1.10 Terms of Engagement:

16 · 1.11 Work entrusted to BFTs: The tasks of BFTs are fivefold.

16 · 1.12 Payment: The payment of remuneration to BFTs shall be decided by the State Government as deemed appropriate. As the BFTs are skilled persons, the payment should be as skilled labour and should be met from the material component of work. The payment process will be same as in case of Technical Assistants (TAs).

16 · 2 Project Livelihoods in Full Employment under MGNREGA (Project LIFE – MGNREGA): Project for Livelihoods in Full Employment under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA (Project LIFE- Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) is a convergence initiative to proactively prioritise willing youth from households largely dependent on Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for livelihood, to be supported through skilling programmes by Deen Dayal Upadhaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), livelihood interventions of Deen Dayal Upadhaya Antyoday – NRLM (DAY-NRLM) and Entrepreneur Development Programmes of Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI).

16 · 2.1 The project aims at promoting self-reliance and improving the skill-base of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers and transforming them into confident, fully employed/ selfsufficient persons and entrepreneurial entities.

16 · 2.2 This project will be implemented as per the following strategy:

16 · 2.3 Registration/ Survey shall be carried for 3 broad categories viz.

16 · 2.4 Registration/ Survey shall be the responsibility of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Commissioners of the States. The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Commissioners shall officially share the result of the Survey with the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) of the State in form of the three lists viz.

16 · 2.4.1 List of Youths interested in Skilling for wages,

16 · 2.4.2 List of Youths interested in Skilling for Self –Employment, and

16 · 2.4.3 List of HHs interested in Livelihood upgradation.

16 · 2.5 In States where Skill as a subject is not under the SRLM, the list of Skilling for wages should be shared with the State Nodal Skills Mission (SNSM)/ any other Agency that the State has entrusted with the task of skilling rural youths.

16 · 2.6 The State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs) shall be the overall implementing agencies for this project. SRLM shall prepare State Skilling Plans that shall have three separate plans, one for each broad category mentioned above.

16 · 2.7 The skilling under the 3 categories shall be carried out as per the instructions issued by the Ministry in this regard.

16 · 3 Capacity building/ training of Technical Persons -State Technical Resource Team (STRT), District Technical Resource Team (DTRT) and Block Technical Resource Team (BTRT) Training programmes for the State Technical Resource Team (STRT), District Technical Resource Team (DTRT) and Block Technical Resource Team (BTRT) under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA have been organised by the NIRD. The prime objective of this training programme is to develop a cadre of identified technical experts in the subject matter of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA implementation in respective States. The States are required to create the DTRTs and BTRTs and impart training through STRTs as per the Action Plan prepared. The Ministry will release funds, calculated as per the same, through NIRD&PR. The training modules are continuously being updated. 'SAKSHAM' module for NRM based planning and design of works has been developed in consultation with National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad and Central Ground Water Board. It has relevant modules on GIS based planning also. The technical persons across all states and UTs need to be capacitated on same.

16 · . 4 Training Need Assessment and Preparation of Annual Capacity Building Plan: There are around 4.30 lakh functionaries directly involved in implementation of MGNREGS at district, block and Gram Panchayat level. Capacity building of such functionaries based on a scientific assessment of actual requirement of the functionaries based on their job charts along with their

17 · Partnership with Civil Society Organizations

17 · 1 The role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) is facilitating and supporting the administration in implementing Mahatma Gandhi NREGA through the following activities:

17 · 1.1 Awareness building, demand registration, organisation of Gram Rozgar Diwas, mobilization support and strengthening of the capacity of workers.

17 · 1.2 Training and support for capacity building at the National, State, District, Block and subblock levels.

17 · 1.3 Facilitating the approval of the shelf of projects in Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha at the Gram Panchayat.

17 · 1.4 Ministry has directed that the engagement of Civil Society Organisations in actual implementation of the Act and making them directly responsible to generate persondays is undesirable. It was advised that Civil Society Organisation/NGOs should remain in a facilitating role.

17 · 2 Civil Society Organisation/NGOs involved in facilitating role should have signed up in the NGO -partnership (NGO-PS) Portal of the Niti Aayog with all self-declared details and should have obtained a Unique ID. This Unique ID should be mandatorily quoted in proposals by the NGO. All registered NGOs should update their data base in the Portal every year.

17 · 3 Among the registered NGOs, the State Programme Coordinator (SPC)/Commissioner, Mahatma Gandhi NREGA may identify the eligible ones for engagement. The framework of the partnership must clearly detail out area of operation, deliverables, timelines and financial arrangements. The State Programme Coordinator (SPC)/Commissioner, Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is responsible for creating an enabling environment for a collaborative engagement with the Civil Society Organisation.

17 · 4 The interface of Civil Society Organisation with the implementation architecture is critical to enable the Civil Society Organisation's discharge their responsibilities at all levels. Such an engagement should list the accountability of both the administration and the Civil Society Organisation.

17 · 5 Community based organisations (CBO) and village organisations (VO) such as SHG, watershed committees etc. are critical to the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA at grassroots level. The activities that CBOs may be engaged in are:

17 · 5.1 Supporting the micro-level planning for the Panchayati Raj Institutions in planning processes, including Mission Antyodaya.

17 · 5.2 Facilitating the Social Audit process by assisting in the identification of Village Social Auditors and working as volunteers.

17 · 5.3 Concurrent community monitoring on work site as well as through the active participation in the Gram Panchayat functioning.

17 · 5.4 Facilitating the organisation of Labour Groups to coordinate the registration of demand and redressal of grievances as people's collective.

18 · Awards

18 · 1 Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Annual Awards are presented at 'Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sammelan' on 2nd February, which is commemorated as Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Diwas. The following awards are given:

18 · 2 The process of application and criteria for selection are:

18 · 2.1 The State Governments initiate the process of inviting nominations for State and District awards through the State Screening Committee, and forward the duly recommended nominations for the consideration of the Award Committee constituted by the Ministry.

18 · 2.2 For the award for financial inclusion, the Department of Posts forwards nominations of their staff, along with citations duly recommended for consideration by the Ministry.

18 · 2.3 For the award of best performing Gram Panchayat, the screening and recommendations of names of Gram Panchayats are based on the field verification done by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

18 · 3 The overall framework and scheme for awards is uploaded on the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA website: nrega.nic.in.

19 · Research under MGNREGA

19 · 1 Two -pronged strategy to strengthen the domain of research and impact evaluation studies: To strengthen the domain of research studies for MGNREGA, two-pronged strategy has been adopted. Firstly, each state is to commission research studies on two selected themes within their scope and articulated priorities. Secondly, NIRD&PR will act as the nodal agency for the research projects to be taken up by the Ministry

20 · . Key Functionaries and their Roles

20 · 1 Gram Panchayat Level

20 · 2 Technical Assistant

20 · 3 Block Level

20 · 4 District Level