Gender Perspectives on Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in India: Study across SAT Villages

This policy brief presents the key findings and policy suggestions on gender aspects of implementation of MGNREGS in dryland region of India. This is based on the recent study across 10 villages in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Nearly 30% of the total 490 women respondents surveyed indicated that they used the wage income from MGNREGS towards meeting daily consumption needs, while 20% reported using the wage income for meeting the expenses towards education of children and meeting health needs of the household. By and large, about 70% of the respondents also observed that their status in the household and the community had increased after working in MGNRGS and securing equal wage payments

Gender Impact of MGNREGA: Evidence from 10 Selected Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) Villages in India

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarrentee Act (MGNREGA) aims to provide 100 days of work to a household in rural area who is willing to do manual work and deamdns for such work from the local government. The programme involves flexible working hour and payment on ‘piece rate’ basis which will further help women to particpate, after attending their routine household chores. Not suprisingly, the extent of participation of women in MGNREGA rose to 50% during 2011, with many states showing an overwhelming response of more than 90% for women. The present study is based on the filed work of 10 villages in semi-arid areas from Gujarat, Mahrashtra and Madhya Pradesh states of India, which involves in total of 484 women from 326 households, who had particpated in MGNREGA work at least once between 2006-13, spread across the three states. The results shows the women acknowledges positive impact of the programme on themselves and their households in various aspects. Many also opened their bank account first time after involving in the MGNREGA work. Women reported that the aditional income has helped them and their household to increase food consumption, improvement in social standing for their household, as well as their own status in the household. It helped them to support education of their children and meet health care needs of their own and their households. The benefits from the assets created under the programme were also helpful in improving ground water level and increasing the greeney in the villages they live, which also positively impacted both women and men and also to non-partiipatory households, as well. However concerns were raised over declinging oppartunity for work under the programme in many of the villages surveyed, lack of measures to ensure particpation of women in gramsabhas to decide about the projects to be undertaken, low wage rate than the statutory fixed minnimim wage rate, and increasing additonal burden of work on women as they have to take care of their household chrous, as well. Many women are hardly aware about their share in the amount received by the household from the programme and many of them do not own the money. Still, many of the women respondents who we interviewed want the programme to be strenthened and expanded. They want the duration of work to be increased with better wages, similar to what prevails in agriculture in their respective villages

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Programme in India - A Review of Studies on Performance Outcomes and Implications on Sustainable Livelihoods across States

This report is a detailed compilation of the status of implementation and performance outcomes of MGNREGA in India, as emerge from a critical review of the selected relevant literature (from the number of existing literature on the same brought out by researchers from different disciplines, policy makers and civil society organizations working at the grass root level. The dynamism cast by the implementation of MGNREGA in India, as argued by majority of stakeholders has been quite encouraging as evident from the burgeoning size of empirical studies examining the status and outcomes of implementation and performance of the programme, both at micro and meso level. The programme is now implemented for past eight years and become integral part of social safety net for the large part of the population living in rural areas. Though over the years budgetary provision for the programme is increasing in monetary terms; many of the performance parameters of the programme has shown either stagnation or decline in recent years; of course with varying experience from across the states and districts within it. It is not surprising the questions are asked about the continuing of the programme itself in it’s present form with such a huge fiscal commitment..

MGNREGS in the Context of Recent Changes in Rural India: Learning from Selected States

Despite growing double digit level of annual growth for the last one and half decades, the lack of regular employment and mass prevalence of under employment is still a major factor of persistent rural poverty and vulnerability in India, especially among certain ethnic communities and in rural hinterlands. In 2006, the Government of India implemented the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to address the growing rural distress and vulnerabilities. Based on synthesis of research findings and several case studies across the states of India that were presented at the national workshop on MGNREGS organized in Ahmadabad on 10-11 December 2013, this policy brief summarizes the key messages and policy level challenges emerge while improvingthe performances of the MGNREGS program. The employment guarantee schemes like MGNREGS have provided meaningful employment to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. In many respect, the scheme is successful in bringing marginalized sections and women to mainstream labour force, reducing vulnerability in rural areas, and in integrating a vast section of neglected rural population to formal financial institutions like banks and postal offices saving schemes, especially of rural agricultural labor forces of women and backward communities. The implementation of MGNREGS in areas with higher agricultural wage seems a problem due to better opportunities for labor in other sectors of the economy than the MGNREGS work activities. Therefore, better targeting of the schemes to backward districts and in those rural areas where seasonal unemployment is rampant, and where overall agricultural wage rate is at staggering low level for a long time. Likewise, better convergence of the MGNREGS activities at the community level with the other on-going rural development and livelihood improvement activities will provide better synergy effects of the programs and high impact on the ground in terms of long term livelihood improvement, and long-run sustainability of the program activitie

Employment Guarantee Programme and Dynamics of Rural Transformation in India: Challenges and Opportunities

This book offers an assessment of the performance, impact, and welfare implications of the world’s largest employment guarantee programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Launched by the Indian government, the programme covers entire rural area of the country. The book presents various micro-level analyses of the programme and its heterogeneous impacts at different scales, almost a decade after its implementation. While there are some doubts over the future of the scheme as well as its magnitude, nature and content, the central government appears committed to it, as a ‘convergence scheme’ of various other welfare and rural development programmes being implemented at both national and state level. The book discusses the outcomes of the programme and offers critical insights into the lessons learnt, not only in the context of India, but also for similar schemes in countries in South and South-East Asia as well as in Africa, and Latin America. Adopting inter-disciplinary perspectives in analysing these issues, this unique book uses a judicious mix of methods---integrating quantitative and qualitative tools---and will be an invaluable resource for analysts, NGOs, policymakers and academics alike

From working in the wheat field to managing wheat: women innovators in Nepal

This article presents research conducted in Nepal’s Terai plains in 2014-15 showing that women are innovating in wheat to the extent that wheat farming is experiencing a shift from feminization of agricultural labor towards women taking control over decision making. Processes accounting for this include male out-migration, non-governmental organizations working on promoting women’s equality that has developed women’s confidence, individual support from extension agents, and strong cooperation between women to foster each other’s “innovation journeys.

Analysis of Yield Attributing Characters of Different Genotypes of Wheat in Rupandehi, Nepal

Field experiment was conducted at National Wheat Research Program, Bhairahawa, Rupandehi with the objective to identify high yielding superior wheat genotypes for Rupandehi district of Nepalduring 2014. Experiment was laid out in one factorial Randomized completely block design with ten wheat genotypes including both released and promising; Annapurna 1, Annapurna 3, Pasang Lahmu, Bijaya, BL 3623, Bhirkuti, NL 297, BL 4316, BL 3978 and BL 4347with three replications. The results showed that the grain yield of BL 3978 was found higher (4.03 t ha-1) than other genotypes followed by BL 4347 (3.93t ha-1). BL 3978 have also higher number of effective tillers m-2 and test weight. Among release varieties, NL 297 show higher yield (4 t ha-1) followed by Bhirkuti (3.43 t ha-1)and Bijaya (3.37 t ha-1). From this experiment it can be concluded that BL 3978 was found promising among all genotypes however should be tested at on-farms before promoted for general cultivation in Rupandehi district of Nepal

Hail injury in large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) at high altitudes of Sikkim

Hail injury as an abiotic stress factor affecting large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) in Sikkim during February-May and its implications are described. Hail damage to foliage appeared as bruising, shredding or physical mangling and on the pseudostem as open, ragged-edged wounds. In addition to direct damage caused by hails the wounds also served as infection court for fungal pathogens. Since hail occurred at flowering stage (February-May) of large cardamom, it resulted in physical damage of floral parts too and thus affected the yield. &nbsp

A study on clinical outcomes of people living with HIV/AIDS on anti retroviral therapy from rural hospital in Nepal

ABSTRACT Anti Retroviral Therapy has been started in Nepal since 2004 and the treatment centers have been upgrading all over the country regularly. A prospective observational study was carried out from August 2008 to December 2009 with an objective to evaluate clinical outcome of People Living with HIV/AIDS undergoing the therapy as per National Guidelines. After taking written informed consent pre-structured questionnaire was fi lled and patients were followed for next six months. All information were entered into SPSS 11.5 system and analyzed. Out of 44 patients, 24 (54.6%) were males and 20 (45.4%) were females. Age group 31-35 years were predominant 16 (36.6%) followed by 36-40 years 12 (27.2%). Clinically WHO stage III was found among 97.7% of the patients and 45.4% of housewives got HIV transmitted from husbands. Anti Retroviral Therapy was started in 25 (59.2%) of patients within three months HIV test positive. From initiation of therapy till six months there was, 1.7 kg of mean increase weight gain and 354 cells/mm 3 increase in mean Total Lymphocyte Count. Opportunistic infections occurrence decreased signifi cantly from 34.1% to 2.3% and 41 (93.2%) patients had drug adherence scale of more than 95 percentile. Hence it can be concluded that there is an urgent need of expanding the accessibility of the therapy to eligible patients throughout the country