Asset Creation under MGNREGA: A Study

Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

in Three Districts of Madhya Pradesh

Sushanta Kumar Mishra*

Abstract Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the

first tangible commitment and one of the most significant
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005), later
interventions of the Government in post-Independent
renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
India. Aiming at addressing the principal causes of
Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is one of the
hunger and starvation in the countryside, the Act ensures
most significant interventions of the Government in
to the poor that they can expect to earn a living wage,
post-Independent India. Aiming at addressing the
without loss of their dignity, and demand work as their
principal causes of hunger and starvation in rural areas,
right. The Act recognizes employment as an entitlement
the Act ensures to the poor that they can expect to earn
and defines the obligation for the government to provide,
a living wage, without loss of their dignity, and demand
in each year, 100 days of wage employment at a stipulated
work as their right. In addition to the immediate impact
wage to all rural households whose members are seeking
in terms of poverty reduction, the program has the
or willing to do unskilled manual work. The preamble
potential to lead the economy in labor intensive growth
of MGNREG Act states that it is an "Act to provide for
path through the creation of assets. However, the positive
the enhancement of livelihood security of the households
achievements of the intervention have been lost in the
in rural areas of the country by providing at least one
noise of critical reports and anti-MGNREGA
hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every
propaganda. The productive value of MGNREGA work
financial year to every household whose adult members
has been criticized as a futile attempt to play with mud,
volunteer to do unskilled manual work" (GoI, 2005).
to create road that goes from nowhere to nowhere, to
dig ditches that will be wasted away in the next 2. Genesis of MGNREGA
monsoon. The objective of the present study is to take
a more informed look at the MGNREGA to assess the The genesis of this act is linked to the Employment
effectiveness of the assets created in three districts of Guarantee Scheme (EGS), which was first initiated in
Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra way back in 1973. It guaranteed
employment to the rural poor in Maharashtra through
1. Introduction piece-rate wage labor. This scheme was expanded to
the whole country as the National Rural Employment
Worldwide, public works programs have been used in
Program (NREP) by the Government in 1977.
countries of varying income levels, and with multiple
Subsequently the Rural Landless Employment
objectives including short term income generation, asset
Guarantee Program (RLEGP) came into force in mid-
creation, protection from negative shocks (natural
1980s with an objective to provide employment access
disasters, droughts, macro- economic etc.) and poverty
to landless poor. During the late 1980s, Nehru Rojgar
alleviation 1. Post independence, India has most often
Yojana (which addresses wage employment issues in
used public works programs to mitigate negative shocks
urban areas) and Employment Assurance Scheme (which
like drought that can otherwise have significant negative
provides wage employment in resource poor areas)
consequences2. National Rural Employment Guarantee
were merged to form the Jawahar Rojgar Yojana (JRY).
Act, 2005 later renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National
* The article is prepared by Sushanta K. Mishra based on the project report
by a team of faculty members comprised of Pradyumna Dash, Rohit Kapoor, 2 Gilligan, Daniel O. and Hoddinott, John, (2006) "Is there persistence in
and Sushanta K. Mishra of IIM Indore. the impact of emergency food aid? Evidence on consumption, food security,
1 del Ninno, Carlo, Subbarao, K., and Milazzo, Annamaria (2009) "How and assets in rural Ethiopia", FCND Discussion Papers 209, International
to Make Public Works Work: A Review of the Experiences" World Bank Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Social Protection Discussion Paper.

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

Essentially JRY was a Food for Work Program till the special wage employment programme not just in India
early 2000s. Employment scheme under MGNREGA - but in the world. In the year 2009-2010, nearly 53 million
henceforth refer to as MGNREGS differs from previous rural households were reportedly provided with 2862
employment programs as it is endorsed by a law enacted million days of wage employment under MGNREGS5.
by the Indian Parliament in 2005. The Act (MGNREGA) However, the above mentioned figures are at an
aggregate level. In fact, there are large variations in
requires every state government to formulate an
performance across the states as well as the districts.
employment guarantee scheme, for the purpose of giving
In the present study we focus our attention on the state
effect to the guarantee in areas where it applies. The
of Madhya Pradesh.
Act guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a
financial year to any rural household whose adult 4. The Present Study
members are willing to do unskilled manual work. In The work provided under the right to employment
fact, the Act moves away from being a purely supply- helps in earning wages and in creating durable
side intervention to a demand-driven wage employment productive assets. Hirway, Saluja, and Yadav6 argued
intervention at individual/household level in rural that the role of any employment guarantee program is
much more than guaranteeing work to the poor, because
areas.
guarantee alone will have limited impact on employment
3. Implementation of MGNREGA generation in the economy. Hence construction of
The Act was implemented through the MGNREG scheme productive assets is critical. They further argued that
which was consciously attempted to counter weaknesses the guarantee can be treated as an end in itself only
of earlier programs through several features in its design. under the assumption that the development process of
It introduced a right-based framework with legislative the developing economies will generate adequate
employment opportunities in the medium term to absorb
backing. It also incorporated time bound action to fulfill
the surplus manpower, including additions to the labor
guarantee of work within 15 days of demand for work
force. Thus, they conclude that in addition to the
and a disincentive for non- performance3,4 . According
immediate impact in terms of poverty reduction, a well-
to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report (2007), designed employment guarantee program can lead the
the basic objective of the Act is "to enhance livelihood economy towards labor intensive growth path through
security in rural areas This work guarantee can also the creation of assets. The productive value of MGNREGS
serve other objectives: generating productive assets, work has been criticized as a futile attempt "to play with
protecting the environment, empowering rural women, mud, to create road that goes from nowhere to nowhere,
reducing rural-urban migration and fostering social to dig ditches that will be wasted away in the next
equity, among others." monsoon" 7. The objective of the present paper is to
assess the effectiveness of the assets created in three
The Act was implemented in a phased manner. In its districts of Madhya Pradesh.
first phase, it was launched in 200 districts across the
country. In the second phase in year 2007-08, it was 4.1. The Context of Madhya Pradesh
expanded to 130 districts of the country. Subsequently, According to Thorat & Mahamallik (2005), in 1999-2000
the government decided to cover remaining 274 rural about 69.0 percent of India's rural poor live in five high-
districts. Since 2008-09, MGNREGS has been poverty states alone, including Madhya Pradesh. In its
implemented in all the 604 non-urban districts in the present form, Madhya Pradesh came into existence after
country. The MGNREGS was quite modest in scale at the separation of the state of Chattisgarh on November
the beginning in 2006-07, but it expanded quite rapidly 5 Ghose, Ajit K. (2012) "Addressing the employment challenge: India's
MGNREGA", Employment Working Paper No. 105, Economic and Labour
and, by the year 2009-10 it had become the largest ever Market Analysis Department, International Labour Organization.
3 Mehrotra, Santosh (2008) "Two years on: Where do we go from here?" 6 Hirway, Indira, Saluja, m. R., Yadav, Bhupesh (2010) "Employment
Economic and Political Weekly, 2 August, 27-35. guarantee programme and pro-poor growth: The study of a village in
4 Ambasta, P., Vijaya Shankar P. S., and Shah, Mihir (2008) "Two years of Gujarat", Academic Foundation: New Delhi.
NREGA: The road ahead", Economic and Political Weekly, 23 February, 7 Ghose, Sagarika (2008) "The idiocy of urban thinking", Hindustan Times,
41-50. 14 February.

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

1, 2000. Madhya Pradesh is the second largest Indian terms of socio-economic indicators.
state in size with an area of 308,000 sq. kms. It has 50
4.2. Methodology
districts, 341 tehsils, 313 blocks, 23040 panchayats, and
The appraisal has been done in three districts, namely,
55393 villages. The total number of inhabited villages
Dhar, Jhabua and Rajgarh of Madhya Pradesh. Within
is 52117. According to census 2001 reports, the total
these three districts, the study covers a sample of 16
population of Madhya Pradesh is about 60,348,000.
blocks, 396 villages/ falias/ majras in 211 Gram
About 73.54 percentages of its population lives in rural
Panchayats (GPs). The blocks in the district of Dhar
areas and rest of the population lives in urban areas.
visited for the study include Badnawar, Dhar, Dahi,
About 51.1 percent of the population is male members.
Nalchha, Nisarpur and Sardarpur. In Jhabua we visited
The percentage of ST is 20.30 percent (Census 2001) and
Alirajpur, Jhabua, Jobat, Meghnagar, Petlawad and
SC is 15.20 (census 2001). According to census 2001, the
Ranapur blocks. The blocks in the district of Rajgarh
literacy rate is 64.1 percent (male literacy level is 76.5
covers Biora, Narsinghgarh, Rajgarh and Zirapur. The
percent and female literacy level is 50.6 percent); male:
present paper is part of the large study done in these
female ratio of the state is 920: 933.
three districts. The usable data comprises of 350
According to census 2001, the workforce in Madhya
responses at sarpanch/ sachiv level, 4714 responses at
Pradesh constitutes 42.74 percent of its total population,
household level, and 1304 usable responses at worksite
of which 31.65 percent are main workers and 11.09
level in these three districts.
percent are marginal workers. Out of the total work
force (main and marginal), 42.79 percent workers are 5. MGNREGA and Asset Creation
cultivators, 28.69 percent are agricultural laborers, 4 The MGNREG scheme is not merely about transferring
percent are workers in household industries, and 24.51 cash to people in rural India rather it is about creating
percent workers are engaged in other activities. durable assets that will ultimately lead to a reduced
According to the State Government Office Diary - 2010, dependence of people on MGNREGA. The assets created
in Madhya Pradesh, the percentage of population below under the MGNREG scheme (see details in Table 1) can
poverty line (BPL) is 38.3, whereas the all India average be broadly classified into two categories: one, Assets
is only 27.5 in 2004-05. All the above facts imply that created in individuals' land and two, assets created in
Madhya Pradesh has not performed satisfactorily in community land.
Table 1: Types of Work under MGNREGS
Type of Work Nature of Work
Water conservation and harvesting Digging new tanks/ ponds, small check dams, etc.
Draught proofing and plantation Afforestation, tree plantation, etc.
Flood control and protection Drainage in water logged areas, construction and repair of
embarkment, etc.
Land development Plantation, land leveling, etc.
Micro irrigation Works Minor irrigation canals, etc.
Renovation of Traditional Water Bodies Desilting tanks/ponds, Desilting of old canals, desilting of traditional
open wells, etc.
Provision of irrigation facility Scheduled caste and schedule tribes, beneficiaries of land reform,
land owned by etc.
Rural connectivity Construction of roads, etc.
Any other activity approved by Other works, etc.
ministry of rural development
Source: Compiled from http://nrega.nic.in

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

5.1. Assets Created in Individual Land 5.2. Community Assets

In order to understand the importance of assets created Apart from creating assets in individual land there is
in individual lands we asked the workers "Do you think a merit in creating assets in community land. There is
that the assets in individual lands created under the an apprehension that if work is allowed on poor farmers
scheme are required"? About 58 percent of the workers lands, the provision will be misused by powerful rich
agreed that assets in individual land are required. To farmers in the village8. Also, there is a need to implement
know the possibility of creating/ recreating assets in the plans on a watershed basis. To know the quality
individual lands without MGNREGS, we surveyed the of community assets created under the scheme, we
villagers. Out of 1414 usable responses, most of the asked the respondents at the worksite to rate the quality
villagers reported that without MGNREGS it would be of assets created under MGNREGS on five point scale:
difficult to create assets in individual lands. It indicates excellent, very good, good, poor, and very poor. About
that MGNREGS has helped in creating the assets which 64 percent of the workers at an aggregate level rated
otherwise would have been very difficult for individuals the quality of work as good and above (see Figure 1).
to create. Because there is a need to develop assets in
individual land, we found the assets created in the
individual land very useful to the rural poor.

Figure 1: Quality of Community Assets Created under MGNREGS

Sample size (Dhar-474, Jhabua-383, Rajgarh-282)

To know the possibility of creating/ recreating 6. Impact on Water Conservation

community assets without MGNREGA, we surveyed
Agricultural sector in India suffers from low productivity
the respondents at the worksites. Out of 1161 usable
in most parts of the country; it is highly unstable as it
responses, most of the respondents (about 88 percent)
is subjected to fluctuations in rainfall (majority of
reported that without MGNREGS it would be difficult
cropped area in India is rain fed, without security of
to create community assets. It indicates that MGNREGS
water supply); and majority of poor (working poor and
has helped in creating the assets which otherwise would
have been very difficult to create at the village level.
8 Shah, Mihir (2009). Taking goals of NREGA-I forward, August 14, 2009
in The Hindu.

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

un/under-employed) are located in this sector9. An MGNREGA in improving water conservation. There is
employment guarantee program can be planned in a significant variation across the districts. In Dhar about
way that it reduces water insecurity and promotes 39 percent of the respondents believe that MGNREGS
agricultural growth. Madhya Pradesh being centrally has a positive effect on water conservation, whereas in
located, suffers from limited rainfall, and is therefore case of Jhabua and Rajgarh the percentage of respondents
marked as a draught-prone area. Therefore water believing positive effect on water conservation was 33
conservation comes out as the preferred work. percent and 27 percent respectively (See Figure 2).

Water conservation is done by undertaking the works It is commonly argued that ownership and use of assets
such as irrigation schemes, water harvesting structures, created under any employment guarantee program is
and wells. The rationale is that these activities will important from equity considerations 10. It frequently
impact the water conservation and thus will help in the happens that the benefits of the assets occur only to
stabilization of agriculture, encourage multiple cropping those with assets (for example farmers with land) and
and enhance its productivity. The scheme will, thus, the asset-less do not gain anything except the wages 10.
create an enabling environment for the growth of the This tends to increase asset inequalities in the region 10.
agricultural sector which are predominated by the poor In the present study, we captured the preference of
including working poor, unemployed and under- workers regarding the creation of community assets vs.
employed. assets being created in individual lands. However, only
about 52 percent of the respondents reported that
Since most of the activities carried out under the scheme
community assets should be given preference. This may
are related to water conservation, it is expected that the
be due to the fact that, in the studied districts majority
scheme would have positive impact on the conservation
of the respondents reported to have land assets (about
and development of water resources of the State. About
85 percent of the respondents reported to have their
27-39 percent workers perceived a positive impact of
own land assets of their own).

Figure 2: Impact of MGNREGS on Water Conservation

Sample size = 4173 (Dhar-1656, Jhabua-1328, Rajgarh-1189)

9 Bhalla Sheila (2007) "Inclusive growth? Focus on employment", Social 10 Hirway, Indira, Saluja, m. R., Yadav, Bhupesh (2010) "Employment
Scientist, 35(7-8) July-August, 24-43. guarantee programme and pro-poor growth: The study of a village in
Gujarat", Academic Foundation: New Delhi.

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

7. Impact on Agriculture Case 1:

The data indicate that about 85 percent of the respondents Under the MGNREGS, 27 wells were dug in the Phadiya
reported to have their own land. Millions of our small and Gopalpura villages of Rajgarh block in the district of
and marginal farmers are forced to work under Rajgarh. Apart from direct wages, these wells increased the
MGNREGS because the productivity of their own farms agricultural productivity of these 27 households. These wells
is too low to make ends meet. MGNREGS will become helped in the irrigation of 41 hectares of land which yielded
394 quintals of wheat, 98 quintals of dal and rupees 5 lakh
really powerful when it helps to rebuild the declined
worth of Dhaniya.
productivity of small farms and allow the farmers to
return to full-time farming, thereby reducing the load 7.1. Impact on Change in Cropping Pattern
on MGNREGS to provide employment. The majority of
The rise in water conservation activities under the
the poor and the marginalized are located in agriculture
MGNREGS is expected to have some impact on the
and allied activities, which suffer from low productivity
cropping pattern through a shift from low value
as well as uncertainty arising from fluctuating
traditional crops to high values crops. As irrigation
production and incomes. Ghose11 argued that the list
facilities increase due to water related works, the
of works, permitted to be carried out under MGNREGS,
possibility of growing short duration high value crops
reflects recognition of the need to ensure that MGNREGS increases. To know whether there has been any change
contributes to growth of agricultural production through in the cropping pattern of farming in the sample blocks,
enhancement of land productivity. He further argued the responses of the workers were recorded. About 39
that if the works actually carried out have followed the percent of the households reported that there is a change
specified norms, food production should increase in the in cropping patterns since the implementation of
longer run. MGNREGS. The district wise break up of cropping
patterns is given below. Data from the district of Dhar
A good measure of a program development impact on indicates that about 40 percent of the respondents agreed
the sustainability and livelihood opportunities of the that there is a change in cropping patterns after the
rural population in an agriculture dominated region implementation of MGNREGS. The corresponding
would be to see if the program has increased the figures for Jhabua and Rajgarh are 36 and 40 percent
agricultural productivity, helped diversify the crop mix respectively. The district wise data are given in
in their production basket and changed the cropping Figure 4.
patterns. We captured the perception of the beneficiaries
Case 2:
in a four point scale ranging from significant to not
significant. The responses in this regard are encouraging. Jubansingh (son of Kansingh) lives in Kalmani gram
panchayat in the Dahi block of Dhar district. He has 2
There is noticeable perception of improvement in
hctacres of land and he used to cultivate only one crop in
agricultural productivity among the beneficiaries. In
rainy season every year. Because of the construction of a well
the district of Dhar about 78 percent of the respondents
(kapildhara) his income has increased and he has cultivated
agreed that there is moderate to significant increase in
about 6 quintal of cotton, 10 quintal of wheat.
agricultural productivity due to MGNREGS. In Jhabua
Case 3:
and Rajgarh the figures are 65 percent and 69 percent
respectively. The district-wise break up is given in Dablasingh Sekdiya lives in Kalmani gram panchayat in the
Figure 3. Dahi block of Dhar district. He has 5 acres of land and the
only source of water for agriculture was rain water. Because
11 Ghose, Ajit K. (2012) "Addressing the employment challenge: India's of water scarcity he used to have only one crop every year.
MGNREGA", Employment Working Paper No. 105, Economic and Labour
Market Analysis Department, International Labour Organization.
He used to work in his land in rainy seasons and migrate

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

Figure 3: Impact on Agricultural Productivity

Sample size = 3708 (Dhar-1394, Jhabua-1230, Rajgarh-1084)

Figure 4: Impact on Cropping Pattern

Sample size=4391 (Dhar-1623, Jhabua-1310, Rajgarh-1458)

outside in other seasons. In September, 2007 with an points were collated for further analysis. All these 761
investment of Rs 48822, a well (kapil dhara) was dug in his data points indicate the households, in which assets are
land. Because of this intervention he got rid of water scarcity created in their private land. We captured data about
and could irrigate all the 5 acres of land. He is now cultivating the number of family members in each household and
three types of crops and his migration has stopped. Because the number of days they got employment starting from
of this asset his annual income increased from 10000 to 50000 2008 till 2011. Once we calculated the number of days
rupees and now his children are going to their schools the households got employment, we calculated the
regularly. average numbers of days the households are employed
in a Block over these four years. The following
To assess the impact of assets created in Individual land
calculations are based on the assumption that the number
through MGNREGS on subsequent employment of the
of days the household got the job is equal to the number
household, we took the data from the secondary sources.
of days they seek the work. We classified the data on
We took the data of the visited Blocks in the three
the basis of number of adult members in each households.
districts that are available in the MGNREGA website.
Then we tried to explore the trend in employment at
We got data from all the Blocks except Alirajpur, Jobat
an aggregate level over the years. We classified the data
and Zirapur. We found out the assets created in
into 4 categories.
individual land from 2008 till 2011. Total of 761 data

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

1. Members in the household 2 left out of larger rural network programmes like Pradhan
2. Members in the household 3 Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has been
particularly beneficial for linking scattered tribal
3. Members in the household 4
hamlets. The basic earth work done under MGNREGA
4. Members in the household 5 and above
is also being used in many places to provide the base
In all the cases we captured the number of days worked for firmer lasting roads through convergence with
by each household from 2008 till 2011. We also found PMGSY. Roads internal to the village are also being
out the year in which the asset was created in an taken up. This provides a critical link with markets,
Individual's land. That helped us to plot the graph and schools, and health services12.
analyze the impact of the asset created in individual
Figure 5 indicate the impact before and after the
land on their subsequent demand for employment.
construction of the bridge. The effective implementation
We took only those households, where there was an of MGNREGA has the potential to provide maximum
asset created in their land through MGNREGS. We benefit to the rural poor.
calculated the average number of days the households It is believed that increase in income, coupled with the
got employment in a Block by following formulae: enhanced connectivity due to roads constructed through
various schemes including MGNREGS might improve
Total number of days the access to health service centers. To know the role
Average number of days employed
employed in a particular = of MGNREGS in the improvement in access to health
year in a Block Total number of Blocks service centers, we asked the respondents whether the
from which Data were MGNREGA activity is partially or fully responsible for
collected
the improvement in access to health service centers.
About 10 percent of the respondents feel that there is
Based on the above formula we calculated the number
a positive contribution of MGNREGS in the improvement
of days employment received in following categories
in access to health service centers in last two years. The
1. Members in the household 2 district wise distribution of respondents is given in
2. Members in the household 3 Figure 6.

3. Members in the household 4 Case 4:

4. Members in the household 5 and above Bangpura village in the Zirapur block of Rajgarh district is
As indicated in the trend analysis, in almost all the cases located in the bank of river Chhapi. It used to be cut off from
there is a decrease in job demand once assets are created rest of the block in the rainy season. Villagers used to cross
in individual lands. The detail data is provided in the river by boat for day to day activity; even children used
annexure 1. to cross the river to attend the schools.
The bridge was created with the help of MGNREGA and as
8. Rural Infrastructure
a result about 100 villages are now connected to rest of the
Absence of adequate infrastructure is one of the major villages in rainy season. This helps the villagers in accessing
causes of low level of development in rural areas. the Hospitals, sending their children to schools and to do
Construction of basic infrastructure facilities under an their day to day activity.
MGNREGS can be a good way to develop rural areas. Case 5:
The development of infrastructure such as roads might Sunarkhedi is located at about 9 km from the Dhar block in
increase people's access to the external environment Dhar district. People in this village were suffering due to
and thus is likely to play a crucial role in reduction of
poverty and access to livelihood options. 12 UNDP, India (2010). Rights-based Legal Guarantee as Development Policy:
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Dis-
Fair weather roads connecting those hinterland areas cussion Paper: UNDP, India.

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Figure 5
Before the Bridge was constructed After the Bridge was constructed

inadequate access to health services, inadequate transportation of respondents that the asset would become obsolete
services due to poor connectivity. The problem was sorted in the coming years.
out to a large extent by the construction of a gravel road Case 6:
(under MGNREGS) from Nepavali to Umariyabada. Due to
Saktali Gram Panchayat of Dhar block in the district of Dhar
this road, the distances between the villages were reduced
initiated tree plantations under the MGNREGS. However,
and also it reduced the maternal mortality cases.
after the tree plantation project is over, gradually the trees
In rainy season, the connectivity across the villages (Panjra withered away without proper monitoring of the trees.
panjri, Mitthanpur, Laxmanpur, Dand) of Biora Block in 9. Monitoring of Assets
Rajgarh district used to get cut-off from others. It was difficult
A majority of GP officials (almost 67 percent of a total
for the local villagers to take the patients to the nearby
of 320 GP officials) reported that sub-engineers monitor
hospital at Narsinghgarh. With an investment of Rupees 23
the assets during its creation. The assets under creation
lakhs under the MGNREGS the roads from Lakhanvas to
are also monitored by Gram Panchayat members. In
Badli; from Badli to Manatlai; from Manatlai to Mitthanpur,
addition, in case of the assets created in individual
and from Mitthanpur to Chira were constructed. These assets
helped about 3000 villagers and now four wheelers can ply
to the villages even in rainy seasons. Figure 6: MGNREGA activity that is partially or
fully responsible
Going by the national level government data, the
MGNREGA has started to make an impact both in its
short-term and long term objectives. While creating
daily wage employment is the short term objective, the
long term objective is to create productive assets. There
are visible impacts in terms of tangible structures like
wells, and roads. These works in fact constitute the
majority of the works being undertaken in the study
and their impact has been apparent during the survey.
However, with no funds being assigned for maintenance
of the assets created it was largely felt by our sample Sample size 4714 (Dhar-1811, Jhabua-1363, Rajgarh-1540)

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

lands, the land owners also monitors the quality of on lease for fisheries in Jharan GP of Gandhwani block in
assets created under MGNREGS. Since the asset is owned the district of Dhar. The fishery department provided the fish
by the individual they take care of the asset once it is seeds, lease amount, and the nets. Through this intervention,
created. In case of assets created in community land, an amount of rupees 81,563 was collected as lease amount,
monitoring happens primarily during the time when 443 persons got employment and get an additional income
assets are created. However, once the assets are created, of rupees 16,000.
virtually no body monitors the created assets particularly
10. Conclusion
in community lands. It came across everywhere that
once the work is completed, the community does not The study in the three districts indicates that there is
take the responsibility of its maintenance. Probably a significant impact of assets created through
once the community owns the work structures, the wear MGNREGA on rural households. However, the
and tear will be much less, the quality of the work will productive value of assets created by MGNREGA works
be better and hence the benefits will be more. There is could be enhanced further with proper monitoring
a major need to create awareness among the villagers activities. In case of assets in individual land monitoring
to own the works undertaken in MGNREGA scheme is not an issue rather, in case of assets created in
for the sustainability of the works. There are some community land, monitoring is an important factor.
innovative practices initiated in Dhar district to create Officials need to explore the ways to enhance ownership
ownership of the assets through convergence. of assets created among the villagers and provision for
Case 7: maintenance of assets created. The productive value
of MGNREGA works could be enhanced further with
Under the MGNREG scheme about 63 Nistar Talabs
moderate doses of convergence.
(comprising about 164.101 hectares of water area) were given

Annexure 1
Assets created in 2008
(Trend analysis of the number of days employed over the years)

No of Family Members: 2 No of Family Members: 3

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Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

No of Family Members: 4 No of Family Members: 5 and more

Assets created in 2009

(Trend analysis of the number of days employed over the years)
No of Family Members: 2 No of Family Members: 3

No of Family Members: 4 No of Family Members: 5 and more

IMJ 29 Sushanta Kumar Mishra

Volume 3 Issue 3 October-December, 2011

Assets created in 2010

(Trend analysis of the number of days employed over the years)
No of Family Members: 2 No of Family Members: 3

No of Family Members: 4 No of Family Members: 5 and more

Sushanta Kumar Mishra is a faculty in OB & HRM Area Note : The author acknowledges the contributions of
at Indian Institute of Management Indore. Some of his Dr. N. Ravichandran for his comments on the
research has been published in Human Resource Man- earlier version of this manuscript.
agement, Journal of World Business, and Research on
Emotion in Organizations. He has presented papers in
many conferences and one of his papers was adjudged
as one of the best accepted papers in Academy of
Management Meeting at Chicago.

IMJ 30 Sushanta Kumar Mishra