MGNREGA in Tamil Nadu: A Story of Success and Transformation?

Abstract

Social protection has emerged as a key driver of development policy at the beginning of the 21 st century. It is widely considered a 'good thing' that has the potential not only to alleviate poverty and vulnerability but also to generate more transformative outcomes in terms of empowerment and social justice. Based on an ethnographic study of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), India's flagship social protection policy, this article takes a critical look at what this policy's 'success' consists of. The study was carried out in Tamil Nadu, a state widely presented as a 'success' in terms of MGNREGA's implementation, and describes who participates in the scheme and how success is understood and expressed at different social and bureaucratic levels. In terms of MGNREGA's outcomes, we conclude that the scheme is benefitting the poorest households -and Dalits and women in particular -especially in terms of providing a safety net and as a tool for poverty alleviation. But the scheme does more than that. It has also produced significant transformative outcomes for rural labourers, such as pushing up rural wage levels, enhancing low-caste workers' bargaining power in the labour market and reducing their dependency on high-caste employers. These benefits are not only substantial but also transformative in that they affect rural relations of production and contribute to the empowerment of the rural labouring poor. However, in terms of creating durable assets and promoting grassroots democracy, the scheme's outcomes are much less encouraging.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: A Policy Solution to Rural Poverty in India?

“…(), found that the employment scheme fell short in terms of understanding life course issues for women, such as child rearing, and also failed to adequately consider the physical capabilities of women, particularly older women. In contrast, Carswell and De Neve () found that MGNREGA had positive effects on women as well as the poorest households in Tamil Nadu by providing them with a safety net.…”

A Consensus Unravels: NREGA and the Paradox of Rules-Based Welfare in India

“…The NREGA should not be judged in reference to an unattainable system without inefficiencies and politically motivated interventions, but as one that has exceeded the negative expectations of the prevailing consensus about the potential for rulesbased welfare and the practical realities of other welfare schemes. Carswell and De Nieve (2014) conducted a survey of MNREGA worksites in Tamil Nadu and found that the scheme benefited the poorest households, in particular Dalits, landless labourers and women. The NREGA had broader transformative effects in terms of raising agricultural wages across the sector, and raised the bargaining power of landless labourers by offering an alternative (often during the slow rainy season) source of income.…”

Litigation against Political Organization? The Politics of Dalit Mobilization in Tamil Nadu, India

“…Later, seats in local government bodies, such as Panchayats, were also reserved for Dalits (Lerche, ). Government attempts to mitigate caste discrimination through legislation were complemented with social welfare policies from the 1960s onwards, including universal schooling, PDS (Public Distribution System), school midday meals, housing schemes and, more recently, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) (Carswell and De Neve, , ; Heyer, ; Heyer and Jayal, ; Still, ). These policies not only aim to alleviate poverty but often target Dalits and tribal communities in particular, seeking to improve the material conditions of their livelihoods.…”

“…They don't have to work anymore because the government gives them everything: free TVs, free rice, free everything!’. Gounder landlords similarly complain that the availability of 100 days of paid work under MGNREGA, alongside the attractions of urban work, have not only pushed up agricultural wages, but also taken away much‐needed agricultural labour from the fields (Carswell and De Neve, , ). For Gounders, the PoA Act undermines their control over a rural agrarian and industrial workforce that until recently they were able to maintain through tightly managed relationships of socioeconomic domination and debt bondage.…”