Report Card: 100 Days of Work (MGNREGA)

Max. Marks

Item Creating Employment Only 4572 households (0.04%) of job card holders have got 100 days of work so far Average person days of work is 13 so far and projected at less than 20 at the end of the year Number of households provided work likely to decline from 53 lakhs in 2010-11 to 35 lakhs in 2011-12

Score 0

20

Total Expenditure Total Expenditure on MGNREGA is likely to be 40-46% less than 2010-11 Share of wages in total expenditure has increased to 65% 2% overheads money is lying unused Timely payment 31% of wages continue to be paid late Improvement in time period by which wages are paid from 52% late payment to 31% late payment in 2010-11 Compensation for late payment of wages No such payment is being made Decision on one case pending for two years Unemployment Allowance

10

10

10

10 No procedure or payment though tens of thousands of people are not given work on applications

Development and NREGA Despite being short of funds and desperately in need of money, State Government is not using MGNREGA funds that are available on demand Development and NREGA: Jungal Mahal Only 733 households have completed 100 days of work Average person days so far in 2011-12 is only 15, likely to be only 23 at the end of the year More than half the job card holders were provided with work in 2010-11, today only one fourth (projected to become 36%) of the households get work Women in NREGA New tasks being proposed that will remove previous advantage that women had with lower tasks Marginal improvement from 32% in 2010-11 to 34% in 2011-12 in percentage of work provided to women

10

10

10

Grievance redressal Poor system of grievance redressal continues with administration treating complaints with hostility

10

Only 4 Ombudsman for grievance redressal for the entire state TOTAL Report Card: Subsidised Food Through Public Distribution System Item Max. Marks Score 100 7

Expansion of Coverage Extra food grains amounting to 2.59 lakhs MTs allotted on 10th October 2011 for 10 poorest districts are still lying unused Marginal expansion has been made to all those with income less than Rs36000 pa for non tribals and Rs.42000 pa for tribals in 23 blocks of Purulia, Bankura and Paschim Midnapore

10

Decision to provide AAY cards to all homeless in Kolkata Expansion in per family quantity 20 8

Improvement in lifting of food grains from central allocation Quantity allotted per family per week increased by 10 kgs to 17 kgs per month

BUT Increased quantities are not reaching ration card holders Prices Prices of all additional quantities have remained the same with State Government allotting extra money for subsidies on rice BUT Ration dealers generally round off figures (e.g. in the case of wheat to Rs.5 instead of charging Rs.4.65) , such that full advantage does not reach ration card holder 10 6

PDS Reforms: curbing private ration dealers and wholesalers Ruling party has resisted attempts by ration dealers association to make TMC leaders their patron No policy move on taking away ration shops from private dealers and giving to public /community bodies Orders on doorstep delivery by Government of India for removal of middlemen have been implemented in name only

15

PDS reforms: computerisation and bogus cards Only 3.5 lakhs out of estimated 1.4 crore bogus cards been have cancelled so far (2.5% )

10

Task force set up for computerisation of cards and all other information PDS Reforms : Revamping Vigilance committees Minister is heading state level committee himself; increased representation of civil society representatives at all levels is being encouraged 15 6

BUT Meetings of district and sub-divisional level committees are being

called rarely; block and shop level committees have still not been formed.

PDS Reforms: Other Transparency measures Toll free number has been set up

10

BUT Toll free number responds rarely to complaints GO given asking for public availability of information on allocations BUT Field inspectors are unwilling to share information on weekly allotments with public Procurement Increased emphasis and increased target for procurement of paddy 10 4

Cheque payment made compulsory to ensure transparency BUT Infrastructure for decentralised procurement from farmers, and for farmers to receive payments to cheques is not in place BUT Government lacks funds to do direct purchase from farmers and is having to rely on rice millers and their middlemen, who are arm-twisting.

TOTAL Report Card : Minimum Wages

100

36

Item Revision of minimum wages Minimum wage for only 31 trades out of 61 trades revised and notified State Government has followed the path laid out by the previous Left Front Government to accept 2700 calories and other 15th Indian Labour Conference recommendations as the norm for fixing minimum wage Food basket the same as the Left Front . The food basket used to calculate the minimum wage has calculated 60% of calories as coming from rice, making it a cheap but depressing the unhealthy food basket and total wage calculated.

Max. Marks 25

Score 11

No provisions for health and education, in contravention of Supreme Court orders No process started to clear cases where employers have brought injunctions on minimum wage notification

State Minimum Wage Advisory Board has been made defunct Substantial jump of Rs. 17 in wages of tea plantation workers in Doars and Terai at Government initiative Employers have been forced to accept that they will discuss variable dearness allowance in tea wages in the next 6 months Tea plantation wages at Rs.85 are still below the agricultural minimum wage of Rs.167 Higher wages of Zone A to apply to all urban areas Enforcement of Minimum wages 40 0

No initiative taken to enforce minimum wages. Enactment of measures to enable workers to get quick redressal No action taken, no improvement in labour courts 20 0

Identity cards for unorganised sector workers No action taken Special measures for workers of closed industry No action taken TOTAL Report Card: Protection of Contract and Unorganised Sector Workers

10

100

11

Item

Max. marks

Score

Registration of workers under Unorganised Sector Social Welfare Act

10

Emphasis on registration of workers for first month of Government Taken up as publicity measure with Minister and labour officals going to workers sites for registartion for first month of Government with no follow up No funds put forward by Government for welfare measures under this Act Protection of Unorganised Sector workers 15 0

93% workers who are in unorganised sector remain unprotected No umbrella legislation for protection of workers Equal Remuneration Act not enforced No enactment of law or formation of Tripartite Board recommended by 2nd national Labour Commission

Contract Workers

15

Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition Act) not implemented Continued illegal employment of contract workers in employment of permanent nature Government continues to employ contract labour illegally (for example pump operators in PHE pumps) Enforcement 30 0

No improvement in enforcement mechanism for labour laws Labour law violation not treated seriously as human rights violation

Labour courts Practically non functional and non-existent, with cases not disposed for years, causing immense harm and loss to workers TOTAL

30

100

Report Card: Rights of Forest Dwellers Under Forest Rights Act 2006 Max. marks 20

Item Creation of Awareness About The Act

Score 0

No awareness campaign about rights under The Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

Forest Department and Nodal Department

20

Back ward classes Department is Nodal Department, but Forest Department continues to control entire work in forest areas

Giving of Forest Rights 70% of claims filed by Village Forest Committees have been dismissed though they are the authority under the Act. New government has not reversed this trend in any way Forest Rights in Jungal Mahal and other deprived areas Other than some stray announcements on forest rights for Jungal Mahal people, no action taken

40

20

No action taken in other deprived areas like Sundarbans and North Bengal

TOTAL

100