Local contexts and impact on women: NREGA in

Kerala, HimachalRatna M. Sudarshan, Director, ISST

(on behalf of ISST team)IHD Seminar on NREGA and Women’s Empowerment, 31 August

2009

Work days generated: share going to women

Total work days – women, by state

Rajasthan

Tamil Nadu

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

Karnataka

Kerala

Uttarakhand

Punjab

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Total Number of Person Days for Women (in lakhs)

Total Number of Person Days for Women (in lakhs)

Share of person days to women (%) 2007

Share of Person days to Women (%) 2008-9

TAMIL NADU

RAJASTHAN

ANDHRA PRADESH

KARNATAKA

MADHYA PRADESH

JHARKHAND

PUNJAB

MIZORAM

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

UTTARAKHAND

SIKKIM

BIHAR

HIMACHAL PRADESH

0 40 80

Female share of to-tal person days (percentage) 2007

KERALA

TAMIL NADU

RAJASTHAN

ANDHRA

KARNATAKA

MAHARASHTRA

MP

ORISSA

HIMACHAL

GUJARAT

BIHAR

WEST BENGAL

J&K

0 102030405060708090

Share of Person days for Women (%) 2008-9

Variations observed across states and also within states in the percentage of work days going to women

Idukki

Kasargod

Palakkad

Wayanad

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

2008-9

2008-9

Districts in Kerala: women’s share in work days by district

Ottappalam

Mannarkad

Palakkad

Chittur

Alathur

Attappadi

Kollengode

Malampuzha

Nemmara

Kuzhal Mannam

Pattambi

Trithala

S.K. Puram

0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 350000 400000 450000 500000

Column2

Days claimed by women, Palakkad district, Kerala

Kerala – variations within Palakkad district

Alathur

Attappady

Chittur

Kollengode

Kuzhalmannam

Malampuzha

Mannarkkad

Nemmara

Ottappalam

Palakkad

Pattambi

S.K.Puram

Thrithala

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Palakkad: No of women/ total individual applicants

Palakkad: No of women/ total individual applicants

2007-8

2008-9

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

SirmourChamba

Himachal: district wise variations in %age of women work days

Banswara

Dungarpur

Jhalawar

Karauli

Sirohi

Udaipur

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Column2

Women’s share in employment generated, Sirohi Rajasthan

Wages and systems of payment

Wages paid = min. wage in Kerala, Himachal

Market wage for men> min wage - little impact on male migration

Market wage for women well below min. in Kerala – NREGA a welcome opportunity: some evidence of upward pressure on women’s market wages

Wages

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Average wage paid Malampuzha, Palakkad 2008-9

Average wage paid Malampuzha, Palakkad 2008-9

Malampuzha, Palakkad. Kerala. Average wage paid (min wage 125)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Average wage paid

Average wage paid

Himachal – average wage paid (Min Wage Rs 100)

Payment patterns vary – Kerala, Himachal, payment is for number of days worked * min wages

In Rajasthan, computed as [value of completed work/ no of workers on muster roll] so actual earnings below min. wage; however trend increase over time

Time rate or piece rate

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Average wage paid 2007-8 Sirohi (selected blocks)

Average wage paid 2007-8 Sirohi (se-lected blocks)

Sirohi, Rajasthan – average wages paid (Min Wage Rs 100)

2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 2009-100

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

average wage Sirohi

average wage Sirohi

Management on worksites

• Management of worksites entrusted to Kudumbashree (state poverty eradication mission)

• Area Development Supervisor (women) maintain muster rolls, etc. Typically educated, between 32-45 years, attends a minimum of 10 meetings a month.

Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi

Local Contexts: Kerala

ADS in charge of whole group

Kerala

Muster roll, Kerala

But even with good management systems, some participate much less◦ Young women with young children (< 30 years)◦ Tribal areas – Attapady –

difficult to mobilise into groups, distance to site greater, activities not always suitable to area; formation of Kudumbashree ‘adivasi only’ groups in

progress

Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi

Local Contexts: Kerala

Kudumbashree groups are an exception – strong management, women’s groups, embedded in panchayat structure

Himachal: eg Sangrah village; Sangrah panchayat: Long established mahila mandal not active participant in NREGA

Possibility of partnerships between panchayat and independent groups??

Involving women

The NREGA Guidelines recommend districts to draw up a 5 Year Perspective Plan, based on annual shelf of works assembled by panchayats and consulting with gram sabha.

More often than not, panchayats lack technical knowledge; Civil engineers do not participate here; Women do not attend or participate in the gram sabha.

Assumptions in the design

Nature of Works – potential development impact

Beyond wages and a cash transfer to households, development impact requires building upon local context

Kerala, Rajasthan – tradition of wage work by women – question becomes one of identifying most needed works

Himachal – tradition of self employment on own farms – and coming together over shared natural resources

Development Impact

Drabil village, Drabil panchayat; block Shillai; district Sirmour:

.

Trenches created under NREGA will arrest soil erosion and retain water: however, should such trenches be cemented?

Ganog panchayat, block Sangrah, district Sirmour: Open cast limestone mining, besides wreaking havoc

on crops, water bodies and forests, has also aggravated alcoholism and violence.

Gully plugs and tanks under the NREGA proceeds alongside.

Development trajectories: complementary, competing?

One India, One NREGA? Developmental needs across the country are not uniform. In Himachal Pradesh, ownership of land is high and livelihood strategies are a combination of rain fed agriculture, livestock and seasonal migration.

Women, increasingly responsible for agriculture, are squarely facing the brunt of ecological degradation.

In Himachal Pradesh, it is asset creation and the eco-restorative essence of the NREGA (rather than wage employment) that resonates loudest.

In Kando (Kando Bhatnol panchayat, block Shillai, district Sirmour), women queue up beside the solitary functioning tubewell (below). Other taps and streams in the village had run dry. It was June but the monsoons were late. Women spent an average of seven hours every day foraging for fuel wood and fodder in the sere brown hills.