Water Supply and Sanitation Department

Every State Government is required to establish a State Employment Guarantee Council or State Council under Section 12 of the Act. The role and responsibilities of the State Employment Guarantee Council are as follows: 1. To advise the State Government on the implementation of the Scheme 2. To review the mechanisms for monitoring and grievance redressal and suggest improvements in the same 3. To monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Scheme in the State 4. To suggest to the Central Government the proposals for new works as mentioned in paragraph 1B of Schedule 1 to the Act. 5. To make efforts to ensure that the Act and the schemes implemented thereunder get maximum and wide publicity and to prepare an annual report to be submitted to the State Legislature.
State Government:- The responsibilities of the State Government include the following – To make rules in respect of matters relating to the responsibilities of the State Government as mentioned in Section 32 of the Act 2. To prepare and notify/implement a Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for the State 3. To establish a State Employment Guarantee Council 4. To establish a State Level Employment Guarantee Implementation Mechanism or Mission comprising a sufficient number of persons of high calibre and qualification 5. To establish a State Level Employment Guarantee Social Mechanism or Directorate comprising a sufficient number of persons having adequate knowledge of the procedure of the Employment Guarantee Act and having a clear passion for social audit 6. To establish a State Level Employment Guarantee Fund 7. To make provision in the Budget for the State Government’s share in the State Employment Guarantee Fund and to deposit in the State Employment Guarantee Fund at the beginning of each financial year such amount as may be used as a revolving fund. 8. To ensure that full-time and dedicated manpower, especially Village Employment Service Officers, Programme Officers and manpower at State, District and Taluka, Sub-Divisional levels, is available for the implementation of the scheme whenever required. 9. To give financial and administrative authority to the District Programme Coordinators and Programme Officers for effective implementation of the scheme. 10. To develop a network of institutions with professional expertise to implement training, technical assistance and quality control measures. 11. To regularly review, research, monitor and evaluate the implementation process and outcomes of the scheme. 12. To be committed to bringing transparency and accountability at all levels in the administration of the scheme. 13. To strive to create awareness about the law at the maximum and widest level in the state. 14. To hold formal meetings at least once a month with the state, district and taluka level officials of the social organizations and individuals striving to ensure that the Employment Guarantee Act reaches the workers. To take responsibility for compliance with all procedures laid down in the Act, Rules and Guidelines.
Central Level Entities: Roles and Responsibilities:- State Employment Guarantee Council:- 1. The Central Employment Guarantee Council or the Central Council has been established under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Rural Development. As per the Act, the Central Employment Guarantee Council has to perform the following responsibilities. 2. To establish a central mechanism for evaluation and monitoring 3. To advise the Central Government on all matters related to the implementation of the Act. 4. To review and amend the monitoring and grievance redressal mechanisms from time to time 5. To make efforts to ensure that the Act and the schemes implemented under it get maximum and wide publicity. To prepare an annual report to be submitted to the Parliament of the Central Government on the implementation of the Act.
Ministry of Rural Development:- The Ministry of Rural Development is the central key mechanism for the implementation of the Act. The responsibilities of the Ministry of Rural Development will be as follows:- To formulate rules under the Act 2. To issue guidelines for the effective implementation of the Act 3. To review the list of permissible works in response to the demand for new works made by the State Governments 4. To raise a State Employment Guarantee Fund 5. To raise a National Employment Guarantee Fund 6. To set up a National Management Group under the Department of Rural Development to discharge the national level responsibilities related to the Act 7. To make regular budget provision for the National Employment Guarantee Fund and to deposit the Central Government’s share in time 8. To manage and use the MIS system to track important matters related to the implementation of the Act from time to time, as well as to prepare standards for the effective implementation of the Scheme and to monitor how the resources available under the Act are being utilized. 9. To promote the use of information technology to bring transparency and efficiency in the implementation process of the Act and to make necessary efforts to achieve it. 10. To promote technical support and capacity building efforts to improve the results of the Scheme. 11. To support innovative initiatives that improve the process for achieving the objectives of the Act 12. To monitor and evaluate the operation of the Act, as well as to conduct research on it. To identify a group of agencies (Empanel) that would be useful to the State Governments as project implementation agencies through a criteria-based selection process and to determine the percentage of funds (of the total available funds) that should be made available to these agencies to meet their administrative costs.
Works and their implementation:- Permissible works:- Need to include new works:- In the last six years, suggestions have been received from many state governments to add new works to the works that can be done under the scheme. It is also being expected that employment guarantee and agriculture and agriculture-related works should be combined. And finally, there is a demand from many states that there should be a detailed, precise and unambiguous list of works that can be done under employment guarantee.
Notification regarding the list of new works:- In response to all these demands, the Government has issued a notification on May 4th, amending the provisions of Schedule 1 of the Act to include new works in the permissible works and has also issued separate guidelines regarding this work. (Appendix 2) Of course, these guidelines are not final or complete but are given as a model. The State Governments should determine the appropriate instructions and necessary arrangements as per their respective circumstances as well as the financial norms suitable for them. Some of the newly included works in Schedule 1 are new, but many of them can be done in the category of works already permissible. However, in response to the demand made by the State Governments that there should be a detailed list of permissible works to provide more clarity about the works that can be done under each category, a new list of permissible works has been issued. List of newly permissible works:- 1) It has been suggested which works should be emphasized in Schedule 1. The Gram Panchayat has to decide the priority of this work in the Gram Sabha / Ward Sabha meeting. The works mentioned in paragraph 1 B of the schedule are as follows. 2) Water conservation and water conservation works such as continuous level channels and embankments, boulders, gabions and underground embankments, earthen embankments, stop dams, spring shed development. 3) Various visual amenity works including afforestation and tree plantation. 4) Irrigation canal works including minor irrigation works. 5) Paragraph No. 1) Construction of irrigation facilities on the land owned by private landholders as per 1C, as well as works like dug ponds (farm ponds), orchard cultivation, farm banding and land improvement; 6) Renovation of traditional ponds through works like silting; 7) Land improvement and land development works; 8) Flood control and protective works, including works like deepening and repair of drains, renovation of gullies, construction of drains for drainage of water intruded during high tide for protection of coastal areas; 9) Works for facilitating perennial movement, such as small roads connecting villages and internal roads, bridges as required, etc. Construction 10) Construction of Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra as a resource center at the Panchayat level and Gram Panchayat Bhavan at the Gram Panchayat level 11) Agricultural works, such as NADEP composting, vermicompost production and production of liquid organic fertilizers 12) Livestock works, such as construction of shelters for chickens, goats, concrete sheds for cattle, urine tanks, construction of storage tanks for supplementary animal feed and Azolla cultivation for animal feed, etc. 13) Works necessary for development of fisheries, such as fish development and fishing in public as well as seasonal water bodies 14) Coastal works such as fish drying yards, vegetable cultivation in strips 15) Rural water supply works such as absorption pits, recharge pits, etc. 16) Rural sanitation works,Such as construction of toilets in family-wise as well as schools, Anganwadis and other institutions like this, water and sewage disposal, 17) Construction of Anganwadi centers, 18) Construction of playgrounds, and any other work recommended by the Central Government in consultation with the State Government.
Implementation of works for personal benefit:- As per paragraph 1- No. of Schedule 2, the works mentioned in item no.- in paragraph 1-B shall be implemented on the land owned by Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Below Poverty Line families, beneficiaries of Land Reforms Programme or Indira Awas Yojana as well as beneficiaries identified as small and marginal farmers under the Agricultural Loan Subsidy and Waiver Scheme or beneficiaries of the Forest Rights Act (2006) or in the vicinity of their houses.
Prerequisites for implementation of new works:- 1. All the details regarding them are given in the guidelines for new works. While taking up these works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the following conditions must be fulfilled. 2. Only such works can be implemented which will generate permanent income and contribute to and strengthen the livelihood of the rural poor. 3. The priority of the works will be decided in the Gram Panchayat and will be included in the annual plan approved in the Gram Sabha to be held on 15th August. 4. The ratio of 60:40 labour and materials for all works carried out through the Gram Panchayat should be maintained at the Gram Panchayat level, while for all works carried out through the Line Department, the ratio should be maintained at the Taluka or Panchayat level. Contractors and machinery that displace labourers cannot be allowed to be employed in the work carried out under this Act.
Inclusion of new types of works under the Act:- Under what circumstances can new works be included? In some places, it is not possible to provide employment on the works included in the list of permissible works in certain circumstances or seasons. In such circumstances, the State Governments may make available paragraph 1-B of Schedule 1. And the Central Government may add new works to the list of permissible works after exchanging views with the State Governments.
1) Procedure for obtaining approval for new works:- 2) The works in the list of permissible works are not sufficient for employment generation and at the same time, (a) there are works which are not included in the permissible works but which can lead to additional employment generation and (b) such works can lead to permanent capital generation and increase the productivity of the livelihood of the rural poor, the State Governments should prepare a proposal and submit it to the Central Government for examination and approval. The proposal submitted by the State Government should include the following: a) Need for the proposed work b) Names of the areas in the State where the proposed work is to be started c) Potential employment generation (man-days) b) Nature of permanent capital to be generated c) Description of the benefits to the livelihood of the rural poor due to the proposed work d) Sustainable employment generation, strengthening of local economy, quality living standard for the people
3) Other benefits such as • Such a proposal should also include a description of the model project. It should include the following: • Cost incurred for each component of the work • Labour required for each component • Materials required for each component • Skilled and semi-skilled component of each component • Mechanism for transparency and accountability and how the provisions for transparency and accountability will be followed in the proposed project. • Expected value creation at the end of the work • Benefit to the livelihood of the poor 4) Any other possible benefit arising from the proposed work 5) If there is a need for convergence with any other scheme running in the state to implement the proposed work, how this convergence can be made. What will be its nature, details of the necessary financial records for it. 6) If there are examples of where the proposed work has been done elsewhere, details of this can be taken for this, if Panchayat Raj Institutions, NGOs and individual beneficiaries have done the proposed work. 7) The proposal with the above details will be scrutinized by the Central Government. As per the requirement, approval will be given for pilot/model projects of a period of 3 to maximum 6 months, so that the feasibility and results of the proposed works can be verified. 8) Thereafter, if the proposed work is to be included in the permissible work, the Ministry will prepare guidelines in this regard and the approval of the work can be sent to the State Government. 9) Keeping in view the usefulness of the proposed work, the Central Government will take a decision on starting it in other States or the entire country. However, if it is found that the proposed work or its results are not consistent with the objectives of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Central Government will suggest some changes in it through guidelines or advise the concerned State Governments to withdraw the proposal.