D. Narasimha Reddy

The Impact of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on Rural Labor Markets and Agriculture

This article reviews the impact and effectiveness in implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) at state level as well as at village level with focus on inclusiveness, rural labor markets and agriculture. The paper finds that some states are more effective in implementation then others. The states which effectively integrated MGNREGA works with local planning gained much in terms of employment generation and asset creation leading to increased agricultural potential. The scheme is more inclusive of vulnerable sections of the society including scheduled castes and tribes and also women. Study also highlight the village level differences in implementation and effective implementation leads to reduction of hunger and poverty. More importantly the scheme increased bargaining power of rural laborer in agricultural sector, resulted in higher wage rates, better work environment and less exploitation.

Out-migration from the Hill Region of Uttarakhand: Magnitude, Challenges, and Policy Options

Rural-to-urban migration is one of the important dimensions of structural transformation, but the patterns of migration show wide variations across the country in India. This chapter on rural-to-urban migration in Uttarakhand based on a household survey across eighteen villages shows migration as a widespread phenomenon among rural households. Much of the migration (73%) is for long duration. A disturbing phenomenon is permanent migration—36% of households left the surveyed villages permanently during the past ten years and most of them were from upper caste households. Hardly anyone migrates from the state for manual work, and most of the migration is for regular salaried work, although much of it is low-paid petty jobs. The remittances are used mostly for consumption, including education and health needs, which could hardly create multiplier effect in the villages. The main reasons for migration are low productive agriculture and educated unemployment who are unwilling to work as manual wage labour. It depicts the hardships of village life in general and women in particular in the Hill Region of Uttarakhand in the wake of increasing out-migration. The chapter critically examines the policy paradigm of development and its failures to create remunerative employment opportunities in the Hill Region and resultant out-migration for creating present demographic vacuum in the region. It offers measures useful to policy and action to promote employment opportunities and quality of living in the Hill Region of Uttarakhand.

MGNREGS Implementations and the Dynamics of Rural Labour Markets

National economy of India has been growing rapidly in the last two decades; however, growth on employment level has not been commensurate with growth in the national economy. While faster growth of economy is beneficial to various stakeholders, employment growth is more important to reduce poverty in the economy. The experience of welfare programmes in India shows that considerable efforts have been made in terms of effectiveness in their implementations and providing wider coverage to all the needed population. This chapter evaluates differential impact of MGNREGA on the extent of fulfilment of the basic entitlements such as days of employment, wages and earnings and the extent of coverage of social groups like dalits, adivasis and women and vulnerable groups. There is a growing evidence of an increase in agricultural wages across the country over the period between 2006–07 and 2011–12, in which the impact of MGNREGA on the poor community is considerable. This review has also revealed a steep increase in female agriculture wages and a substantive decline in the male–female wage gap over the period. The search for information on the impact of MGNREGA on agricultural labour markets leads to some evidence on labour shortage, changes in wage structures, reduced distress migration, speeding up mechanization process, and peak season adjustment of work or adoption of MGNREGA calendar for its implementation.

Book Review: Alexander de Frailas Barbosa, Maria Cristina Cacciamali and Gerry Rodgers, Growth and Inequality: The Contrasting Trajectories of India and Brazil

Alexander de Frailas Barbosa, Maria Cristina Cacciamali and Gerry Rodgers, Growth and Inequality: The Contrasting Trajectories of India and Brazil. New Delhi: Institute for Human Development and Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017, xxvi + 349 pp.

Introduction: Rural Labor Dynamics and Mobility in Times of Deepening Structural Transformation

The purpose of this chapter is to contextualize the nature of the structural transformation experience of large Asian economies like China, India, and Bangladesh which do not appear to conform to the pattern of shifts in the primary sector of the share of income generation and employment first from primary to secondary sector and then from secondary to tertiary sectors as experienced countries. There has been faster growth of income share than employment share in non-farm and urban sectors, leaving a disproportionately high share of employment in agriculture and rural activities, resulting in a distorted workforce structure. The chapter summarizes the contributions in the volume on the concessive shifts in the labor processes as seen through urbanization, rural diversification, and migration.

Labor and Employment in the Emerging Rural-Urban Continuum in India: Toward a Cohesive Policy

The focus of this chapter is on the relatively slow but somewhat unique recent phenomenon of small town–driven urbanization, the emerging rural-urban continuum and labor mobility. It finds that the urban-rural spillovers of organized and unorganized employment indicate reduced skill-based mobility barriers to labor.

Formal Credit and Rural Occupational Diversification: Recent Experience in India

During the past two decades, India has been acclaimed as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But the pace of growth is not reflected in the expansion of employment opportunities, especially in rural areas. Vast majority of labour force in rural areas are concentrated in agriculture and other low productive activities. The kind of diversification in rural employment witnessed as a part of development process in rural South East Asia is hardly in evidence in India. This article analyzes the experience of promotion of rural occupational diversification with reference to credit flow with particular reference to the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgari Yojana (SGSY). The article discusses the growing demographic pressure in rural areas and the crowding of workforce in the agriculture sector and analyzes broadly the role of non-farm sector in rural occupational diversification and discusses the state of rural non-farm sector and non-farm enterprises in India. It goes on to analyze the credit related problems of micro and small enterprises and concludes by referring to the need for not only improving the supply of credit flow to rural households for income generating activities but also strengthening the demand side by strengthening the capabilities of the rural household through capacity building and appropriate institutional arrangements.

Report of the Expert Group on Diversity Index: A Comment

‘Unity in diversity’ is an oft-repeated characterization of India as well as a muchcherished aspiration. But ‘diversity’ explicitly as a policy objective is a new and loaded ideal path, and needs to be trodden with care to avoid any negative fallout. This note, essentially focused on issues arising out of the Report of the Expert Group on the Diversity Index (hereafter the Report or REG) (GoI, 2008a), is divided into six sections. The first section refers to the immediate context and the source of contemplation towards a conscious promotion of diversity as a policy, which necessitates monitoring the progress with the help of a simple and transparent measure like the Diversity Index (DI). The second section refers to the terms of reference (ToR) of the Expert Group and its approach. The third section addresses the issues arising out of the core part of the Report, viz. the proposed DI. The fourth part reflects on the areas of application proposed by the Expert Group. The fifth and the last part refers to what may turn out to be the more controversial organizational aspects proposed by the Expert Group. Since the discussion aims to help in arriving at some consensus on all these issues, this note does not make any conclusive statements.

Book Reviews : D. RAJASEKHAR, Land Transfers and Family Partitioning, Trivandrum, Oxford & IBH and CDS, 1988, xii + 90 pp., Rs. 66

The book under review is an important addition to the meagre literature on the concrete analysis of the emerging dynamics of land, class and caste relationship in the Indian countryside. If the merits of the book were to be fully realised, it should be read as if it is in two parts: the transfers part ~(for brevity, consisting of the first five chapters) and the partitioning part (consisting of the introduction and the sixth chapter). The transfers part concerns with a systematic analysis of the land transfers in a dry village in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. Beginning with 1891 the analysis of land transfers in terms of caste and size-class are discussed in