The immediate trigger was provided by a cut in the Union Budget 2023-24 from Rs89,400 crore in the Revised Estimate of 2022-23 to Rs60,000 crore for 2023-24. It was a cut of about 33 per cent which amounted to substantially reduced job guarantee that made the rural workforce across the country restive. The Centre has cut the allocation for the scheme for the second consequent year. Union Budget 2022-23 had reduced the budget by 25 per cent to Rs73,000 crores from the revised estimate of Rs98,000 crore for the financial year 2021-22.

The cut in allocation for 2022-23 was made at a time when, according to Economic Survey 2021-22, demand for work was still higher than the pre-pandemic level. The record shows that about 8.55 crore household demanded work in 2020-21 and 8.5 crore in 2021-22 compared to only 6.16 crore in the pre-pandemic year 2019-20. Demand for work was still higher at 6.49 crore as on January 24, 2023, as per the Economic Survey 2022-23.

It is but a demand-side figure against 15.51 crore active rural workers enrolled under the scheme. As of January 20, 2023, the average days of employment provided per household is just 42 days, while it was 50 days in 2021-22, 52 days in 2020-21, 48 days in 2019-20 and 51 days in 2018-19, much less than guaranteed 100 days, against a demand for increasing it to 200 days. If India decides to provide 100 days work to all enrolled workers it would need at least Rs2.72 lakh crore, the post-budget statement by People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) and NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM) read.

As the agitation gaining strength and support from every corner, it is unfolding many shocking truths – ranging from as low as providing only 14 days work and delay in payments to creating technological hurdles. A prominent activist Aruna Roy, the fonder member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, while standing in solidarity with the workers has said, “Today, Narendra Modi is destroying NREGA in the name of technology.”

NREGA Sangharsh Morcha has pointed out what passes for “work demand” in NREGA’s Management and Information System (MIS) can by no means be interpreted as an indicator of the full demand for work. It is only a record of formal requests that may or may not have been submitted by workers themselves. More often, these digital requests are just a formality fulfilled by the implementing agency or middlemen.

Independent survey also support the contention, such as one done by Azim Premji University in 2022, which showed that the real demand for work was much larger. Many households would like more NREGA work but they don’t know how to apply, and may not even be aware that they have a right to apply. In practice, employment generation depends more on the initiatives of state governments and local authorities than on formal work applications.

The demand is an issue since the MGNREGA scheme is a demand driven schemes. The technology has been employed but is used for keeping the demand at low level. The Morcha has also contested the government claim that NMMS digital-attendance app works smoothly. “Mandatory imposition of this App has cause havoc” among workers, it said. Many NREGA workers today work without being paid because of so called technical problems. Moreover, if there is not enough funding, the very guarantee given to the rural folk under the law for is scuttled.

NREGA Sangharsh Morcha has alleged that the Union Ministry of Rural Development is misleading the country by telling that the budget allocation is adequate and will be supplemented in good time to meet the demand for work.

Government seems to be in denial mode of the ground reality, Morcha has said in an open letter to the Union Ministry of Rural Development. “The supplementary allocation proves inadequate every year and leads to wage arrears being carried over to the next financial year (more than Rs10,000 crore this year). Meanwhile wage payments are delayed and NREGA works are often held up.” There is a vicious circle of under-allocation and mounting arrears the Morcha has alleged while emphasising on higher allocation to break this.

Morcha has said that the Union Ministry of Rural Development talks about payments “generated” within 15 days in most cases. However, it is well known fact that payments are routinely delayed after that. Many recent studies show that payment delays remain the norm rather than exception. For instance, a careful analysis by APU 2022 of 18 lakh wage transactions in the first half of 2021 revealed that the centre delayed payment of 44 per cent of wages beyond 15 days. The payments get worse usually in the second half of every year when funds dry out.

NREGA Sangharsh Morcha has demanded immediate scrapping of the NMMS based attendance system, since it has created more barriers to work than providing guaranteed work. Ground report suggest that workers have lost 50 per cent of heir wages owing to technical glitches in the app and many of them had to take loans to get smartphones on loans only to use this app.

Morcha has demanded adequate funding in terms of higher budget allocation as well as pending liabilities. For example, for the current fiscal 2022-23 budget allocation was Rs 73,000 crore out of which Rs 18,350 crore was pending liability for 2021-22. Thus actual available fund is much below the allocation. They have also demanded timely payment of wages and payment of full compensation for delays.

Low wages to MGNREGA workers have always been an issue. Providing minimum wages was an old demand. Morcha has demanded that NREGA wages be immediately made at par with state’s statutory minimum agricultural wages and rapidly move towards raising it to Rs800 per day. It should be noted that MGNREGA wages differ by states from around Rs200 to Rs333.

The last, but not the least, demand is eradication of large-scale corruption and contractor raj in MGNREGA scheme.