MGNREGA: delayed work, an inflated muster roll and a request for lighter work
On 1 August, 25 households of a Karnataka village submitted written demands for work under MGNREGA. The notified wage rate is ₹310 per day. The Panchayat could open only one work, a farm pond. Work began on 20 August, and by 31 August only 12 of the 25 households had been given 8 days of work each; the remaining 13 households received no work at all during August. Separately, the mate's muster roll for 12 August shows 48 names, while the field assistant's measurement book records only 30 person-days on that date. The mate says the extra names were entered 'to protect the labourers' 100-day entitlement'. A pregnant worker has asked to be excused from digging. A ward member wants the farm pond abandoned and land levelling taken up on his brother's three-acre field instead.
1. Compute the unemployment allowance payable and explain who pays it, at what rate, and by when.
Read the worked answer
Rate: the allowance is one-fourth of the wage rate for the first 30 days, so ₹310 ÷ 4 = ₹77.50 per day per household.
Period: the 15-day window from the date of demand ends on 15 August. The allowance therefore runs from 16 August.
Group A - 13 households with no work at all: 16 to 31 August = 16 days. 16 × ₹77.50 = ₹1,240 each; × 13 = ₹16,120.
Group B - 12 households given work from 20 August: they were without work from 16 to 19 August = 4 days. 4 × ₹77.50 = ₹310 each; × 12 = ₹3,720.
Total liability = ₹19,840.
The allowance is a statutory right, not a welfare concession: it is paid by the State Government, normally within 15 days of the date on which it becomes due, and delay attracts further compensation. The VAO's job is to prepare the claim household-wise with the demand receipts, not to negotiate it down. Note also that the 8 days actually worked must be paid within 15 days of the muster date.
2. What should be done about the muster roll showing 48 names against 30 measured person-days?
Read the worked answer
The muster must be corrected to actual attendance before any payment is generated. The VAO should not certify a muster that contradicts the measurement book; the two records are cross-checks on each other, and a mismatch is the standard signature of a fake muster.
Actions:
- Rewrite the muster for 12 August for the 30 persons actually present, with their signatures or thumb impressions.
- Record in writing why the original entry was made and who made it; forward it to the PDO and Programme Officer.
- Treat the inflated entries as a misappropriation attempt, not a clerical error, and place the matter before the social audit and the Grama Sabha.
Reasoning to give the mate: 100 days is a ceiling, not a guarantee, and entitlement accrues only from days actually worked. Padding the roll does not create entitlement; it creates a false liability, exposes the labourers to recovery and loss of future work, and can make them witnesses in a criminal case. Their real remedy is the unemployment allowance claim computed above plus fresh work demand.
3. How should the Panchayat respond to the pregnant worker's request and to the proposal to shift to the ward member's brother's field?
Read the worked answer
Pregnant worker: her request is legitimate. MGNREGA operational guidelines require that work be provided near the habitation and that lighter or alternative work be given to pregnant and nursing women, with crèche, drinking water, shade and first-aid at the worksite where the numbers trigger them. Excusing her from heavy digging is not a favour; refusing would amount to denying work and could trigger an allowance claim. Record the lighter task assigned.
Private field: land development on individual land is permitted only for specified categories of beneficiaries - Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe households, below-poverty-line households, and small and marginal farmers - within the limits and conditions of the approved list of works, and only with Grama Sabha approval. Even if the brother falls in an eligible category, the ward member must recuse from the discussion and vote, and the work must be in the approved shelf of projects.
Farm pond: it cannot be abandoned mid-way on a member's whim. Closing a sanctioned work needs a Grama Sabha resolution and reasons recorded; the correct route is to add eligible works, not to substitute a private benefit.