However, an article in The Times of India on 18.1.2012, about an apparent lack of interest for NREGS in Warangal, is a very accurate reflection of the misconceptions about NREGS and its gradual slide from being a demand-driven to a supply-driven program.
The central government’s flagship programme MNREGS has not found many takers in Warangal. This when the district had bagged first place in the state last year in providing work to farm labourers under MNREGS and spent huge funds on works... this year Warangal has fallen to 15th position in the chart... At the recent vigilance and monitoring committee meeting, it was revealed that MNREGS implementation in 2011-12 has come a cropper... According to District Water Management Authority (DWMA) officials, the farm workers are not showing any interest to carry out the MNREGS works as the private sector is ready to pay more for their work.
In states like Andhra Pradesh, even in Warangal, NREGS can no longer be considered as not having takers because of lack of awareness or other high access barriers. In the circumstances, the low demand this year, especially in the backdrop of last year's excellent performance, is most likely to be due to reduced demand. However, instead of viewing the drop in NREGS enrollment this year as an indicator of a stronger economy and more private sector job opportunities with increased wages (say, private farm labour wages having risen, making it more attractive over NREGS), the newspaper article considers it a governance failure.
Such an understanding of the NREGS, representative of the mainstream view of the program, will come in the way of any exit strategy, even if the market is able to provide employment at higher than the NREGS wages. This conception arises when we view NREGS as an end in itself, rather than as a means to insure or protect against a market failure or deficiency. Ironically, its success may itself prove to be NREGS's greatest failing!
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