New Delhi: Several leading economists have said that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi should not dilute the provisions of the rural work guarantee
programme, MNREGA, which has provided economic security to millions of poor.
The signatories to an
open letter to the Prime Minister include Dilip Abreu (Princeton University),
Pranab Bardhan (University of California Berkeley), V Bhaskar (University
of Texas at Austin), Jean Drèze (Visiting Professor, Ranchi University),
Abhijit Sen (former Member, Planning Commission) and Dilip Mookherjee (Boston
University).ters
The MNREGA, they said,
was enacted in 2005 with unanimous support from all political parties and
it will have a "far reaching" impact on the much-needed economic
security to the lives of millions of people who are on the margins of subsistence.
"For the first
time, the Central Government is imposing caps on MNREGA expenditure on
state governments, undermining the principle of work on demand," they
said in the letter.
"The message
seems to be that the new government is not committed to MNREGA and hopes
to restrict it as much as possible. We urge you to reverse this trend and
ensure that the programme receives all the support it requires to
survive and thrive," it added.
MNREGA stands for
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
The letter, signed by
28 economists, said the Central Government appears to be considering an
amendment aimed at restricting MNREGA to the country's poorest 200
districts.
The economists have
opined that the programme could and should do even better but said that
the gains that have been achieved are substantial and amply justify
further efforts to make it a success.
"This runs
against a fundamental premise of the Act: gainful employment that affords
basic economic security is a human right. Even India's relatively prosperous
districts are unlikely to be free from unemployment or poverty in
the foreseeable future," the letter added.
PTI