Indian Government Proposes Restrictions on Rural Employment Generation Works During Peak Agricultural Seasons

The Narendra Modi government’s Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Bill, introduced in Parliament on Tuesday, has a provision to restrict the undertaking of rural employment generation works under the planned new law during the “peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting”. The curbs on commencing or executing any such work, for a period aggregating 60 days in a financial year and to be notified in advance by state governments, have been proposed in order to “facilitate adequate availability of agricultural labour” during the peak planting and picking time of crops. The existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of 2005 — which the VG-G RAM G Bill seeks to repeal and replace with a new statutory wage works programme — has been criticised by many (including the Union Agriculture Minister during the previous UPA administration, Sharad Pawar) for contributing to labour shortages in farms.