Planning for works and preparation of labour budget

Gram Panchayat Development Plan under MGNREGA

Section 16 (3) & (4) of the Act states that every Gram Panchayat shall prepare a Development Plan and maintain a shelf of works to meet the employment demand. A development plan is an annual work plan that comprises shelf of projects for each village with administrative and technical approvals.

The development plan is a rolling plan, since the approved shelf of projects may carry over one financial year to the next depending upon this lifespan of the projects.

District Perspective Plan under MGNREGA

District Perspective Plan is prepared for five years, which identifies the needs and gap in the districts in all the sectors. The district perspective plan is a multi-year plan for different departmental projects. The district perspective plans should be prepared in such a manner that it can be breakable into various annual plans.

Components of Development Plan

• Assessment of labour demand
• Identification of works- to meet estimated labour demand
• Estimated cost of works and wages
• Benefits expected in terms of employment generated and physical improvements. (Water conservation and Land productivity).

Guiding principle for preparing the Development Plan

There are five guiding principles to be followed while preparing the development plan:

• The number of works in the shelf of projects in a village should be much more than the estimated demand.
• The plot numbers of the sites where works are to be executed should be mentioned, so that each work has a unique location code.
• Outcomes expected from the works should be stated in terms of :
• Estimated benefits in terms of employment generated measurable in persondays
• Physical improvement envisaged measurable in specific units
• Benefits to the community
• List of approved works with technical estimates should be displayed in the gram panchayat in simple local language
• Pre-Mid-Post Project condition of works to be recorded with photographs
• Each work taken up with unique number (irrespective of the implementing agency) has to be recorded in the works register to be maintained at GP to enable verification and prevent duplication

Components of filled in Labour Budget format

Labour budget format comprises month-wise details for the next financial year, such as:

• Projection of households to be provided employment
• Projected persondays to be generated
• Projected wage expenditure
• Projected material expenditure

Work guidelines to be considered while executing MGNREGS works

The four work guidelines to be adopted:

• Only those works can be taken up which result in creation of durable assets and strengthen livelihood resources of the rural poor.
• As per Para 4(2), Schedule I, the order of priority of works shall be determined by each Gram Panchayat in the meetings of the Gram Sabha keeping in view potential of the local area, its needs, local resources.
• The 60:40 ratio for wage and material costs should be maintained at GP level for all works to be taken up by GP and for works to be taken up by agencies other than GP, it should be maintained at the Block/ Intermediate Panchayat level.
• As far as practicable, works executed by the programme implementation agencies shall be performed by using manual labour and no labour displacing machines shall be used (Para 22, Schedule I).

Role of Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat in the planning process

The Gram Sabha identifies, prioritises and recommends the works that are permissible under MGNREGA. The Gram Panchayat should consolidate and send the recommendations of Gram Sabha to the Programme Officer. (Section 16 of the Act).

Timeline for planning and labour budget preparation

Every year by December 31, the District Programme Coordinator shall forward the approved Labour Budget and Development Plan of next financial year to the State Government.

Source : Guidelines/ framework for “Planning for Works and preparation of Labour Budget” under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for the FY 2020-21