Impact of NREGA on
rural labour market in
Kerala: preliminary
findings on women’s work
Ratna M Sudarshan
ISST
Sept 16-17 2008
Caveats
Work in progress
 Based on fieldwork in Palakkad district
only, Malampuzha block
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Women’s participation
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NREGA provides that one-third of those given employment should
be women; over 40 % of total person days to women
Great variation across states: (2007 data)
 Out of 26 states we find 10 states have between 25 – 38 %
female work days as share of total.
 Five states have less than 25 %
 11 have over 40 %
 At the two extremes we find Jammu and Kashmir with 5 % and
Himachal with 13 % on the one hand and Tamil Nadu (82 %),
Tripura (76 %), Rajasthan (68 %) and Kerala (66 %) on the
other.
Palakkad
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Location of Palakkad district in Kerala
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/L...
Palakkad
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> 60 % of the geographical
area of the district is devoted
to farming
FWPR 21.1 (Kerala 15.4)
Rural BPL families 45.25 % of
rural families
No of women/ total in NREGA
85 % for Palakkad, 87 % in
Malampuzha (2007-8 up to
March 2008)
(Range 64 % to 95 % within
Palakkad)

www.shubhyatra.com/gifs/palakkad-field.jpg
Rural female labour
Farming
 Micro enterprise (through Kudumbashree)
 Urban informal work (given contiguous
nature of rural-urban in Kerala)

Wages
Market wages for men range upwards
from Rs 150/ 170 a day
 For women Rs 70 (agriculture), Rs 80-100
(other wage work)
 Minimum wage for men and women Rs
125 per day

L
Sml
L3
Labour
Sfl
L2
Minimum wage
L1
Dml
Dfl
Rs 70
Wage
Rs 125
Rs 170(?)
W
Kudumbashree
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Kudumbashree responsible for implementation –
Area Development Supervisor (ADS) as
manager – ward level Volunteer
Each Gram Panchayat has a Community
Development Society
Ward level – Area Development Society – 30-40
NHGs
Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) and self help
groups – 10-20 persons
NREGA
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Wages - Rs 125 (depending on work done, but
people reported receiving this wage)
Payments each fortnight and into a bank
account
Sites are open for 9 hours, six days a week,
workers take an hour off for lunch
Tea etc prepared by the group and paid for out
of wage
Impact of NREGA - women
With higher wages, shift out of agriculture
into NREGA;
 Some women not previously in labour
force now on NREGA sites; (near to home;
government work)
 Some shift out of non viable or less viable
Kudumbashree activities
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Impact of NREGA - men
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Few men access NREGS; market wage
for men higher, timings and benefits differ;
daily wage payment is preferred to lump
sum periodic payment
Wider Impact of NREGA
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Some small increase in wage offered to women
for agriculture work ( not fully confirmed; in some
places NREGA temporarily stopped, to induce
women into agricultural labour)
Wages paid into bank: encouraging savings,
only a percentage is withdrawn for consumption
+ higher contribution of men to daily expenses
Elimination of contractors – ADS takes on
managerial role; no corruption?
Migration: uncertain at present
Some issues
Work sites – few men; few young women
with young children (no demand for
creche)
 Marginal and small farmers adversely
affected
 Do social hierarchies inhibit poorest
groups
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