At the same time, and I give more credit to the RTI for that, despite where we are with NREGS, a lot can be improved and more power be given to the rural aam aadmi through good monitoring of schemes (social audits, RTIs) and demanding why NREGS is not being implemented in a certain area again through RTI. This is where some of us work in the NREGS sphere. Hence we try to make a less than perfect system a little less imperfect. Again to beat upon a beaten point, this still does not mean that I am pro big government schemes like NREGS. And from a journalistic point of view Amit, I would rather you not stress upon these things so as to provide the Government less ammo for defending such control intensive schemes.

Another criticism of NREGS has been (and this I happened to see on IEB) that it is just a capital redistribution scheme, now I am not as sure of that though since I do see a possibility of economic output from this if implemented adequately.

Anyways, any takes by people on the McKinsey report for the growth of the middle class in the next few years?

If they have those billions to spend, and if we assume that the government MUST spend it in rural India, they can invest it all in two simple things – electricity and water.

NREGA is nothing but a political gimmick, a lot like padding a resume.

Ardy, a government policy should not be judged by its intent but by its likely outcome in the real world. I had forecast in an AWSJ piece two years ago that the REGB would fail, and the studies that I cited in my recent piece on it provide ample evidence that exactly that has happened. The REGB has the best intentions and noble aims, but given our system of government, the way the incentives are structured, it cannot work in India.

There are far better ways to generate employment in rural India. They all involve the government doing less, not more.

Given the precedent wouldn’t that be a bad bet?

Also, I just realized that I completely missed the NREGA post. I work actively in the RTI and NREGA sphere and I would agree that increasing investments in the rural sector would be the best thing to do by the Govt. My biggest problem with NREGA is the scope for corruption, thats what makes it a bad scheme and I would love to see the Govt doing better than this.

However, I do like NREGA because it is better than the Govt doing nothing at all. It ‘allows’ villagers to develop infrastructure they need and get paid for it. It generates this output during the time between agricultural seasons and thus is not a wealth redistribution scheme as alleged by some. With use of RTI along with NREGA and through public audits which is something being tried, corruption can be reduced and thus it has the potential. The problem is villagers don’t have the required information to take the fight to the Govt. though they have the tools like RTI. It’s not the best solution in the world b far, but it’s better than nothing at all.