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There are few government programmes that excite as much passion as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). For advocates, it is a lifeline for the rural poor. For critics, it is a programme that distorts labour markets and does far more harm than good. In this partisan quicksand, it is hard to find firm ground from which to evaluate the promises and challenges of the MGNREGA 10 years after its enactment. However, in recent years, more empirical studies have emerged to provide a solid foundation from which to address a number of questions. One, how well does the self-targeting mechanism work? The MGNREGA is a self-targeting programme that assumes that only those who can’t find better-paying, less-strenuous work will participate in the hard manual labour offered under the act. A recently published report (of which I am principal author) by researchers from the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the University of Maryland, based on the...

The Law Commission of India has recommended amending the Constitution to ensure that children below six years of age are protected from “all forms” of neglect, harm and exploitation. The commission has also recommended that their right to basic care and assistance be made an enforceable right. It has said that the early childhood is the phase of “maximum vulnerability” and deprivation can seriously impact a child’s health and learning potential.The commission, in its report submitted to the Law Ministry, has also recommended amendments to the Right to Education Act, Maternity Benefit Act and creation of a statutory authority for early childhood development to ensure “proper emphasis” on the promotion of early childhood development. The report of the commission, whose term is ending on August 31, is the result of demands made by representatives of Alliance for Right to Early Childhood Care and Development and Mobile Creches who highlighted the issue relating to the rights of children u...