RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT JAN SANSAD
28th NOVEMBER 2012
State Responsibility for Social Security and Basic Services
Resolutions
on Education
Education Budget
to be made
6% of GDP as long, long recommended
by Kothari Commission in 1966! Centre-State distribution of financial shares
for RTE to be revised so as to enable States to meet Constitution obligation of
86th Amendment. A finance note detailing the allocations for all
aspects of the RTE needs to be prepared. State,
district and school level allocations should be determined through need based
decentralized planning rather than be determined on the basis standardized
norms.
- No extension of deadlines in RTE
- Capacities – human and financial - of local authorities [Panchayat and urban bodies] to be increased so as to enable them to perform the roles mandated to them under RTE.
- Institutionalize social audits that will be conducted at least once a year. Social audits will be part of the overall process and performance audit of all programmes under the RTE. Social audits to be part of the larger grievance redress architecture and mechanisms.
- Community led monitoring of school to be strengthened through SMCs and panchayats. Concurrent monitoring mechanisms to be put in place. Increase per school allocation for monitoring from the current RS 50/school/annum.
- Grievance Redress [architecture and mechanism] to be put into place and budgets to be allocated accordingly; Accountability for provision of all legal entitlements under the Act to be fixed within Education Department for this purpose.
- A Framework for Equity to be devised with precise programmatic and budgetary allocations that are tracked and monitored by an independent agency; Under RTE detailed Guidelines for Discrimination to be framed.
- All the adult education programmes are implemented in the project mode and there is no systematic investment in developing the infrastructure or institutions for sustained efforts. Thus increased resources allocations and their utilization is an urgent need to make adult education sustainable and meaningful for people.
- Continuing education in tune of lifelong learning has to be planned and implemented across country without the boundaries of time and region.
- Pre-schooling [3-6 years age group] to be included under RTE.
- Governments’ responsibility towards education to be realized fully. Attempts at privatization to be desisted; Regulation of norms, quality and compliance with 25% reservation under RTE to be strictly followed.
BGVS, Nirantar Trust (Delhi UP),
JOSH (Delhi), Centre for Equity
Studies (Delhi Bihar), AMIED (Rajasthan), ASTHA (Rajasthan)
Resolutions on NREGA
Bank accounts must not be made mandatory
for getting NREGA employment
Workers must not be denied employment
under the NREGA if they do not possess a post office or bank account. States
like Bihar have issued instructions making bank accounts mandatory to seeking
employment under NREGA. In states where banking infrastructure is poor, this
will only create another hurdle in programme implementation and deny workers of
their entitlements under the Act. While the opening of bank accounts may be
prioritized it must not be made mandatory.
Keep UID out of NREGA
If the issue of new job
cards is linked to UID enrolment,
there is a danger of creating a jam that would disrupt the programme. The
process of job cards renewal, in any case a slow process, will be further
slowed down. Many people are likely to be denied their entitlement to 100 days
of work as they will be without a job card. Further, in spite of the
hiring of "service providers", the entire administrative machinery is
likely to be diverted into capturing of biometrics or supervising "service
providers". The scale of MGNREGA works is bound to suffer. This would be a
gross injustice to NREGA workers,
who are already deprived of their basic entitlements. The proposal of
"biometric attendance at the worksite with GPS coordinates" is
completely impractical - many NREGA
worksites are in remote areas with poor or no connectivity.
Wages
paid under NREGA to be linked to minimum wages and adjusted to the inflation
rate
Paying less than minimum wages to NREGA
workers is a violation of the constitutional rights of poor workers and the
Minimum Wages Act of 1940 and amounts to forced labour. Section 6(1) and 6(2)
of the NREGA must be amended to ensure there is no conflict with the Minimum
Wages Act.
Further, minimum wages under NREGA must
be linked to the Consumer Price Index of Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL)
Extend minimum guarantee of 100 days of
employment to every worker
The current guarantee of 100 days per
household is inadequate to provide livelihood security to the rural poor. The
guarantee must shift from a family based entitlement to an individual
entitlement.
All states must notify rules for section
25 of the Act
Section 25 of the NREGA for imposing
fines on implementation authorities for non-compliance must be immediately
notified. In the absence of such rules accountability for designated
responsibilities under the act is being circumvented. Also in the absence of rules for imposing
fines, state government are only able to take steps such as suspension or FIRs
which prove counterproductive to the implementation of the programme.
Safeguard basic provisions of the Act
The problem of unmet demand is rampant
in the poorest states of the country which need employment under the programme
the most. This coupled with delayed payments where employment has been provided
is crippling the NREGA. Basic provisions of the Act are being flouted across
states such as non-payment of unemployment allowance against unmet demand and
payment of delayed wage payment compensation. Rules to implement basic
provisions of the Act such as payment of unemployment allowance on not meeting
work demand and delayed wage payment compensation must be notified.
States to take immediate steps on
implementing NREGA Social Audit Rules
Social Audit rules approved by the CAG
are not being implemented in most states. The first step in operationalising
its provisions is the setting up of an independent social audit directorate.
All states must set up directorates and bring social audit rules into effect immediately.
Protection of whistleblowers
With numerous cases of repression of and
violence against NREGA activists trying to secure the basic rights of workers
under the programme, there is an urgent need to pass the whistleblower
protection Bill.
Resolutions on Pensions
Universal pensions with exclusions
- Pension should be an individual entitlement for all citizens of India
- Universal and non contributory old age pension not less than Rs.2000 per month or 50% of the minimum age,whichever is higher should be paid out of the national budget
- Indexation of pensions so that the amount increases proportionate to inflation
- Eligibility for pension to be reduced to 55 years for men and 50 years for women and 45 years for highly vulnerable groups (Vulnerable Tribal Groups, Transgender, Women Compelled to become Sex Workers, PWDs)
- A single window system for Old Age Pensions and a separate ministry for issues of the Elderly
- Freedom to continue working even after attaining the age of eligibility for universal old age pension
- Pension is the only benefit that we accept as a cash transfer
- Income tax payees and government employees should be excluded from universal pensions
