PRIYA MITR

A note on  the PRIYA MITR initiative  in  MP

Mahatma Gandhi  NREGS guarantees at  least  100 days of wages  employment  to unskilled labour  in the rural areas. The job card holders are to make an application  for  wage employment in the various avenues made available. Within  fifteen days of such request employment is to be made available.

​To operationalise this guarantee, the state of MP has made the PRIYA MITR initiative which seeks to bring in a paradigm of pro active governance. The Gram Rojgar Sahayak in particular and the Gram Panchayat in general has been tasked with the readiness of 5 community works and 25 individual beneficiary works. Wherever the daily labour engagement is less then 50/day, it has now been mandated that the Gram RojgarSahayak will  communicate  the readiness of the available works to the disadvantaged families in the Gram Panchayat  that s/he works in. The information is in the form of  a letter titled  PRIYA MITR  in which the details of  the available work in the Gram Panchayat is intimated to the family without any application. Documentation to this effect has been made mandatory and this performance  has been linked to the payment of Gram RojgarSahayaks. 

Earlier, when labour engagement  would dip without reason, the field level staff had the opportunity to make an explanation that there is no demand despite  their IEC efforts as would be evident from the lack of any application for employment registered  . With PRIYA MITR documentation available, the IEC activity is more focused and a well performing Gram RojgarSahayak would not be penalised  for lower labour engagement  if he has the monthly documentation of bringing into operation the guarantee at grass root level ready with him.

MITR  translates as Mainstreaming Is Their Right. Rather than going to each and every family, the initiative is the reach out to the doorsteps of those in disadvantaged  families so that their Right is available without an application.

At present, the improving labour engagement across board would certainly suggest that this procedure has been helpful. The Programme Officers recounted that they felt more control over the Gram Panchayat level sincerity after this documentation process - in exclusion to other IEC efforts which are less tangible and more costly. With  a strenuous documentation insisted only where performance is below par, the time  and energy of the grass root functionary does not get locked unnecessarily.

The note is circulated for your kind consideration and comment.