Whereas, the Government of India passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (Central Act No.42 of 2005). This Act gives legal guarantee of at least one hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled and manual work. The Act is applicable in the Districts notified by the Government of India. And whereas, the objective of the Act is to enhance the livelihood security of the people in rural areas by generating wage employment. The choice of works suggested addresses causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion. Effectively implemented, the employment generated under the Act has the potential to transform the geography of rural poverty. And whereas the implementation of the Act calls for the formulation of Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by the State Governments. The Scheme so formulated would have to provide for the minimum features specified in Schedule I of the Act an

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R.6 Implementation Arrangements

Implementation Arrangements.—(1) At the village level the Gram Panchayat shall be the principal authority for planning and implementation of the Scheme. The Gram Panchayat shall be responsible for identification of the works in the Gram Panchayat area as per the recommendations of the Gram Sabha and Ward Sabhas and for executing and supervising such works.

(2) The Panchayat Secretary shall be responsible for receiving applications for registration and for issuance of Job Cards. There shall be a Field Assistant to assist the Panchayat Secretary in maintaining the records and also to assist the Technical Assistants being provided at the Mandal level.

(3) At the Mandal level, the Mandal Parishad shall be the principal authority for planning and implementation of the Scheme. The Mandal Parishad Development Officer shall assist the Gram Panchayats and the Mandal Parisha

R.7 Registration and issuance of Job Card

Registration and issuance of Job Card.—(1) Any adult person of a household may on behalf of the members of the household apply to the Gram Panchayat, in the jurisdiction of which they reside, for registration of their household for issuance of a Job Card.  The application can be in a printed form (Form 1) or on a plain paper containing the names of the adult members, their age, social status and address of the household. The Panchayat Secretary shall receive applications and issue dated receipt and enter the details in the Employment Guarantee Scheme Registration and Job Card Register (Form 2). After that, he/she shall make due enquiry and issue the Job Card.

(2) A Job Card (Form 3) with unique ID number will be issued by the Gram Panchayat to the household that has been registered. The Panchayat Secretary shall also maintain these details in the ‘Employment Guarantee Scheme Job

R.8 Application for work and work allotment

Application for work and work allotment.—(1) Individual/Group of wage-seekers having Job Cards shall give individual or group application, (Forms 4 and 5) as the case may be, on a plain paper or in a printed form. Advance application giving details of the specific period of employment sought in the year may also be submitted. Same person/group can submit multiple applications provided that the corresponding periods for which employment is sought do not overlap.

(2) The Secretary shall accept the applications for work. The applications shall be valid if the wage employment sought by a household is at least for fourteen days and the aggregate employment provided to the household is not more than hundred days. List of all such applications shall be maintained in the ‘Applications for Work Register’ (Form 6). 

(3) The Gram Panchayat shall direct the a

R.9 Unemployment Allowance

Unemployment Allowance.—(1) If an applicant is not provided employment within fifteen days of receipt of the application seeking work or from the date on which the employment has been sought, in case of advance application, whichever is later, he/she can apply to the Panchayat Secretary for unemployment allowance. The Panchayat Secretary shall forward such applications to the Programme Officer who shall, after due enquiry, sanction the unemployment allowance or reject the application as the case may be.

(2) The liability of the Panchayat to pay unemployment allowance to any house hold shall cease as soon as one or more of the following conditions are fulfilled:

(i) The applicant is directed by the Gram Panchayat or the Programme Officer to report for work either by himself/herself or depute at least one adult member of his/her household;

R.10 Type of Works

Type of Works.—(i) The focus of the Scheme shall be on the following works in the order of priority:

1. Water conservation and water harvesting.
2. Drought proofing (including afforestation and tree plantation).
3. Irrigation canals, including micro and minor irrigation works;
4. Provision of irrigation facility to land owned by households belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes or to land of beneficiaries of land reforms or that of the beneficiaries of Indira Awas Yojana program.
5. Renovation of traditional water bodies including desilting of tanks.
6. Land development.
7. Flood control and protection works, including drainage in water-logged areas.
8. Rural connectivity to provide all-weather access.
9. Any other work, which may be notified by the Central Government

R.11 Planning for Shelf of Works

Planning for Shelf of Works.—(1) The annual planning process for the next financial year should be completed by the December end of every year, including approval of the plan by the Zilla Parishad. The District Programme Coordinator shall prepare a labour budget for the next financial year containing the details of the anticipated demand for unskilled manual work in the district, which shall be the basis for the planning.

(2) The District Programme Coordinator shall arrive at the value of all works that need to be taken upto meet the anticipated labour demand and communicate the proportionate value of works to be identified by the Panchayat Raj Institutions in the ratio of 75:15:10 among Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishads and Zilla Parishad.

(3) The Panchayat Raj Institutions i.e., Gram Panchayat, Mandal Parishad and Zilla Parishad shall be the units for

R.12 Rural Standard Schedule of Rates

Rural Standard Schedule of Rates.—There shall be a separate Rural Standard Schedule of Rates prepared for the works taken up under the Scheme. The unit rates for different types of tasks shall be so fixed, that a worker – man or woman – will be able to earn Rs.80 per day through seven hours of work.

R.13 Estimation and Technical Sanctions

  Estimation and Technical Sanctions.—(1) For all works of value upto Rs.2.00 lakh, the Technical Assistant shall prepare the estimates.

(2) Estimates for works of value above Rs.2.00 lakh shall be prepared by Mandal Assistant Engineer or any other Works department of the State Government.

(3) For all works upto Rs.2.00 lakh technical sanction shall be accorded by Mandal Assistant Engineer.

(4) Above Rs.2.00 lakh and upto Rs.5.00 lakh technical sanction shall be accorded by the Deputy Executive Engineers of Panchayat Raj or any other Works Department of the Government.

(5) Above Rs.5.00 lakh and upto Rs.20.00 lakh technical sanction shall be accorded by the Executive Engineer of Panchayat Raj or any other Works department of the Government.

R.14 Execution of Works

Execution of Works.—(1) At least 50% of the works in terms of cost will be allotted to Gram Panchayats for execution. Based on the demand for employment from the wage seekers the Panchayat Secretary shall request Programme Officer to issue work commencement letter for opening of works. The Programme Officer shall issue work commencement letter to the Gram Panchayat or other line departments, strictly following the order of priority indicated in the administrative sanction proceedings issued by the District Programme Coordinator. Every Gram Panchayat shall maintain a Register of Works for which work-commencement letters are received, for the financial year. The copies of the work-commencement letter issued to the Gram Panchayat should also be sent to the Village Organization or Village Organizations concerned.

(2) On receiving the work-commencement letter, the executing agencies shall start

R.15 Wages

Wages.—(1) Equal wage shall be paid to both men and women. The payment of wages shall be made atleast once in a fortnight. The Programme Officer, the District Programme Coordinator and the State Programme Coordinator shall keep a watch on the average wages earned. If necessary, the schedule of rates may be revised to ensure that the wage per day is equal to the minimum wages notified by the Government under Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The district-wise average wage earned by the workers shall also be brought to the notice of the State Council every year. Gram Panchayat will be the single window for wage-payment, irrespective of the executing agency.

(2) The Field Assistant shall measure the work done and record in Measurement Book and close the Muster Roll at the end of each week. He/she shall read out the entries in the Measurement Book and Muster Roll to the workers at the worksite. The entri

R.16 Closing of Works and Data Management

Closing of Works and Data Management.—The work shall be closed by the executing agency with a completion report. Each Gram Panchayat and every executing agency shall maintain a register of all works sanctioned, executed and completed.

R.17 State Employment Guarantee Fund

State Employment Guarantee Fund.—The State Government shall, by notification, establish a Fund to be called the State Employment Guarantee Fund to be expended and administered according to the Rules.

R.18 Funding Pattern

Funding Pattern.—(1) The Government of India funds shall be utilized for the following:

(i) Cost of wages
(ii) Three fourths of material cost.
(iii) Administrative cost.
(iv) The cost of capacity building.
(v) Establishment of Programme Officer with the supporting staff.

(2) The State Employment Guarantee Fund shall be spent for the following:

(i) 25% of the material and wages of skilled and semi-skilled workers.
(ii) Unemployment allowance.
(iii) Administrative expenses of the State Employment Guarantee Council.
(iv) Other expenses related to implementation of the scheme but not permitted by Government of India guidelines.

R.19 Provision for Administrative Cost

Provision for Administrative Cost.—The total administrative cost shall not exceed 6% of the annual allocation for the district. The administrative cost includes expenditure relating to Information, Education and Communication, capacity building, staff cost, Management Information System and Operations and Maintenance.

R.20 Audit of Accounts

Audit of Accounts.—Audit of the accounts under the Scheme shall be compulsory. Regular audit of accounts at District, Mandal and Gram Panchayat level shall be done by Local Fund Auditors or by registered Chartered Accountants empanelled by the State Government. The audit by the Accountant General shall be carried out as per the rules in vogue.

R.21 Vigilance and Quality Assurance

Vigilance and Quality Assurance.—Independent Vigilance and Quality Assurance teams shall be engaged to monitor the implementation of Employment Guarantee Scheme.

R.22 Social Audit and Right to Information

Social Audit and Right to Information.—(1) Social audit shall be taken upto make the planning, implementation and evaluation of Employment Guarantee Scheme more participatory, transparent and accountable. Social audit shall not be retrospective but an ongoing process of participation to ensure that legal guarantees and entitlements flow to the workers in a legitimate way. Social audit shall be done in three stages -pre, during and post implementation. Social audit shall be integrated into the critical activities of Employment Guarantee Scheme.

(2) An information Wall shall be built by the Gram Panchayat at Gram Panchayat headquarters. One side of the Wall shall be painted with long-term information like task-wise wage rates to be adopted for the year, non-negotiables, important guidelines, shelf of works identified etc. The other side of the wall shall be updated with weekly infor

R.23 Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and Evaluation.—(1) Atleast 10% of the Employment Guarantee Scheme works shall be inspected by District level officers and at least 2% of the works by State level officers. The State Government shall designate Area Officers for each District for effective monitoring.

(2) The Panchayat Secretary shall fill the Management Information System format and send to Mandal Parishad Development Officer and Programme Officer. Programme Officer shall compile, analyse this data and take appropriate remedial actions. He/She shall forward the reports to District Programme Coordinator with specific remarks. The District Programme Coordinator shall send the reports to State Programme Coordinator at quarterly intervals. State Programme Coordinator shall also submit quarterly reports to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Government of India. State Employment Guarantee Council shall submit an annu

R.24 Grievance Redressal Mechanism

Grievance Redressal Mechanism.—Any grievance shall be enquired and action initiated within seven days by the Panchayat Secretary at village level, Programme Officer at the Mandal level and District Programme Coordinator at the district level. Details of all the grievances received and disposed at each level should be maintained in the Grievance Register. Acknowledgement shall be given for any grievance received.

R.2 Objectives

Objectives.—The Andhra Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme shall have the following objectives:

(1) The primary objective of the Scheme is to provide livelihood security to the households in rural areas of the aforesaid 13 (thirteen) notified districts by providing not less than 100 (one hundred) days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled and manual work.

(2) Creation of durable assets and strengthening the livelihood resource base of rural poor.

R.1 Short Title and Commencement and Extent

Short Title and Commencement and Extent.—(1) This scheme may be called the Andhra Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (APREGS).

(2) This Scheme shall come into force with effect from 2nd February  2006 in the rural areas of the following 13 Districts of Andhra Pradesh namely; (1) Adilabad, (2) Karimnagar, (3) Nizamabad, (4) Medak, (5) Mahabubnagar, (6) Ranga Reddy, (7) Khammam, (8) Nalgonda, (9) Warangal, (10) Anantapur, (11) Kadapa, (12) Chittoor and (13) Vizianagaram.

R.5 Rights and Entitlements

Rights and Entitlements.—(1) Every adult member whose name appears in the Job Card shall be entitled to apply for unskilled manual work.

(2) All persons belonging to a household and registered shall be entitled to employment under the Scheme for as many days as each applicant may request, subject to a maximum of one hundred days per household in a given financial year.

(3) If an applicant is not provided with such employment within fifteen days of receipt of his/her application seeking employment or from the date on which the employment has been sought in the case of an advance application whichever is later, he/she shall be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance subject to the entitlement of the household at the rate which shall not be less than one fourth of the wage rate for the first 30 (thirty) days of the financial year and not less than one half of the

R.4 Non-Negotiable

Non-Negotiable.—(1) Every registered rural household shall be provided not less than 100 days of wage employment, on demand, in a financial year.

(2) Payment of wages shall be made at least once in a fortnight.

(3) Equal wages shall be paid to men and women.

(4) Contractors and labour displacing machinery shall not be engaged.

(5) Only works approved by the Gram Panchayat (identified in the Gram Sabha) at village level, the Mandal Parishad at Mandal level and the Zilla Parishad at District level shall be taken up.

R.3 Funding

Funding.—The Scheme shall be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) on cost sharing basis between the Centre and the State in the ratio of 90:10.