NREGA AFTER FOUR YEARS: BUILDING ON EXPERIENCES TO MOVE AHEAD.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), launched in February 2006, has already completed four years. This paper attempts to draw lessons from the experience of these four years for guiding the future course of NREGA. Section I makes a broad assessment of the performance of NREGA during the past four years and identifies the major concerns, while Section II presents the lessons that can be learnt for the future. The paper argues that the two non-negotiable features of NREGA are: (a) the entitlements guaranteed to workers; and (b) strengthening livelihoods of people through NREGA assets by improved planning and strong convergence. These non-negotiable features need to be implemented in letter and spirit in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]