Information, Access and Targeting: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India
By Shylashri Shankar
In this paper, the relationship is assessed between possessing information on, gaining access to and the efficacy of delivery of India's national rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGA) in three states. The results suggest that the link between information, access and the delivery of the scheme is not straightforward. Information can increase the propensity for the programme to be accessed by those who are not its primary target population, and can enhance efficacy of delivery to such beneficiaries. Lack of information, on the other hand, decreases the ability of citizens, particularly the acutely poor, to benefit from the scheme.
In this paper, we assess the relationship between the type of information possessed by
the program’s beneficiaries and the efficacy of India’s national rural employment guarantee
scheme (NREG) in three states. Our findings suggest that the link between information,
corruption and the delivery of the program is not straightforward. Information can increase
the propensity for the program to be accessed by those who are not its primary target
population, and can also increase the efficacy of delivery of the program to such
beneficiaries. Lack of information, on the other hand, decreases the ability of a citizen to
benefit from an anti-poverty program.
Oxford Development Studies Volume 39, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 69 - 95
