A day after the media reported that noted activist Aruna Roy had quit the national advisory council (NAC), questioning the UPA government’s commitment to its professed social agenda, prominent civil society members have supported her criticism of the government.

With the next general election less a year away, the ruling UPA is pulling all stops to regain credibility as far as accountability and development are concerned. In this backdrop, Roy’s scathing resignation letter casts a shadow of doubt on the government’s professed concerns for the poor and for development.

Roy’s term would have ended on May 31. But her abrupt exit has brought to the fore some of the problems that might snowball into election issues.

In a letter to Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi (read the full letter in the attachment below), who also heads the NAC, Roy cites the council’s and Gandhi’s  “diminishing abilities” in pushing through the development agenda in the face of the government’s “techno-economic arguments”.

She has also criticised prime minister Manmohan Singh for the rejection of the council’s recommendations on the payment of minimum wages to MGNREGS workers. The government has appealed against a Karnataka high court order on paying MGNREGS workers the statutory minimum wage (which varies from state to state) even after supreme court refused to stay the order.

“It is difficult to understand how a country like India can deny the payment of minimum wages and still makes claims of inclusive growth. However, I realise that this effort to persuade the Government to respect the minimum wages law must now continue outside the NAC,” Roy writes in her letter to Gandhi.
Governance Now spoke to former NAC member Harsh Mander and a prominent activist (identified here as P) who refused to be named.

Here’s what they said:

On Roy’s exit and its context:

Mander: I agree with the concerns she has raised in her letter. In fact, I have been writing on the issues, especially regarding MGNREGS, the food and land acquisition bills, for some time now. With this government, a pro-poor agenda has not been getting the centrality it should. We need a greater thrust on policies that are designed keeping in mind the poor’s interests. With MGNREGS, there clearly have been many problems with its implementation, especially regarding wages. The government can’t refuse to pay its own statutory minimum wages.

P: I can’t comment on Aruna-ji’s exit but the fact remains that NAC hasn’t been able to move UPA-2 much despite raising many obvious concerns. Anyway, there’s very little time left (before the general elections) to implement any new policy or effect a change in an existing policy.

On NAC’s role:

HM: The NAC has had a significant role in shaping policy, especially concerning the universalisation of the right to food. The unfolding of the NAC’s impact may have been slow at times but there have been significant progresses in policy to which the council has contributed. However, I would be happier if the government demonstrated more commitment to some of the proposals that the council has made.

P: A lot hinges on what eventually happens to the food and land acquisition bills in assessing what impact the NAC has had.