The Changing Nature of Public Works Programs, India

The positive experience with MEGS prompted the 1989 launch of the JRY. It was implemented at the national level in all villages across the country through the panchayats (elected local bodies). The program s main objective was to generate additional gainful employment for unemployed and underemployed men and women in rural areas. Its secondary objective was to create community and social assets (Government of India various years). 

FOR PROTECTION AND PROMOTION THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EFFECTIVE SAFETY NETS 

While public works are an expensive way to transfer income to the poor and to build local infrastructure, any analysis of their cost-effectiveness should take the value of their indirect benefits into account and assess how they compare with those of other programs. The indirect benefits include the first-round effect of the direct value of the infrastructure built on the economy of local communities and the potential of these assets to generate second-round employment benefits. They also include the program s short- and medium- 

Finally, temporary employment programs do not seem to help beneficiaries find stable jobs if they do not provide job training and placement services (Acosta and Ramirez 2004 Sojo 2003). 

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