Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

(MGNREGA) has made immense contributions towards livelihood security and

the creation of durable assets in rural areas. It has been a valuable employment
tool and safety net as seen in the migrant crisis.

What is MGNREGA?

▪ MGNREGA is one of the largest work guarantee programmes in the

world which was launched in 2005.
▪ The primary objective of the scheme is to guarantee 100 days of
employment in every nancial year to adult members of any rural
household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.
▪ Unlike earlier employment guarantee schemes, MGNREGA aims at
addressing the causes of chronic poverty through a rights-based
framework.
◦ At least one-third of bene ciaries have to be women.
◦ Wages must be paid according to the statutory minimum wages
speci ed for agricultural labourers in the state under the
Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

How the scheme is implemented?

India is administratively divided into States and Union Territories. Each

state has districts, then within districts there are blocks and within blocks
have wards. Under this scheme employment related to public work at the
block, the level is given. The funds are released by central govt to the
states. States then give the funds to local bodies i.e. gram panchayats. All
the laborer's accounts are registered with the gram panchayats.
MGNREGA work allocation is directly linked to the Agriculture and allied
activities. Majorly works are allocated concerning Publics work relating to
Natural resource management, community assets or individual assets,
common infrastructure works.
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 Objectives

• The MGNREGA has given rise to the largest employment

programme in human history and is unlike any other wage
employment programme in its scale, architecture and thrust. Its
bottom-up, people centred, demand-driven, self-selecting, rights-
based design is distinct and unprecedented.
• The MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for wage employment.
• It is a demand-driven programme where provision of work is
triggered by the demand for work by wage-seekers.
• It gives a signi cant amount of control to the Gram Panchayats for
managing public works, strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Gram Sabhas are free to accept or reject recommendations from
Intermediate and District Panchayats. It aims at addressing the causes
of chronic poverty through the works that are undertaken and
ensuring sustainable development.
• The Act was introduced with the aim of improving the purchasing
power of the rural people, primarily semi or un-skilled work to
people living below the poverty line in rural India.
• It also aims to strengthen the process of decentralization and
empowers Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for the planning and
implementation of these works.
• Creation of durable assets in rural areas such as wells, ponds, roads
and canals.
• Reduce urban migration from rural areas.

Impact of mgnrega

Social safety nets refer to policies and programmes meant to reduce the
severity of social and economic risks faced by the poor, while also
increasing their ability to protect themselves in case of emergencies such
as sudden negative income shocks.
Currently, two of the biggest operational social safety net programmes in
India are the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS).
The impact of MGNREGA focusing employment security, income
generation, and its governance and future perspectives were dealt in the
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 study. It was found that MGNREGA covered all poor sections of the rural
society irrespective of castes, genders or social orders. It was also
observed that this project enhanced income as well as savings of rural
households. Further, it was noticed that MGNREGA has created rural
employment opportunities.

MGNREGA scheme success in addressing rural distress: MGNREGA

scheme has been able to address the issue of rural distress to some extent:
1. Employment: MGNREGA is the biggest single public works
programme in the world. According to the World Bank, it provides
employment to around one in every six Indian families. Last year,
about 235 crore person-days of work were generated under the
scheme. The Act for the rst time brings the role of the state as
provider of livelihood which has led to economic emancipation of
rural people from distress.
2. Financial inclusion: The programme has led to empowerment of the
rural poor and led to nancial inclusion due to rise in rural wages and
prevention of urban migration. Payment through bank accounts has
led to nancial inclusion of many.
3. Women empowerment: Out of the total jobs created so far, the
percentage of hours put in by women has increased steadily, much
above the statutory minimum of 33% to 57%. There are three
provisions in the MGNREGA that were speci cally included into the
act to ensure access to the bene ts to rural women:
• Priority for women in the ratio of 1/3rd of total workers employed.
• Equal wages for men and women.
• Crèches for the children of women workers.
This has helped in economic empowerment of women and thus led to
overall welfare of women.
4. Empowerment of marginal section: According to the Rural
Development Ministry, out of all the workers bene ted under the
scheme, the percentage of Scheduled Caste workers has consistently
been about 20% and of Scheduled Tribe workers has been about
17%. Due to this their condition has improved leading to their
upliftment.
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5. Rural transformation: MGNREGA is said to have changed the face
of whole rural labour and rural India. In places where it was
effectively implemented, it empowered people, and in places where it
was not implemented effectively, it gave powers to labourers to
demand higher wages. It has given dignity to them and has acted as a
market mechanism.