The Indian government passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in 2005 to enhance the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment each financial year to every rural household whose adult members demand work under the scheme.
2. ABOUT MGNREGA
THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT PASSED THE NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT
(NREGA) IN 2005 TO ENHANCE THE LIVELIHOOD SECURITY OF PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS BY
GUARANTEEING 100 DAYS OF WAGE EMPLOYMENT EACH FINANCIAL YEAR TO EVERY
RURAL HOUSEHOLD WHOSE ADULT MEMBERS DEMAND WORK UNDER THE SCHEME.
3. CONTI...
• NREGA IS THE LARGEST SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEME IN THE WORLD.
• IT GUARANTEEING 100 DAYS OF UNSKILLED MANUAL WORK TO ALL RURAL HOUSEHOLDS
IN INDIA.
• THE NREG ACT ACTUALLY GIVES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS THE RIGHT TO WORK.
• THE ACT STIPULATES A MINIMUM WAGE-MATERIAL RATIO OF 60:40.
• THE AVERAGE WAGE PER DAY PER PERSON IN 2016-17 WAS ₹161 (VARIES STATE TO STATE).
(RS 326 IN HARYANA)
4. TYPES OF WORK UNDER MGNREGA
• WATER CONSERVATION AND WATER HARVESTING INCLUDING, CONTOUR,
TRENCHES, CONTOUR BUNDS, BOULDER CHECKS, GABION STRUCTURE
UNDERGROUND DYKES EARTHEN DAMNS STOP DAMNS, AND SPRINGS SHEDS,
• DROUGHT PROOFING INCLUDING PLANTATION, AFFORESTATION
• IRRIGATION CANALS INCLUDING MICRO AND MINOR IRRIGATION WORKS
• RENOVATION OF TRADITIONAL WATER BODIES INCLUDING DESILTING OF TANKS
• LAND DEVELOPMENTS: CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS AS WELL
• FLOOD CONTROL AND PROTECTION WORKS INCLUDING DRAINAGE IN WATER
LOGGED AREA, DEEPENING AND REPAIRING OF FLOOD CHANNELS,
CONSTRUCTION OF STORM WATER DRAINS FOR COASTAL PROTECTION.
5. IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT MGNREGA
AROUND 182 MILLION BENEFICIARIES (15% OF INDIA'S POPULATION) ARE
PROVIDED SOCIAL SECURITY BY MGNREGA.
THE MGNREGA WAS FIRST STARTED IN ANANTAPUR IN ANDHRA PRADESH ON
2ND FEBRUARY 2006 AND INITIALLY COVERED 200 OF THE MOST IMPOVERISHED
DISTRICTS ACROSS INDIA.
THE ACT WAS THEN CARRIED OUT IN PHASES, 130 DISTRICTS WERE ADDED FROM
2007 TO 2008. TILL NOW IT HAS SPREAD TO OVER 691 DISTRICTS ACROSS THE
COUNTRY.
6. CONTI...
IN CASE THE GOVERNMENT FAILS TO PROVIDE WORK TO PEOPLE, IT WILL STILL
HAVE TO PAY THE WORKERS THEIR DAILY WAGES.
THE ACT WAS CALLED THE NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT
(NREGA), BUT THE PREFIX MAHATMA GANDHI WAS ADDED TO IT ON 2ND
OCTOBER 2009.
APART FROM PROVIDING EMPLOYMENT, IT AIMED TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE
INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE RURAL AREA OF THE COUNTRY. THE MGNREGA HAD
TWO MAIN OBJECTIVES;
1) RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND
2) EMPLOYMENT.
7. CONTI...
THE 12TH FIVE YEAR PLAN INTRODUCED SOME CHANGES IN THE
MGNREGA AND LAUNCHED MGNREGA 2.0 WHICH BETTERED IT BY
EXPANDING THE LIST OF WORK TAKEN UP BY THE SCHEME,
STRENGTHENING THE DEMAND FOR WORK AMONG RURAL WORKERS,
IMPROVING THE LABOUR BUDGET, REDUCE DELAYS IN PAYING WAGES,
STRENGTHENING THE BANK AND POST OFFICE NETWORK TO ENSURE
TIMELY PAYMENT OF WAGES.
9. PROGRESS OF MGNREGAAT
THE NATIONAL LEVEL
THE ACT WAS NOTIFIED IN 200 DISTRICTS IN THE FIRST PHASE W.E.F. 2ND
FEBRUARY, 2006 AND THEN EXTENDED TO ADDITIONAL TO 130 DISTRICTS IN
THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2007-2008.
THE REMAINING DISTRICTS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED UNDER THE MGNREGA
W.E.F. 1ST APRIL, 2008 COVERING 34 STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES, 614
DISTRICTS, 6,919 BLOCKS AND 2.65 LAKHS GRAM PANCHAYATS.
THUS MGNREGA COVERS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF
DISTRICTS THAT HAVE HUNDRED PERCENT URBAN POPULATION.
10. JOB CARDS AND PROGRESS
Total No. of Job
Cards[In Cr]
13.03
Total No. of Active Job
Cards[In Cr] 7.71
Total No. of Workers[In
Cr]
27.32
Total No. of Active
Workers[In Cr]
9.14
The MGNREGA makes it mandatory for job seekers to have a
job card, for which the rural people have to apply to the
Panchayat for work.
11. DEMAND FOR EMPLOYMENT PROGRESS
Year Employme
nt
Demande
d(in lakhs)
Employmen
t
Provided(in
lakhs)
Employ
-ment
provid
ed in %
(1) (2) (3) (4)
2006-07 211.89 210.16 99.19
2007-08 112.75 108.29 96.05
2008-09 283.12 279.96 98.88
2009-10 454.97 450.80 99.08
2010-11 541.49 535.34 98.86
2011-12 510.49 505.66 99.06
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
-1 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Employment Demanded(in lakhs) Employment Provided(in lakhs)
Source: Government of India, ‘Annual Management Information System (MIS) Reports of MGNREGA,
Ministry of Rural Development, New Delhi, accessed from www.nrega.nic.in
12. EMPLOYMENT GENERATION PROGRESS
Year SC ST Others Total Women
2006-
07
2295.23 3298.33 3456.59 9050.54 3679.01
(40.63%)
2007-
08
3942.34 4205.60 6219.98 14367.95 6109.10
(42.52%)
2008-
09
6336.18 5501.64 9795.06 21632.86 10357.32
(47.88%)
2009-
10
8644.83 5874.39 13840.3
5
28359.57 13640.51
48.10%)
2010-
11
7875.65 5361.80 12477.8
1
25715.25 12274.23
(47.885)
2011-
12
3616.70 2822.61 9615.86 16055.17 7909.35
49.26%)
Source: Government of India, ‘Annual Management Information System (MIS) Reports of MGNREGA’,
Ministry of Rural Development, New Delhi, accessed from www.nrega.nic.in
13. PROGRESS OF MNREGAACTIVITIES OVERALL
Sr.
No
.
Item FY2012-
13
FY2013-
14
FY2014-
15
FY2015-
16
FY2016-
17
FY2017-
18
FY2018-19
1 Approved
labor
budget(in
Cr.)
369.0 364.25 220.67 239.112 220.927 231.31 253.16
2 Person days
generated(in
Cr.)
327.35 299.53 166.21 235.14 235.64 233.75 232.15
3 % of total
labour
budget
88.7 82.19 75.32 98.33 106.66 101.05 91.7
4 SC person
days % as of
total person
days
23.38 23.17 22.4 22.29 21.32 21.54 21.17
5 ST person
days % as of
total person
days
15.43 14.67 16.97 17.8 17.62 17.48 17.2
14. FEB
200
6
AUG
200
5
APR
200
7
FEB
200
9
FEB
200
8
OCT
200
8
TIME LINE FROM NREGA TO
MGNREGA
NAREGA
LEGALIZED
COME
IN TO
FORCE
IN 200
DISTRIC
TS
130 MORE
DISTRICT
INCLUDE
D UNIVERSALI
ZATION OF
THE SCHEME
WAGE
TRANSA
CTION
THROUG
H
BANKS/P
OST
OFFICES
MOU
WITH
THE
POSTAL
DEPART
MENT
OCT
2009
NAME
CHANGED TO
MGNAREGA
15. SOME STATE LEVEL EXAMPLE
• WAGE RATE- WAGE RATE ARE NOT FIXED. ITS VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. LIKE
RS 168 IN BIHAR AND JHARKHAND TO RS 281 IN HARYANA. HOWEVER, THE
MINIMUM WAGE IN BIHAR, EFFECTIVE FROM APRIL 2018, IS RS 237, WHILE IN
JHARKHAND IT IS RS 210 AND RS 326 IN HARYANA, PUNJAB RS 277, RAJASTHAN
RS 248, ANDAMAN DISTRICT RS 310
• BEST PERFORMING STATE
WEST BENGAL HAS BECOME THE BEST PERFORMING STATE BOTH IN TERM OF
ALLOTTING JOBS AND UTILISING FUNDS
WEST BENGAL GENERATED MORE THAN 28.21CR WORK DAYS UNDER THE SCHEME
SO FAR IN 2017-18 AND SPENT MORE THAN RS 7335 CR FOR IT
MORE WOMEN THAN MEN TAKE BENEFIT OF MNREGA (TOTAL 54 %,
22 PERCENT BY SCHEDULE CASTES AND 17 PERCENT BY SCHEDULE TRIBES
16. CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISMS
• A MAJOR CRITICISM OF THE MNREGA IS THAT A LOT OF MONEY DISBURSED BY THE
GOVERNMENT GETS SIPHONED OFF BY MIDDLEMEN , THUS LEAVING A NUMBER OF MGNREGA
WORKERS EITHER WITH UNPAID WAGES OR LESS THAN STANDARD WAGES. IN MAHUADAND,
JHARKHAND, MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD WORKED UNDER THE MGNREGA DID NOT GET
PAID, WHILE SOME EITHER GOT PAID LESS THAN STIPULATED OR WERE GIVEN 5 KG OF RICE BY
PRIVATE CONTRACTORS INSTEAD.
• THE BIG FARMER’S POINT OF VIEW CAN BE SUMMED UP AS FOLLOWS: LANDLESS LABORER'S ARE
LAZY AND THEY DON’T WANT TO WORK ON FARMS AS THEY CAN GET MONEY WITHOUT DOING
ANYTHING AT NREGA WORKSITES
• NREGA HAS BEEN CRITICIZED FOR LEAKAGES AND CORRUPT IMPLEMENTATION. IT HAS BEEN
ALLEGED THAT INDIVIDUALS HAVE RECEIVED BENEFITS AND WORK PAYMENTS FOR WORK THAT
THEY HAVE NOT DONE, OR HAVE DONE ONLY ON PAPER, OR ARE NOT POOR. IN 2014-15, ONLY
28% OF THE PAYMENTS WERE MADE ON TIME TO WORKERS. FOLLOWING THE ALLEGATIONS OF
CORRUPTION IN THE SCHEME, NDA GOVERNMENT ORDERED A RE-EVALUATION OF THE SCHEME
IN 2015.[2]
17. • RECENT NEWS
BUDGET 2019-2020 ALLOCATION- RS. 60,000 CRORE HAS BEEN SET
ASIDE FOR MNREGA IN INTERIM BUDGET FOR 2019-2020