Despite decades of planned development and poverty eradication programs at the national and state levels, poverty continues to persist in India. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been a subject of lively debate, which aims at the ‘right to work’ enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household who volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was approved by the Indian Parliament in September 2005. It was renamed as ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act’ on 2-10-2009. This Act started functioning from 2nd Feb.2006. Initially it was introduced in 200 districts of the country and later extended to all districts in the country. The main aim of this Act is to enhance the purchasing power of rural people. World Development Report 2014 termed it a "stellar example of rural development" and noted economist Amartya Sen also said it is a good Scheme for employment generation in rural areas, but it has to be reformed. This Paper is an attempt to present a review of the “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - With Special Reference to Telangana State.

1. Dr. S. Vijay Kumar
Head & Professor (Associate), Retd.,
Bharat Jyoti Awardee (Glory of India)
Department of Economics
Kakatiya Government (UG&PG) College (NAAC “A” Grade)
Ex - Member of Board of Studies
Kakatiya University, Warangal – 506 009
Telangana State

2. Introduction
 The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)
aims at the ‘right to work’.
 It is a demand driven Scheme, approved by the Indian
Parliament in September 2005.
 It was renamed as ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act’ on 2-10-2009. This Act started
functioning from 2nd Feb.2006.
 Initially it was introduced in 200 districts of the country and
later extended to all districts in the country.
 The main aim of this Act is to enhance the purchasing power
of rural people.
 World Development Report 2014 termed it a “Stellar
example of rural development" and noted economist
Amartya Sen also said it is a good Scheme for
employment generation in rural areas, but it has to be
reformed.

3. Aims of MGNREGA
1).To provide at least 100 days of unskilled work on demand per
household per annum within 15 days and within 5 KMs radius
near to his/her address to all adults who have completed 18
years of age, thus by ensuring economic security to rural
people.
2).Equal wages for men and women and preference should be
given to women in each work and at least one-third (33%)
of persons to whom work is allotted have to be women,
thus ensuring women empowerment and social
equality.
3).Creation and maintenance of rural assets and
environmental protection.
4). Lowering of rural-urban migration.
5).Panchayat Raj Institutions to have a principal role in
planning and implementation and each district has to
prepare a shelf of projects.

4. Performance (2015-16) In the financial year 2015-16, Rs.42,084 crore was spent on MGNREGA.
Performance indicators to rank the States are:
 Average days of employment per household: Even though MGNREGA guarantees 100
days of employment, the national average has always been below 50 days.
Comparing this value across States, Tripura was able to provide 95 days of
employment on average. Manipur reported only 16 workdays of employment, the
lowest among all states, followed by Puducherry with 17 days, Goa 18 days and
Lakshadweep 22 days. The overall average was 49 workdays in 2015-16. Average
Days of Employment Provided Per Household under MGNREGA in Telangana
State is 47 person days and it is in the top 10 States. Top 10 States are Tripura,
Mizoram, TN, MS, AP, Rajasthan, TS, Meghalaya, and Jharkhand in 2015-16.
 Percentage Wages Paid: MGNREGA requires that wages be paid within 15 days of
closing the muster roll. During financial year 2014-15, only 40 per cent of the wages were
paid within the stipulated time of 15 days. Manipur stood out in this case with 82 per
cent of wages being paid within 15 days while Meghalaya was only able to pay
wages for 4 per cent of the people on time.
 Work Completion Rate: Work completion rate refers to the number of works
completed compared to works started, in percentage terms. Mizoram performed best
in this case with a 92 per cent work completion rate. Tripura, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh also had work completion rates of above 80 per cent.
Arunachal Pradesh was at the bottom at just 20 per cent work completion rate.

5. Performance (2015-16)
 It is interesting note that two north-eastern States are at
either extreme of the ranking: Tripura on top and Arunachal
Pradesh at the bottom. Mizoram was a close second.
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Meghalaya and Punjab all ranked second
from the bottom. Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand were two
major States with a high ranking. West Bengal, Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh were major States with a low score.
 Looking at the macro picture it is not clear why MGNREGA is
able to provide below 50 days of employment on average
nationally. But, this may be possible due to shortage of funds
or due to lack of demand for work due to low wage rates. The
reasons could vary across and within States.
 Tripura was able to generate about 95 days of employment
per household. Andhra Pradesh was able to pay 80 per cent
of the wages within the promised 15 days of enlisting to
work, and Madhya Pradesh was able to achieve 82 per cent
work completion rate.

6. Findings of the Paper (MGNREGA – At a Glance - India & Telangana State)
 At the national, the percentage of total labour budget is increasing from Rs. 82.69
crore in 2012-13 to Rs. 98.34 crore in 2015-16 which is a welcome sign.
 SC person days % as of total person days at national level is almost stable at 22%.
It is the same in case of Telangana also (Person day means, the amount of work
done by one person in one working day).
 ST person days % as of total person days at national level is decreasing from 17.79
in 2012-13 to 16.95 in 2016-17 so far. But, in case of Telangana it is increasing from
18.18 in 2014-15 to 19.09 in 2016-17 so far, which is good for STs of Telangana.
 Women Person days out of Total (%) at India level is increasing from 51.3 in 2012-
13 to 56.28 in 2016-17 so far. This clearly shows that women work participation is
increasing. This is a welcome step. But, in Telangana it is slightly decreased from
61.11% in 2014-15 to 59.78% in 2016-17 so far.
 At India level, average days of employment provided per Household is decreased
from 46.2 in 2012-13 to 36.45 in 2016-17 so far, in case of Telangana also the
situation is same.
 Average Wage rate per day per person (Rs.) at national level is increased from Rs.
121 in 2012-13 to Rs. 161 (160.6) in 2016-17. In Telangana, it is increased from Rs. 115
in 2014-15 to Rs. 137 (136.61) in 2016-17, which is less than national average. Actual
wage is Rs. 194 in TS.
 Total No of HHs completed 100 Days of Wage Employment at national level is
51,73,487 in 2012-13 has fallen to 48,47,942 and 9,33,189 in 2015-16 and 2016-17 (so
far) respectively. In Telangana, it is increased from 1,60,281 in 2014-15 to 4,17,602
in 2015-16, but decreased to 62,133 in 2016-17 so far.
 At present, Haryana State is paying Rs. 259 per day, which is the maximum
MGNREGA wage in India followed by Chandigarh Rs. 248/day. Bihar, Chattisgarh
and Madhya Pradesh paying minimum of Rs. 167/day.

7. Impact of MGNREGA
 Reduction in migration.
 Financial Inclusion increased.
 Women participation increased and equal wages on par
with men.
 Reduction in hunger.
 Relief from village money lenders.
 Improvement in rural environment and sanitation.
 Rural asset creation.
 Children enrollment in schools increased as rural
economic empowerment is increasing.
 Participation of SCs and STs increased.
 Increase in average wages and employment.

8. Criticism
 Fake bills and mustered rolls were generated and payments significantly late.
 There is a criticism that in some states, low wages are paid than the stipulated by
the Act. According to the Supreme Court judgment this comes under ‘forced
labour’.
 Controller & Auditor General of India in its report has mentioned that funds are
being misutilized in some states.
 Public Works like land development works, afforestation, irrigation works,
construction of roads, flood control etc. are being carried out by wealthy sections
of the society thus betraying poor sections for whom this Act. is meant.
 At some places, it is observed that the workers have to wait months together for
their wags and they have to pay up to Rs.50/- as bribe for their job card.
 It is also noticed that most of the works are confined to papers only and quality is
not being maintained.
 The Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice K .G. Balakrishnan, Justice
Deepak Varma and Justice B.S. Chowan has commented that there is lack of
uniform policy in case of MGNREGA and they have further commented that the
funds are not reaching the eligible beneficiaries, except in some states.
 8,50,000 differently abled enrolled for work, but only 19% of these people were
actually given work.
 Some so called groups popped up, especially the local political groups who are
having strength and power in the village . These groups grabbed majority of the
job cards issued under MGNREGA.

9. Suggestions
 To prevent leakages in the MGNREGA programme, the government is
planning to introduce the system of electronic transfer of wages to the
beneficiaries from 1st January 2017 in Kerala. But, this should be
extended to the entire country at an early date.
 Government must avoid delay in releasing the outstanding funds of
MGNREGA. Recently, Centre released its share of funds to the tune of Rs
12,230 crore to the states for the rural job flagship scheme MGNREGA,
only after the Supreme Court rapped it for not releasing adequate funds
for the scheme. The apex court said it was extremely unfortunate that the
government had no provision for providing compensation for late
payment to the workers, and it was regrettable that it cleared the
pending wage bill for 2015-16 only during the pendency of the case.
 The average days of labour used was only 50 days as against 100 days stipulated
per annum by MGNREGA. Hence, it is advised to encourage the rural
people to to utilize stipulated 100 days of labour.
 There are complaints from different States that low wages are paid than the
stipulated by the Act. Hence, there should be proper check and
punishment for those who violates the rules.
 Earlier, Controller & Auditor General of India in its report has mentioned that
funds are being misutilized in some states. Hence, utmost care must be taken
to avoid misutilization of funds.

10. Suggestions
 Due care must be taken to follow the uniform policy in case
of MGNREGA for entire country (for example, wage policy)
and see that funds are reached to the eligible beneficiaries.
 It has been observed from different studies that (for
example, Saha Roy 2013) there is continued illegal presence
of contractors and delay in payments. Hence, this should be
avoided.
 In all stages, Information Technology (IT) should be used for
better implementation of MGNREGA.
 There is a provision under MGNREGA that States should provide
employment within 15 days, if they failed to do so, they have to pay
25% of wage as unemployment allowance for the first 30 days of
unemployment and half of the wages beyond this. But, several
States failed to provide unemployment allowance. This was
pointed by many research works like Chandrashekhar &
Ghosh (2005), Dreze Jeans et al. (2006), Rai, (2010), Jha et al.
(2012), Datta et al. Hence, States should take necessary steps
in this direction.

11. Suggestions & Conclusion
 Under this scheme 60% of funds expended on wages, but though the works
has been completed, due to corruption and irregularities wages have not
been paid to the beneficiaries at some places. Hence, State Governments
must take initiative in this direction.
 States must punish people who indulge in corruption and action should
be taken against those who are responsible for late payments.
 It is also noticed that most of the works are confined to papers only and quality
is not being maintained. Hence, in any case quality must not be
compromised in works.
 The best practices in each of the high-performing States should be
documented and shared with the other States, so that the performance
of each State can go up. For example, Andhra Pradesh is known for
widespread computerization of the processes which reduces corruption
and ensures timely transfer of funds.
 Conclusion: To conclude, though there are some shortcomings like
misappropriation of funds at some places, yet this Act is really a boon for
the rural people. If this Act is implemented transparently and corruption
free, it certainly enhances the standard of living of the rural people.

12. Thank You