MGNREGA Ko Kya Ho Raha Hai?

Introduction

MGNREGA has been one of the government’s flagship schemes, which has tried to provide some kind of economic security by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to millions of rural households across the country. Its impact has been considerable, be it in the form of income support or poverty alleviation. It has meant even more for women who have not had many economic opportunities in the country to start with, and one of the indicators which shows it conclusively would be the labour force participation rate, which for India stands amongst the worst. Its impact equally has been better in terms of creating or reaching out to the marginalised communities.

Origins And Implementation

When the scheme, better known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, was adopted and enacted in 2005, the proposal had already been put on the table in 1991 when Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was in charge. It was based on a successful pilot project that took place in Maharashtra under the name Employment Guarantee Scheme. The scheme arrived with great fanfare and was intended to provide people, particularly unskilled labour, with opportunities to work.

It was also based on the concept of the right to work, which is not guaranteed to Indian citizens in their founding constitutional document, but is mentioned in the directive principle, which states “ensuring adequate means of livelihood” to the people of this country, and it was a step in that direction.

Over time, it has become a significant component of the Indian economy and a source of income for many. The challenges have been there since the beginning, whether it is trying to make NREGA work more productive, wage delays and stagnation or failing to offer the mandated 90 days to households or individuals in a year.

Impact On Women And Households

There have been studies done which show that the impact of NREGA on women and households has not only been on their financial independence; it has had an impact on their mental health as well. With more money going into the hands of women, the money spent on families has also increased, as numerous studies across the world have now shown that when money reaches the hands of women, a large proportion of it is spent on families’ essential needs than when it is given to men.

Budget Cuts

However, with the recent shift in leadership, there has been a persistent effort to decrease the budget, which has already occurred for MNREGA and is now being felt on a larger scale. Just take Rajasthan as an example and look at the data to see what kind of decline we’re talking about in terms of households receiving jobs via the scheme.

In the fiscal year 2020-21, the number of households that completed 100 days under NREGA was nearly 1.25 million, and when compared to the current fiscal year 2024-25 (as I write, less than two weeks remain), the number of households that have received any kind of work this year is close to 4 lakhs, or four hundred thousand. Alternatively, consider the pay increase, which has been less than 20 rupees in the state of Rajasthan during the last three years. For the current fiscal year, the average daily wage rate per person has been Rs 206, with many places reporting payments of Rs 190.

The Current Economic Landscape

This occurs at a time when families require it the most. The current status of the economy paints a bleak image for a large portion of the country, with fewer and fewer jobs available for unskilled workers, and the jobs that do exist are sometimes unsafe and transitory, with earnings that are nowhere near the minimum wage. For example, according to one survey, 70% of all unskilled workers in the construction industry do not receive minimum wage. And the total would be large.

The sector already employs more than 7 million people and will reach the 10 million mark by 2030, and when you consider this figure of minimum wage not being met, the talk regarding fair and living wages sounds rather superficial and banal with no real application in real life.

Post-COVID Challenges

Budget cuts in NREGA year on year just add to the burden which people are already feeling in rural areas of the country. Post-Covid, when millions were and have been pushed down below poverty levels. It was and should have been the government’s responsibility to increase rather than decrease NREGA spending, knowing that the period had a disproportionate effect on women, who make up the majority of the employed base under the scheme, with numbers reaching up to 80% in some states.

The households which have also received their quota of 100 days have also been dismal this year as compared to others. This contributes to perpetuating an exploitative model, as could be seen in Barwada, where there is a high presence of migrant populations and a lack of better alternatives drives the situation towards forced migration further. So when women, who are typically left behind, are unable to obtain work in NREGA for reasons described above, their family’s position worsens.

Structural Issues And Agriculture Dependency

The budget for fiscal year 2024-25 has already been utilized, and there is also an issue of pending or delayed salaries, which has increased in recent years from Rs 512.75 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 974.38 crore in 2024-25. The reduction in this space for providing a budget for unskilled work has not coincided with an increase in their skills through government schemes or policies, resulting in a massive surplus of labor that lacks opportunities to work in alternative areas or sectors.

This has also driven more people into agriculture at a time when the country should be reducing its reliance on this sector—which is already dealing with a slew of issues—the most serious of which is climate change. This absorption leads to more unproductive work and stagnant wages for workers; thus, this cycle repeats.

Conclusion

There has to be more and not less allocation to this program; some have put this number at least 1% of the country’s GDP while increasing workdays from 100 to 150. The daily wage rate should increase significantly; additionally, its reach should also expand into urban areas. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that civil society organizations and unions continue to fight for this scheme’s survival as it remains one of the most important sources of work and livelihood for millions across India.