Biggest Jump In MGNREGA Work – Free PDF Download

About MGNREGA

• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, earlier known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
• It was passed on 7th September 2005 to augment employment generation and social security in India.
• It covers all districts of India except the ones with 100% urban population.

Key objectives

• Paid rural employment of not less than 100 days for each worker who volunteers for unskilled labour.
• Creation of durable assets in rural areas.
• Reduce urban migration from rural areas.

Share of expenditure?

• The Central Government pays for 100% of the wage expenditure & 75% of the material expenditure under the scheme.

Introduction

• This summer, as millions of migrants returned to their villages amid a rise in Covid cases,
• Another chart climbed steadily: the number of households enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
• From April to August, over 83 lakh additional households or 1.6 crore persons joined the NREGA labour force by getting job cards,
• Taking the number of families under the scheme to an all-time high of 14.36 crore.

Rise in demand

• While the demand for unskilled work under NREGS had been steadily rising in recent years amid the economic slowdown,
• It soared to unprecedented levels during the pandemic.
• Data show 5.79 crore households availed NREGS between April 1 and September 10 during the current financial year —
• The highest since the scheme was launched on February 2, 2006.

Migrants returned?

• According to government estimates, more than 67 lakh migrants have returned to 116 districts across six states
• Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha — where the Centre had launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan.

States with highest demand for new job card

• The states with highest demand for NREGA job card, is UP (21 lakh) and Bihar (11 lakh).
• At 3^rd position West Bengal witnessed 6.8 lakh new jobs cards.
• But the districts of West Bengal — which saw 20 lakh migrants returning home, according to the state government’s estimates — were not part of GKRA.
• Of the top 5 districts in the country for households working under NREGA, four are in West Bengal — Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur, 24 Parganas South.

Financial impact

• The unprecedented demand in NREGA across India has led to
• The utilisation of 67% of the entire fiscal’s labour budget with half the financial year still left.

Conclusion

• Behind these numbers lie the story of how NREGA has emerged as a safety net for lakhs of households across the country
• At a time of deep social and economic distress amid the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns.
• While NREGA has served to provide jobs, the implementation of the scheme faces several challenges.
• For instance, despite a hike of NREGS wage across states, there have been complaints of workers not being paid the notified rate in several states.
• Besides, there is worry that the quota of 100 days of employment will fast run out.

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