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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

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As of Feb 20, 2023, employment has been offered to 6.65 crore households (99.8% of households that demanded employment), and 5.87 crore households have availed employment (88% of households that demanded employment)

A total of 221.60 crore person days has been generated as on Nov 30, 2023, which is more than the person days generated during the same period in the last financial year i.e. 208.74 crore persondays.(source)

Permissible Works under MGNREGS includes -
1. Water conservation & harvesting
2. Drought-proofing & afforestation
3. Irrigation canals & micro-irrigation
4. Farm pond provision & land development
5. Traditional water body renovation
6. Land development
7. Flood control & drainage
8. Rural connectivity & road construction
9. Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra
10. Agriculture-related projects: composting, vermicomposting, bio-manures

Over the last five years, the number of days of employment per household has averaged around 51 days.
During the same time, the proportion of households that completed 100 days of wage employment has not crossed 10%

Read our story on employment demand in Bundelkhand region: Workers Seek Timely Payments, More Workdays Under Rural Jobs Scheme

The higher participation of women under MGNREGA has been referred to as the "feminisation of poverty" by several academics over the years.
MGNREGA work is hard manual labour at minimum wages and is a fallback option for rural women who have the least opportunities to access decent work.
Read our story on this:
MGNREGA: The Last And Often The Only Resort For Indian Women

Rs 60,000 crore had been allocated for MGNREGS in 2023-24.
This is 33% lower than the revised estimates of 2022-23.
In 2022-23, Rural Jobs Programme Budget Cut by 18%
However, actual expenditure on the scheme being higher than what was budgeted has been a consistent trend since 2015.

Read more about allocation in the interim budget:
#Budget2024: How Are Development Programmes Faring?

Financial assistance shall be provided by Central and State Governments in the ratio of 90:10 respectively.
Uttar Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu recieved the highest funds between 2018 and 2023

Find out more about MGNREGS budget and wages in our interview with Jean Dreze -
No Point In India Growing So Fast If Wages Stagnate And Social Spending Is Slashed

The National Mobile Monitoring System application needs to be scrapped because it meets no objective, say experts. Technology must be appropriate for workers and not cause them more pain.

Read more about the The National Mobile Monitoring System application: Flawed MGNREGS Attendance App Impacts Workers’ Pay In World’s Largest Rural Jobs Programme

As of December 2023, over Rs. 2,442 crore was owed in wages to MGNREGS workers.