Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA):
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (recently renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) aims at enhancing the livelihood security of the people in rural areas by providing guaranteed wage employment through works that develop the livelihood resource base of that area so that in that process of employment generation durable assets are built up. The Act was enacted in September 2005. It was notified in 200 districts of 27 States on February 02, 2006, and was extended to 130 additional districts in 2007-08. All the remaining rural areas have been notified since April 1, 2008.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA), was notified on September 7, 2005. The Act mandates that every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work be provided with at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year.
The Act was notified in 200 districts in the first phase with effect from February 2nd 2006 and then extended to an additional 130 districts in the financial year 2007-2008 (113 districts were notified with effect from April 1st 2007, and 17 districts in Uttar Pradesh (UP) were notified with effect from May 15th 2007). The remaining districts have been notified under MGNREGA with effect from April 1, 2008. Thus, the MGNREGA covers the entire country with the exception of districts that have a hundred percent urban population.
1. The MGNREGA has given rise to the largest employment programme in human history and is unlike any other wage employment programme in its scale, architecture and thrust. Its bottom-up, people centred, demand-driven, self-selecting, rights-based design is distinct and unprecedented.
2. The MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for wage employment.
3. It is a demand-driven programme, where work is provided based on wage-seekers' demand for it.
4. There are legal provisions for allowances and compensation both in cases of failure to provide work on demand and delays in payment of wages for work undertaken.
5. The MGNREGA overcomes problems of targeting through its self-targeting mechanism of beneficiary selection, that is, a large percentage of the poorest of the poor and marginalized seek employment under the Scheme.
6. The Act incentivises States to provide employment, as 100 per cent of the unskilled labour cost and 75% of the material cost of the programme is borne by the Centre.
7. Unlike the earlier wage employment programmes that were allocation-based, MGNREGA is demand driven and resource transfer from Centre to States is based on the demand for employment in each State. This provides an additional incentive for States to leverage the Act to meet the employment needs of the poor.
8. There is also a concomitant disincentive for failing to provide work on time, as the States then bear the cost of the unemployment allowance.
9. Gram Panchayats (GPs) are to implement at least 50 per cent of the work in terms of cost. This order of devolution of financial resources to GPs is unprecedented.
10. Plans and decisions regarding the nature and choice of works to be undertaken, the order in which each work is to be triggered, site selection etc. are all to be made in open assemblies of the Gram Sabha (GS) and ratified by the GP. Works that are inserted at Intermediate Panchayat (IP) and District Panchayat (DP) level have to be approved and assigned a priority by the GS before administrative approval can be given. The GS may accept, amend or reject them.
11. These decisions cannot be overturned by higher authorities, except to the extent of ensuring conformity with the provisions of the Act and its Operational Guidelines.
12. This bottom-up, people-centred, demand-driven architecture also means that wage-seekers, GSs, and GPs share a great deal of responsibility for the MGNREGA's success.
13. MGNREGA also marks a break from the relief programmes of the past towards an integrated natural resource management and livelihoods generation perspective.
14. Social audit is a new feature that is an integral part of MGNREGA. Potentially, this creates unprecedented accountability of performance, especially towards immediate stakeholders.
15. The Central Government is required to present an annual report on the outcomes of MGNREGA prepared by the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) to Parliament. Likewise, the annual reports prepared by State Employment Guarantee Councils (SEGC) are to be presented to State Legislatures by the State Governments, facilitating oversight by elected representatives.
16. The programme's radically new character requires innovative approaches for effective implementation. This will ensure that the novel elements of the MGNREGA are realised appropriately on the ground, at the cutting-edge level of its implementation. These Operational Guidelines have been issued to facilitate this compliance.
Implementation of MGNREGA
1. Cost sharing: Main Govt 3/4th, State Govt 1/4th.
2. Adult associates of non-urban houses publish their names, ages and deal with pictures to the Gram Panchayat.
3. The Gram panchayat signs up houses after making enquiry and problems with job cards. The job cards contain the facts of mature participant authorized and his /her picture.
4. Registered persons can sign up to perform in composing (for at least a couple weeks of ongoing work) either to panchayat or to Program Officials.
5. The panchayat/programmed officer will agree to the legitimate program and problem old invoice of program, page offering performance will be sent to the candidate and shown at panchayat office.
6. The career will be offered within 5 km: if it is beyond 5 km, an additional salary will be compensated.
7. If a career under the program is not offered within 15 times of invoice of the program then daily unemployment allocation will be compensated to the candidate
Achievements of MGNREGA
1. Unemployed youth in the 18-30 age bracket were employed for 100 days a year.
2. About 8.55 crore households demanded MGNREGA work in 2020-21, followed by 8.05 crore in 2021-22, compared to a total of 6.16 core households asking for work in the pre-pandemic year 2019-20.
3. During the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, it provided a critical lifeline for a record 11 crore workers.
4. It is the world’s largest social welfare scheme, and Rs 73,000 crore was allocated for it in the Budget 2022-23.
5. The scheme has significantly reduced India's poverty levels. The World Development Report of 2014 called it a stellar example of rural development.
6. Studies provided empirical evidence that wages earned under MGNREGA helped compensate for 20% to 80% of the income loss incurred because of the lockdown.
7. According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), this scheme has played a vital role in reducing poverty among the poor as well as the socially weaker sections (Dalits, tribals and marginal farmers).
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