Rural employment scheme MGNREGS employed nearly 2 crore families in April 2021; generated 30 crore person-days of work

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Nearly 2 crore families across the country availed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in April 2021, showcasing a rise of 80 percent compared to April 2020.

According to the data available on the MGNREGS’s website, as of May 9 of this month, 1.99 crore families availed the national employment scheme in April 2021 as compared to 1.10 crore families in the same period last year. Interestingly, the April 2021 figure is also higher than the pre-Covid-19 number of April 2019, when 1.70 crore households availed the scheme.

In the same month this year, the scheme generated more than 30 crore person-days of work across the nation, which is 113 percent higher than the 14.16 crore figure for the corresponding month in 2020.

Coming on the state-wise analysis, Assam saw the sharpest jump in the percentage of number of households availing the MGNREGS with 3,100% rise followed by Tamil Nadu (901%), Punjab (737%), Gujarat (439%), and Jharkhand (367%).

Additionally, 14 states across the nation namely Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram, and Jammu & Kashmir have witnessed an increase in the range of 3-349 percent.

Uplifting livelihood of rural population

The national rural scheme aims to provide every rural household, whose adult members are involved in the unskilled manual work, at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year. Taking the grassroots-driven approach to employment generation, MGNREGA differentiates itself from earlier welfare schemes by providing remuneration on time and legal provisions as well. The central government funds the full cost of unskilled labor along with 75% of the cost of material for works undertaken.

Some salient features of the scheme:

The scheme gives a significant amount of control to the Gram Panchayats for the management of public works, strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions. Gram Sabhas are also free to accept or reject recommendations from Intermediate and District Panchayats.

Since the inception of the scheme, the number of jobs has increased by 240% in the last 10 years. The scheme has been successful in providing economic security in rural India and has also diminished wage volatility and the gender pay gap in labor.