Sunday, February 16, 2025
HomeOpinion​Stifling demand: On the MGNREGS  

​Stifling demand: On the MGNREGS  


The efficacy of a welfare programme is directly proportional to the enthusiasm of the government implementing it. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) will soon be completing 20 years of its implementation. The fact that it has not only survived but also thrived under two regimes across multiple terms suggests its utility and popularity among the rural poor, though, under the National Democratic Alliance, the scheme has acquired a status of being an unwanted necessity after being seen initially as someone else’s baby. But as the COVID-19 pandemic showed, the MGNREGS was a necessity and vital in terms of the sustenance it provided to both rural workers and migrant labour returning to their rural homes after the lockdowns were announced. And it is fair to say that it is now seen as “unwanted”, as allocations in percentage terms of consecutive Budgets have reduced substantially since the pandemic (from 3.2% in FY21 to 1.78% in FY25 (BE)). Besides, despite the fact that the scheme is demand driven, inevitably leading to the allocation of additional funds beyond the budgeted expenditure, no extra allocation for MGNREGS has been made this financial year even as wages have been delayed and, due to this, demand also suppressed artificially. Reportedly, the Rural Development Ministry was short of ₹4,315 crore for the wages and the Centre has a liability of ₹5,715 crore against its share for material component of the works to be done under the scheme.

There are other issues with MGNREGS implementation that require attention — the need to adjust wages to inflation, and the issues concerning the seeding of job cards with the Aadhaar-based payment system, among others. But the core of the scheme remains the adequacy of the allocations made for it by the Centre. By pruning funds, the purpose of providing demand-driven employment is under-served and it is unfair to rural workers across the country who have used the scheme to augment their incomes, especially in the agricultural off-seasons. There has been much academic study detailing the fruits of the scheme — from helping the destitute to creating village assets such as irrigation canals, rural roads, and water conservation facilities. A demand-driven exercise such as this scheme also puts disposable income in the hands of the village poor and helps the rural economy. The importance of MGNREGS in a country still facing rural poverty needs no elaboration. The Union government must change its attitude towards the MGNREGS. A substantial allocation in the Union Budget, that is true to the demand for the scheme, would be a good start.



Source link

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Recent Comments