Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)

After the notification of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Acton September 7, 2005, a new scheme named "National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)" (which later on the Act changed with the name Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) has been launched on February 2, 2006.
The ongoing programmes of Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) and National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) were subsumed within the NREGS in the 200 districts identified in the initial stage.
Implemented by the Ministry of Rurral Development, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is a flagship programme of the government that directly touches lives of the poor and promotes inclusive growth.
The salient features of MGNREGA are as follows:
Right hased Framework : For adult members of a rural household willing to do unskilled manual work.
Time bound Guarantee : 15 days for provision of employment, else uneIl1ployment allowance.
Guaranteed Employment: Upto 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year per household, depending on the actual demand.
Labour Intensive Works: 60: 40 wage and material ratio for permissible works at the Gram Panchayat, no contractors/machinery.
Decentralized Planning
- Gram Sabhas to recommend works.
- At least 50% of works by Gram Panchayats for execution.
- Principal role of PRIs in planning, monitoring and implementation.
Work site facilities: Creche, drinking water, first aid and shade provided at worksites.
Women empowerment: Priority shall be given to women in such a way that at least one third of the beneficiaries shall be women who have registered and requested for work under this Act.
Transparency & Accountability: Proactive disclosure through Social Audit Grievance Redressal Mechanism.
Funding: 90% borne by Central Government and 10% by State Government.
- The Act came into force on February 2, 2006 and was implemented in a phased manner. In Phase one it was introduced in 200 of the most backward districts of the country.
- It was expanded to 330 districts during 2007-08. The Act has been notified throughout the country with effect from April 1, 2008.
- Mahatma Gandhi NREGA aims at providing not less than 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household, with a stipulation of one-third participation of women, through creation of assets that address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation, and soil erosion, thus encouraging sustainable development.
- With an outlay of Rs.33.000 crore in 2013-14, the scheme provided 219·72 crore person days of employment to 4.78 crore households with an average wage employment of 46 persondays.
- The share of women, SC and ST persondays in this period was 48 per cent and 48% respectively.
- With wages indexed to the consumer price index for agricultural labour (CPI-AL), the average wage under the scheme has increased from Rs. 65 in FY 2006-07 to Rs.132 in FY 2013-14, resulting in improvement in the bargaining power of agriculture labour. It has also led to improved economic outcomes, especially in watershed activities, and reduction in distress migration.
- MGNREGA is the first ever law internationally, that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale. The primary objective of the Act is augmenting wage employment.
- Its auxiliary objective is strengthening natural resource management through works that address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion and so encourage sustainable development.
- The process outcomes include strengthering grassroot processes of democracy and infusing transparency and accountability in governance.
- The Gram Panchayat is the single most important implementationagency for executing works as the Act mandates earmarking a minimum of 50 per cent of the works in terms of costs to be executed by the Gram Panchayat.
- This statutory minimum, upto hundred per cent of the work may be allotted to the Gram Panchayat (GP) in the annual Shelf of Projects (SoP).
Some Recent Initiatives under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA
Inter-departmental convergence and collaboration activities like construction of individual household latrines under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA), construction of anganwadi centres under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, construction of village playfields under the Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan, and convergence with watershed management programmes.
Steps to open individual bank/post office accounts for ail women workers.
Identifying and providing job cards to widowed, deserted, and destitute women.
Initiatives for the disabled and other vulnerable persons by fixing schedule of rates (SoR) based on work and time motion study at state level.
Adding new works to the existing list of permissible works specifically focused on rural livelihood and agricultural activities.
Wage Rates under MGNREGA Raised
Union government has linked the wages paid under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) with the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labours on January 6, 2011, government announced to pay wages to labourers under MNREGS as per the Consumer Price Index for Agriculture Labours (CPI-AL).
As per the initial provisions of MNREGA, a worker was entitled for Rs.100 as wage per day for minimum of 100 days in a year.
Now, after getting associated with inflation index, MNREGA worker will get more wage than Rs.100 per day. As per the revised structure, linked with CPI-AL, wages in MNREGA in different states will go up between 17 to 30 per cent on the base of Rs.100. This move will benefit 5 crore workers in the country.
The enhanced rates of wages under MNREGS has become effective since January 1, 2011