Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
#GS 02 Social Justice
For Prelims
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was launched on 2nd February 2006 under the MGNREG Act.
- Its aim is to guarantee 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.
- It also aims to create durable assets in rural areas such as wells, ponds, roads and canals.
- MGNREGS can help reduce migration from rural areas to urban areas, thereby reducing the population stress felt by major cities in India.
Provisions of MGNREGS:
- Unlike previous employment guarantee schemes, MGNREGS aims at tackling the root causes of poverty by creating a rights–based framework which will also help to improve public infrastructure.
- The statutory obligations of MGNREGS says that at least one-third of beneficiaries have to be women.
- The minimum wages specified for agricultural labourers in the state under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 must be paid to workers under MGNREGA.
- Employment must be provided to the applicant within 15 days of the application.
- Works conducted under MGNREGS must undergo social audit.
- The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) is the implementing agency for MGNREGS.
The Eligibility criteria:
- The applicant must be a citizen of India.
- They must have completed 18 years of age at the time of application.
- The applicant must be part of a local household in a rural area.
Women in MGNREGS:
- Percentage of women workers participating in the MGNREGS has reached a 10-year high in the financial year 2022–23.
- As per the Union Rural Development Ministry, 57.8% of the total workers employed in MGNREGS this year were women.
- Bihar and UP showed the highest growth in women workers while the percentage of women workers dipped slightly in Kerala.
Source “States must pay part of MGNREGS wages, says Union Minister“
