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Can raising the approved labour budget from 280.76 crore person-days to 306.6 crore person-days help the unskilled returnee migrants who prefer MGNREGA to Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan?

Although social activists and concerned economists demanded at least Rs. 1 lakh crore to be earmarked in favour of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Finance Minister in her budget speech on 1st February allocated only Rs.61,500 crore to it for the financial year 2020-21. As compared to the fund spent on MGNREGA in 2019-20 (i.e. revised estimate of Rs.71,001.81 crore), the amount set aside for the scheme in 2020-21 was around Rs.9,501.81 crore less.

About two months later, a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown was imposed, which was like a bolt from the blue for the majority of the population. The lockdown not only impacted economic activities in both the formal and informal sectors badly, it also choked the supply chains (please click here and here to know more). Following the sudden imposition of the lockdown on March 25th, 2020, reverse migration of informal and income-poor migrant workers to villages or native places from cities and urban areas became a common sight, especially during March-May. Hence, the call for MGNREGA's expansion became stronger so as to support rural livelihoods. 

As a routine exercise, MGNREGA wages across the states/ UTs are revised annually just ahead of the new financial year i.e. in March. This year too, on March 23rd the average MGNREGA wage rate was raised by an average Rs. 20/- per day i.e. from Rs.182.1 in 2019-20 to Rs.202.5 in 2020-21 with effect from 1st April, 2020. The government, however, announced that the wage hike was a part of the relief package under the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana. The wage increase under MGNREGA has been expected to provide an additional Rs.2,000 benefit to a worker annually, according to the government. It estimated that the enhancement in wage rates would economically benefit approximately 13.62 crore families.

Criticising the government, a press release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated 26th March, 2020, however, clarified that the Finance Minister’s announcement of providing an average of Rs.2,000/- extra per household annually through the rural employment guarantee scheme was a misnomer. In fact, the wage rate increase, which was announced on 23rd March, 2020, is a regular adjustment against inflation that is made every year. That should not have been termed as an "additional resource" as Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned. On top of that, the Central Government did not adhere to the constitutional norm of providing minimum wages to MGNREGA workers. Given that a large number of migrant workers trudged back to their native villages due to the lockdown, many more rural residents would require work under MGNREGA in the financial year 2020-21. In such extraordinary circumstances, the number of days of permissible work per rural household should not be limited to 100 days per year, said the press release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha.

In May this year, an additional amount of Rs.40,000 crore was earmarked for MGNREGA under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan to provide employment to needy workers during the difficult period that emerged as a result of the pandemic. A sum of Rs.28,000 crore was released straightaway to the states/ UTs, according to a government document dated 2nd June, 2020.

In the present news alert, we ask whether the government’s allocation of Rs. 1,01,500 crore is sufficient to create enough MGNREGA jobs for the needy and the marginalised, including the migrants who returned back from cities to their native places. Data related to the status of MGNREGA (as on June 28th, July 7th, July 8th and July 9th) has been accessed from ‘At a Glance’ (mnregaweb4.nic.in/netnrega/all_lvl_details_dashboard_new.aspx) and ‘MIS Reports’ (http://mnregaweb4.nic.in/netnrega/MISreport4.aspx) sections of the scheme's official website https://nrega.nic.in/netnrega/home.aspx.

Approved labour budget and work actually generated

The approved labour budget for MGNREGA in 2014-15 was 220.67 crore person-days, which was expanded by almost 8.4 percent to 239.11 crore person-days in 2015-16. The approved labour budget in 2018-19 was 256.56 crore person-days and in 2019-20, it was 276.76 crore person-days. As compared to 2014-15, the approved labour budget in 2019-20 was nearly 25.4 percent higher. Kindly check chart-1.

Chart 1: Approved labour budget (in crore person-days)

Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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Please note that the approved labour budget in the beginning of the current financial year was estimated to be 280.76 crore person-days. However, with the additional infusion of Rs.40,000 crore into MGNREGA, the government expects that it will generate nearly 306.6 crore person-days of work in total, which can accommodate returnee migrant workers during the monsoon season of 2020-21 as well.

Given the fact that millions of unskilled migrant workers returned back to their villages/ native places from cities and urban areas following the implementation of COVID-19 lockdown, the approved labour budget should have been hiked more to support rural livelihoods. Media reports suggest that most workers are choosing MGNREGA over Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan since most of them are unskilled, low-skilled or semi-skilled (please click here, here and here). Noted social activist Debmalya Nandy, who is associated with NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, thinks that the recently launched Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, which is expected to cover 116 high migrant “districts of six states”, has received no additional budgetary allocation. The scheme is simply a convergence of 12 line departments/ ministries to execute existing asset generation programmes belonging to 25 public works categories. The government would have done better had the scheme been launched with adequate budgetary support in all rural districts of the country. It may seem that the scheme has been launched to gain politically from it since 32 out of 38 districts of Bihar (where assembly elections would take place soon) are going to benefit from it.  

In many states, including Bihar, returnee migrant workers, who applied for MGNREGA jobs were turned back because of inadequate MGNREGA work and insufficient financial support. They did not even receive unemployment allowance despite not being provided jobs within 15 days of applying for it.  

In the current financial year, 8.2 crore persons demanded work under MGNREGA, whereas only 6.5 crore persons employment has been provided in the country, as on 9th July, 2020. Similarly, in Bihar, which sends its workers to economically better performing states for earning livelihoods, around 43 lakh workers demanded MGNREGA employment in 2020-21, as on 9th July, 2020. However, work could be provided to only 32.5 lakh workers.

Please note that the average cost per person per day under MGNREGA has been calculated as Rs. 230.8 in 2020-21, which is lower than what existed in financial years 2018-19 (i.e. Rs. 247.2) and 2019-20 (i.e. Rs. 240.8).

It may be noted that labour budget under MGNREGA refers to an advanced labour estimate for execution of a shelf of works for the next financial year. The advance assessment of labour demand in a district takes into account seasonality aspects along with the examination of employment and livelihood opportunities in the respective rural areas. On the basis of labour budget estimates, the Union Government projects its central liability towards the districts. For more information, please click here and here.

On comparing chart-1 against chart-2, one finds that the work expected to be generated under MGNREGA as per the approved labour budget exceeded the actual number of person-days of work created in the fiscal years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2019-20.

Against the approved labour budget of 256.56 crore person-days of work, the actual work generated was 267.96 crore person-days in 2018-19. The same situation is observed (i.e. work provided being greater than approved labour budget) for 2016-2017 and 2017-18. Readers may note that demonetisation was implemented in the year 2016-17, which could have pushed up demand for MGNREGA jobs in rural areas in the absence of alternative work opportunities. The note ban severely affected the informal economy and the agrarian sector.

Chart 2: Work generated so far (in crore person-days)

Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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Against the projected work of 25.4 crore person-days, actual work generated up to April 2020 was 14.1 crore person-days. Against the projected work of approximately 68 crore person-days, actual work generated up to May 2020 was 70.9 crore person-days. The actual work generated (about 125.6 crore person-days) under MGNREGA exceeded projected work (nearly 110.3 crore person-days) up to June 2020, as on 8th July, 2020.

It can be added here that around 2.18 lakh households completed 100 days of wage employment in the current fiscal year under MGNREGA, as on 07th July, 2020. We will discuss more about this later.

Employment of the last resort for the poor and the marginalised

There is a high demand for jobs under MGNREGA among rural persons belonging to Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Caste (SCs) groups. It is because both income and non-income poverty is relatively higher among persons who are SCs or STs as compared to persons from general caste. Wages earned from MGNREGA help in sustaining the livelihoods of the poor men and women who are eager to do unskilled manual work under the scheme.  

Data from the official MGNREGA website shows that out of the total work created (in person-days) in the year 2014-15, 22.4 percent of work went to SC workers. Over the years, this proportion decreased (with the exception of 2017-18 when it saw a slight jump as compared to the previous year), and it finally reached 19.74 percent in 2019-20. Kindly consult chart-3.

Chart 3: Work for SCs (in person-days) as a proportion of total work (in person-days), in %

Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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However, one finds a different trend in case of ST workers. Person-days of work created for ST workers as a proportion of the total work (in person-days) was almost 17 percent in 2014-15. This proportion increased to 17.8 percent in 2015-16. The figure was 17.4 percent in 2018-19 and 18.3 percent in 2019-20. Please check chart-4 for details.

Chart 4: Work for STs (in person-days) as a proportion of total work (in person-days), in %

Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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Out of the total work created (in person-days) in the year 2014-15, 54.9 percent work went to women workers. This proportion increased to 55.3 percent in 2015-16. In 2018-19, the related figure was 54.6 percent and it remained almost the same in 2019-20 i.e. 54.7 percent. Kindly consult chart-5.

Chart 5: Work for women (in person-days) as a proportion of total work (in person-days), in %

Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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MIS data related to the official MGNREGA website shows that 20.4 percent of total work (in person-days) has gone to SC workers and 18.9 percent of total work has been accessed by ST workers in the current financial year, as on 7th July, 2020. Almost 52 percent of total MGNREGA work (in person-days) has gone to women workers in the current year.

Studies indicate that most of the informal sector activities are performed by SC and ST migrant workers, besides women workers. So, when the lockdown was imposed, it affected them the most and they left cities to return back to their villages/ native places. It is likely that most of the SC and ST male workers applied for MGNREGA work after reaching their villages. A number of recent studies (please click here and here) also indicate that the lockdown impacted women in a different way. Although their employment in paid work has reduced, the burden of unpaid care work, which they carry, has increased after the lockdown.    

Employment generated by MGNREGA

Top economists C Rangarajan and S Mahendra Dev have calculated that if 100 days of guaranteed employment is given to 5.48 crore households in rural areas with a daily wage rate of Rs. 202.5 per person, then the total expenditure that should be ideally incurred by the government would be Rs. 1.44 lakh crores in the ongoing financial year. Presently, the MGNREGA provides around 50 days of employment in a year on an average, although the Act guarantees 100 days of employment. That is why the present allocation of Rs.1,01,500 crore for the scheme is inadequate. If the duration of guaranteed work is extended from 100 days to 150 days for 5.48 crore rural households under MGNREGA, then the government would have to spend Rs. 2.16 lakh crores in 2020-21. Please see the table below.


 
Source: A safety net, post Covid: We need to provide minimum income for poor and vulnerable -C Rangarajan and S Mahendra Dev, The Indian Express, 3rd July, 2020, please click here to access
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Critics of MGNREGA often argue that the scheme has failed to provide 100 days of employment to most unskilled manual workers who applied for work. However, non-payment of MGNREGA wages on time to workers and meagerly revision of daily wage rates annually, among other things, have kept the poor away from the scheme in many states. It is worth noting that in January 2009, the Government of India issued a notification under Section 6(1) of the MGNREGA, which delinked MGNREGA wages from the Minimum Wage Act freezing MGNREGA wages at the prevailing state minimum wage or up to Rs. 100 per day. At present, MGNREGA wage rates in many states/ UTs are not only below the market wage rates, but also below the minimum wage rates for unskilled agricultural labourers.

In 2014-15, the average number of days of employment provided per household was around 40.2 days, which increased to 48.9 days in 2015-16 i.e. a rise by 21.6 percent. The average number of days of employment provided per household under MGNREGA stood at 50.9 days in 2018-19, which fell to 48.4 days in 2019-20. Please check chart-6.

Chart 6: Average number of days of employment per household in a year


 
Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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The proportion of households that completed 100 days of work under MGNREGA in 2014-15 was only 6 percent. This proportion increased to around 10.1 percent in 2015-16. In 2018-19, this proportion stood at around 9.98 percent, but it fell to 7.4 percent in 2019-20.

MIS data from the official website shows that the proportion of households that have completed 100 days of work under MGNREGA in the current financial year is 0.46 percent, as on 7th July, 2020.

In 2014-15, 6.22 crore individuals worked under MGNREGA, which increased to 7.23 crores in 2015-16 i.e. by 16.2 percent. In 2018-19, 7.77 crore individuals worked under the scheme, whereas 7.89 crore workers were employed in it during 2019-20. Kindly see chart-7 for details.

Chart 7: Total number of individuals who worked in MGNREGA (in crores)

Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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During April-June 2020, employment provided by MGNREGA was 125.6 crore person-days. However, in the corresponding period last year, employment provided by MGNREGA was 96.5 crore person-days. Hence, employment under MGNREGA has seen a hike of 29.1 crore person-days between April-June 2019 and April-June 2020. This happened despite the fact that the government allowed MGNREGA work only from April 20th, roughly a month after the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed, and released funds for it tardily, as per the revised lockdown guidelines.

As stated earlier, the government has enlarged the labour budget from 280.76 crore person-days to 306.6 crore person-days by infusing an additional fund of Rs.40,000 crore over and above Rs.61,500 crore, which was originally set aside for MGNREGA in the Union Budget.

Average daily wage rate under MGNREGA

The average daily wage rate per person under MGNREGA was Rs.143.9 in 2014-15, which increased to Rs.154.1 in 2015-16 i.e. by 7.1 percent. The average daily wage rate per person stood at Rs.179.1 in 2018-19 and Rs.182.1 in 2019-20. Please check chart-8.

Chart 8: Average wage rate per day per person (in Rs.)


 
Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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The Annual Report on Period Labour Force Survey 2017-18 had found that the average daily wage earnings (in rural areas) by casual labour engaged in works other than public works ranged between Rs.253 to Rs.282 among males and roughly Rs.166 to Rs.179 among females during July-September 2017, October-December  2017, January-March 2018 and April-June 2018. As against that, the average daily wage earnings by casual labour engaged in MGNREG public works in rural areas ranged between Rs.141 to Rs.171 among males and nearly Rs.131 to Rs.165 among females during July-September 2017, October-December 2017, January-March 2018 and April-June 2018.

Seeing the massive influx of returnee migrants in villages from cities, MGNREGA workers recently demanded a daily wage rate of at least Rs. 600 per person, besides 200 days of employment and stricter implementation of locally planned works.

Gram panchayats incurring no expenditure

In 2014-15, there were 39,531 such gram panchayats, which incurred zero MGNREGA expenditure. In 2015-16, the number of such gram panchayats was 39,469. The number of gram panchayats which incurred zero expenditure were 10,978 in 2018-19 and 10,957 in 2019-20. Please see chart-9.

Chart 9: Total number of gram panchayats with nil expenditure

Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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It may be added here that the total number of Gram Panchayats (GPs) that did not enter 'labour projection' is 35,206 in the ongoing financial year, which is 13.3 percent of total GPs, as on 9th July 2020. The total number of GPs that did not enter 'work projection' is 47,980 in the ongoing financial year, which is 18.1 percent of total GPs, as on 9th July 2020. In GPs that did not enter labour projection and/or work projection, expenditure on MGNREGA is likely to be lesser.

Various works performed under MGNREGA

The total number of completed works as a proportion of total number of works taken up was 30.1 percent in 2014-15. In 2015-16, this figure was 29.4 percent. In the 2018-19, the total number of completed works as a proportion of total number of works taken up was 45.8 percent. In 2019-20 the related figure went down to around 37 percent.

As per https://vikaspedia.in, works under MGNREGA can be classified mainly into:

1. Category A: Public Works Relating to Natural Resources Management;

2. Category B: Individual Assets for Vulnerable Sections (Only for Households in Paragraph 5 of Schedule I);

3. Category C: Common Infrastructure for DAY -NRLM Compliant Self-Help Groups;

4. Category D: Rural Infrastructure; and

5. Individual farmer’s land.

The share of expenditure on works related to natural resource management-NRM (i.e. Category A) in total MGNREGA spending was 55.4 percent in 2014-15, which increased to 59.7 percent in 2015-16. In 2018-19, this figure stood at 58.8 percent and in 2019-20, it was 62.1 percent. In the current financial year, the share of expenditure on works related to NRM in total MGNREGA spending is almost 79 percent, as on 8th July, 2020.

‘Category A’ work can help in protecting vulnerable and marginalised communities from droughts and rainfall deficit. They include the following:

* Water conservation and water harvesting structures to augment and improve groundwater like underground dykes, earthen dams, stop dams, check dams with special focus on recharging groundwater including drinking water sources;
* Watershed management works such as contour trenches, terracing, contour bunds, boulder checks, gabion structures and spring shed development resulting in a comprehensive treatment of a watershed;
* Micro and minor irrigation works and creation, renovation and maintenance of irrigation canals and drains;
* Renovation of traditional water bodies including desilting of irrigation tanks and other water bodies;
* Afforestation, tree plantation and horticulture in common and forest lands, road margins, canal bunds, tank foreshores and coastal belts duly providing right to usufruct to the households covered in Paragraph 5; and
* Land development works in common land.

The share of works related to individual assets for vulnerable sections (i.e. Category B) in total MGNREGA works was 21.4 percent in 2014-15, which increased to 33.8 percent in 2015-16. In 2018-19, this figure stood at 67.6 percent and in 2019-20, it was almost 67 percent. In the current financial year, the share of works related to ‘Category B’ in total MGNREGA works is around 63 percent, as on 8th July, 2020.

‘Category B’ works include the following:

* Improving productivity of lands of households specified in Paragraph 5 through land development and by providing suitable infrastructure for irrigation including dug wells, farm ponds and other water harvesting structures;
* Improving livelihoods through horticulture, sericulture, plantation, and farm forestry;
* Development of fallow or wastelands of households defined in Paragraph 5 of the Schedule I to bring it under cultivation;
* Unskilled wage component in construction of houses sanctioned under the Awaas Yojana or such other State or Central Government Scheme;
* Creating infrastructure for promotion of livestock such as, poultry shelter, goat shelter, piggery shelter, cattle shelter and fodder troughs for cattle; and
* Creating infrastructure for promotion of fisheries such as, fish drying yards, storage facilities, and promotion of fisheries in seasonal water bodies on public land.

The share of expenditure on works related to agriculture and allied activities in total MGNREGA spending was 52.8 percent in 2014-15, which increased to 62.9 percent in 2015-16. In 2018-19, this figure stood at 63.4 percent and in 2019-20, it was 66.4 percent. In the current financial year, the share of expenditure on works related to agriculture and allied activities in total MGNREGA spending is 79.9 percent, as on 8th July, 2020. Please consult chart-10.

Chart 10: Percentage expenditure on agriculture and allied works, in %


 
Source: ‘At a Glance’ section of MGNREGA official website, please click here to access (Last accessed on 28th June, 2020)
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With the additional Rs.40,000 crore allocated for MGNREGA, the government wants to create large number of durable and livelihood assets, including water conservation assets that would boost the rural economy through higher production.

 

[Please note that Nabarun Sengupta and Balu N Varadaraj, who are doing their MA in Development Studies (1st year) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, assisted the Inclusive Media for Change team in preparing this news alert on MGNREGA. They did this work as part of their summer internship at the Inclusive Media for Change project in June-July 2020.]

 

References:

Press note: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan on 20th June 2020 to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for migrant workers returning to villages, in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Prime Minister's Office, Press Information Bureau, dated 20th June, 2020, please click here to access

Press note: All-time high amount of Rs. 61,500 crore allocated under MGNREGA for the FY 2020-21; Additional provision of Rs. 40,000 crore made for this programme under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan to provide employment during the difficult period arising of COVID-19, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, dated 2nd June, 2020, please click here to access 

Press Release: Finance Minister announces Government Reforms and Enablers across Seven Sectors under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, Ministry of Finance, Press Information Bureau, dated 17th May, 2020, please click here to access

Press release: Finance Minister announces Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib KalyanYojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus, Ministry of Finance, Press Information Bureau, dated 26th March, 2020, please click here to access

State-wise wage rate for unskilled manual workers (i.e MGNREGA workers), Ministry of Rural Development Gazette Notification, dated 23rd March, 2020, please click here to access

Budget Speech by the Finance Minister dated 1st February 2020, please click here to access

Notes on Demands for Grants, 2020-2021, Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Budget Documents, Ministry of Finance, please click here to access

Annual Report on Periodic Labour Force Survey (July 2017 - June 2018), National Statistical Office, released in May 2019, please click here to access

Discussion Paper no. 30: The Covid-19 Lockdown in India: Gender and Caste Dimensions of the First Job Losses -Ashwini Deshpande, released in June 2020, Department of Economics, Ashoka University, please click here to access

CSE Working Paper: Pandemic, informality, and vulnerability: Impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods in India -Surbhi Kesar, Rosa Abraham, Rahul Lahoti, Paaritosh Nath and Amit Basole, released in June 2020, Center for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University, please click here to access

COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Agriculture and Rural Economy -Vikas Rawal, Manish Kumar, Ankur Verma and Jesim Pais, Society for Social and Economic Research Monograph 20/3, please click here and here to access

'Unlocking the Urban: Reimagining Migrant Lives in Cities Post-COVID 19', Aajeevika Bureau, released on 1st May, 2020, please click here to access

MGNREGA workers demand Rs. 600 as minimum daily wage rate, besides 200 days of employment and strict implementation of locally planned works, Press release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated June 29th, 2020, please click here to access

FM’s announcement of Rs 1.7 lakh crore in the wake of COVID-19, is less than half of the Rs. 3.75 lakh crores required to fulfill the minimal “emergency measures”, convey concerned citizens & grassroots activists, Press releases by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated 26th March, 2020, please click here to access

News alert: SWAN’s third report outlines the perpetual plight of migrants in terms of food shortage, income insecurity and travel difficulties during lockdown, Inclusive Media for Change,  Published on June 14th, 2020, please click here to access

News alert: Lockdown led to massive job losses, show early results of an ongoing telephonic survey, Inclusive Media for Change, Published on May 13th, 2020, please click here to access

News alert: MGNREGA allocation is way off the mark to uplift the rural economy & address economic downturn, say Right to Work activists, Inclusive Media for Change, Published on February 3rd, 2020, please click here to access

News alert: No change in MGNREGA wage rates observed between 2018-19 and 2019-20 for 4 states & 2 UTs, Inclusive Media for Change, Published on April 16th, 2019, please click here to access

News alert: Country's non-income-based poverty level has fallen over the past 10 years, shows new report, Inclusive Media for Change, Published on October 30th, 2018, please click here to access

COVID-19 rural crisis: Why MGNREGA needs a harder push -Debmalya Nandy, Down to Earth, 5th July, 2020, please click here to access

Reset rural job policies, recognise women’s work -Madhura Swaminathan, The Hindu, 4th July, 2020, please click here to access

A safety net, post Covid: We need to provide minimum income for poor and vulnerable -C Rangarajan and S Mahendra Dev, The Indian Express, 3rd July, 2020, please click here to access

Utilise MGNREGA to the fullest capacity -Brinda Karat, The Hindu, 1st July, 2020, please click here to access

86 per cent jump in MGNREGA demand in districts most migrants returned to -Harikishan Sharma, The Indian Express, 29th June, 2020, please click here to access 

Of UP govt’s 1.25 crore jobs, over 1 crore went to MGNREGA and MSME sectors -Maulshree Seth, The Indian Express, 27th June, 2020, please click here to access

Will Bihar's Economy Rise to the Reverse Migration Challenge? -Santosh Mehrotra and Baikunth Roy, TheWire.in, 23rd June, 2020, please click here to access

Uttar Pradesh employed 57.13 lakh under MGNREGA, ‘highest in country’ -Maulshree Seth, The Indian Express, 16th June, 2020, please click here to access

How covid-19 locked out women from jobs -Rukmini S, Livemint.com, 11th June, 2020, please click here to access

How many migrant workers displaced? A range of estimates -Seema Chishti, The Indian Express, 8th June, 2020, please click here to access

 

Image Courtesy: NREGA Sangharsh Morcha