Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

Avani Kapur, Vastav Irava, Meghna Paul , Sanjana Malhotra
(2021)

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is Government of India’s (GoI’s) flagship scheme to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a Financial Year (FY) to every rural household that demands work. To boost employment opportunities and cater to increased demand from an estimated 67 lakh returnee migrant workers, GoI launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) in mission mode for 116 districts across six states of the country.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this brief uses government data to report on:

■ Trends in MGNREGS allocations, releases, and expenditures;
■ Scheme performance with respect to wages paid and employment provided given the increased demand for work; and
■ Trends in finances and employment generation under GKRA.