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According to the report, employment generated under MNREGA has declined by 16.6% in the first half of the current financial year compared to the previous year, while the number of active workers has declined by 8%.
According to the report of Libtech India, between April and September this year, employment opportunities under MNREGA have reduced significantly to 154 crore person-days, whereas in the same period last year this figure was 184 crore person-days. symbolic image
According to a report, employment generated under the Centre’s flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has declined by 16.6% in the first half of the current financial year compared to the previous year, with the sharpest decline in Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Has been seen. The report on the implementation of the scheme by non-profit Libtech India was released on Friday.
The report also notes that the number of active workers (meaning those seeking work even for a day in the last three financial years) has declined by 8% in April-September 2024-25 compared to the same period. Last year. It said that the data for analysis has been taken from the official MGNREGS website till October 10, 2024.
Government response
Responding to AyraNews24x7’s query on the concerns raised in the report, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) said that MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment scheme that provides enhanced livelihood security to households in rural areas of the country. At least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in each financial year to every household whose adult members are willing to do unskilled manual work.
“It provides livelihood security, i.e., provides alternative livelihood options to rural households when no better employment opportunities are available,” the ministry said.
According to MoRD’s reply, during the current financial year 2024-25 (till October 25, 2024), the total number of active workers is 13.20 crore, while the employment offer to households is 99.81% against the demand.
The budget estimate is also increasing. The ministry said that during FY 2023-24, the budget allocation was Rs 60,000 crore in the BE phase, which is Rs 86,000 crore during the current FY 2024-25.
decline in person-days
According to the report of Libtech India, between April and September this year, employment opportunities under MNREGA have reduced significantly to 154 crore person-days, whereas in the same period last year this figure was 184 crore person-days.
According to the report, in 2022-23, the number of person-days generated during the same period was 166 crore.
Man-days generated under MGNREGA refer to the number of days of employment provided to rural households under the scheme.
After increasing from 166 crore to 184 crore in financial year 2022-23 – which was an increase of 10% – the current financial year has seen a significant decline, with person-days falling to 153 crore, the report said That is a decrease of 16.6%.
It highlighted that 14 states saw a decline in the number of work-days generated, while six states saw an increase in April-September 2024-25 compared to the same period in 2023-24.
Tamil Nadu (59.1%) and Odisha (49.7%) saw the biggest declines of 59.1% and 49.7% respectively, while Maharashtra saw the biggest increase in person-days at 66% and Himachal Pradesh at 53.4%.
Notably, the list of states does not include data from West Bengal, as the scheme has been halted there since December 2021, when the Union Rural Development Ministry pulled the plug, citing rampant corruption in the state and invoking Section 27. The money was stopped. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
“It is reasonable to speculate that if the wrongfully terminated workers had been reinstated, the number of person-days generated would have been even higher, highlighting the substantial dependence of workers on NREGA. This observation emphasizes the consistently high and growing demand for employment opportunities under the scheme,” the report said.
NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, a civil society organization that works together for workers’ rights and is also part of releasing the report, said the low number of person-days is not a fall in demand but a reduction in work opportunities.
Nikhil Dey, a member of NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, said, “The decline in person-days shows that the number of workers participating in the scheme is falling, not because of less demand but because of a number of factors that are affecting job seekers. are also unable to find work, which includes removal of job cards or making them ineligible under the mandatory Aadhaar based payment system (ABPS). The second factor is the low budget under the scheme for the last three years, which is not giving much opportunities for work under the scheme to the vulnerable rural population.
ABPS was made mandatory on January 1 this year.
39 lakh job cards deleted
According to the report, while 85 lakh workers were removed from MNREGA, only 45 lakh were added. Thus, the net deletion of workers was 39 lakh, which has increased the concern of wrongful termination.
“The failure of state governments to adequately address wrongful deletion, coupled with strong pressure from the central government to implement an Aadhaar-based payment system, has exacerbated the issue,” the report said.
According to Libtech India’s report last year, more than 8 crore workers were removed from the MNREGA registry during financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Assam and Odisha are among the few states that have reported 4 to 14 percent net extinction.
According to the report, 27.4 per cent (6.7 crore) of all MGNREGS workers are ineligible for APBS. Although the Center has directed states not to deny work under the scheme to people ineligible for ABPS, the report said, “We have found 200 cases in 10 states where workers (ineligible for ABPS) were sent to the frontline. Being deprived of work by the officials. There is a fear of not getting wages.”
According to the MoRD’s reply in the Lok Sabha in February this year, a total of 85.64 lakh (as of February 1, 2024) job cards have been deleted for various reasons including “duplicate job card”, “not willing to work”, “not willing to work”, etc. Family permanently moved from Gram Panchayat”, and “Not a single person on job card, which has expired”.
