MGNREGS

The government is trying to "strangle" the rural job guarantee scheme as well as other welfare programmes by periodically cutting budget allocations, the CPI(M) has alleged. The latest editorial of the Left party's mouthpiece People's Democracy also criticised the introduction this year of the compulsory marking of attendance by workers under the scheme through mobile-based application 'National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS)'. "This has led to chaos at worksites across the country. With patchy internet connectivity, workers are reported to be spending hours just to get their attendance recorded. It is a life and death issue for them because failure to mark their attendance would mean loss of wages for the day," it claimed. "Imposition of this kind of hi-tech measures is a well known ploy of this government, ostensibly to tackle fraud. It has been imposed earlier in PDS distribution, in marking attendance of government school teachers, etc - all with similar chaotic and tragic ...

So far, Rs 99,348.53 crore has been spent on the scheme in FY23, which is against the Revised Estimates of Rs 90,000 crore in FY23. This means Rs 9,000-11,000 crore will be carried forward to the next

In a notification released on March 24, the Union Ministry of Rural Development declared revisions to the rural job guarantee programme for the financial year 2023-24

Gap remains despite a hike of up to 10.4% notified by the Centre for the coming financial year

For wage payment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Govt has decided, on the request of States, to have a mixed model for payment route up to March 31

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Monday said the allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS) has been reduced in the Budget for 2023-24 as more funds have been allocated towards Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission, which are expected to provide jobs to the same set of workers in rural areas. Nageswaran also said due to measures taken by the government, money in the hands of beneficiaries has doubled. "One of the reasons why allocation for MGNREGS was lowered is because there is a much larger substantive increase in allocation in particularly PMAY (rural) and Jal Jeevan Yojana. "...so the expectation is that the rural workers would be able to find jobs in these projects," he said at an event here. The allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme has been cut by almost one-third by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. MGNREGS has been allocated Rs 60,000 crore for 2023-24, almost 32 per cent lower th

The work demand under the MGNREGS hovered around the pre-pandemic level between July to November 2022, the Economic Survey released on Tuesday said, attributing it to the "normalisation of the rural economy" and "swift recovery from Covid-induced slowdown". According to the Economic Survey, which was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the current financial year, 6.49 crore households demanded employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) till January 24. Of them, 6.48 crore households were offered employment and 5.7 crore of them availed it, it said. "The number of persons demanding work under MGNREGS was seen to be trending around pre-pandemic levels from July to November 2022. This could be attributed to the normalisation of the rural economy due to strong agricultural growth and a swift recovery from Covid induced slowdown, culminating in better employment opportunities," the Survey said. According to the ..

Policymakers must be wary of using frameworks tailored by rich countries to address rich country problems when crafting India's inflation-control strategy

In the backdrop of two central teams visiting West Bengal for a field inspection of PM Awas Yojona-Gramin (PMAY-G) houses, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday hit out at the BJP-led government at the Centre saying it should stop doing politics and disburse funds for MGNREGS. She visited the Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday to review the preparations for the coming Gangasagar Mela. "I am here to visit Kapil Muni Ashram and not to do politics. The Centre must stop politics ... Ask it to release the funds for the 100 days' scheme," Banerjee said reacting to the news of the central team's visit. Two central teams of officials from the ministry of rural development have separately visited Purba Medinipur and Malda districts for rapid checking of PMAY-G houses there. In the past month, the state has received funds under the PM Awas Yojana, as well as for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme. Banerjee had a few days ago alleged that ther

War, weather and excess liquidity impacted Bharat, though year-end saw things looking up a bit

Experts said an institutionalised system of social audits will clear lots of doubt

The October work demand under the scheme, according to the MGNREGS website, is the lowest in a month so far in this financial year

In the petition, LoP Suvendu Adhikari, also sought an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in the matter.

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Experts say unless non-farm activities grow in rural areas or demand rises in the urban, the informal sector might continue to struggle

The rural development ministry has sought additional funds of about Rs 25,000 crore for the MGNREGS, in a clear indication of a rise in demand for work, sources said on Tuesday. The ministry has sought Rs 25,000 crore from the finance ministry and it is expected that the funds will be allocated by the second week of this month, the sources told PTI. In the Union Budget for 2022-23, an amount of Rs 73,000 crore was allocated for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Of this amount, about Rs 54,000 crore have been allocated to the states so far, the sources said. About 181 crore person days of work has also been generated under the programme so far, they added. The total expenditure on the MGNREGS is expected to touch the last financial year's level of Rs 98,000 crore. The government would take Parliament's approval for the additional fund allocation under the MNREGA through the first batch of the Supplementary Demands for Grants to be tabled in th

A rise in the demand for work under the scheme shows rising economic distress

The Centre has spent Rs 5 lakh crore on MGNREGA scheme during the past eight years, out of which 20 per cent was spent during the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. Speaking to reports in Kamareddy district of Telangana on Thursday, she said the state was given Rs 20,000 crore under the the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme in the past eight years. "During the past eight years, Telangana received Rs 20,000 crore under MGNREGA. During the same period all over the country Rs 5 lakh crore has been spent, out of which more than 20 per cent was spent in 2020-21 during COVID-19 pandemic," she said replying to a query. The important issue in this is survey teams will come (to any state) if there are any complaints that the money was not spent accordingly or there are any remarks in the audit report. Referring to the allegations that survey teams are being sent to curtail the scheme, she said the survey teams will come to correc

According to economists and policymakers, this reflects the continued lure of MGNREGS among rural manual casual labour despite a near resumption of economic activity, both in rural and urban areas

Income generation must be the focus of policy