On the completion of the first three months or 100 days of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the central scheme database of MGNREGA said that at least 1.4 lakh poor rural households had completed their quota of 100 days of work for this period.
Overall, 23 lakh households have already completed 60 days of work. Another seven lakh households have completed 80 days and are on the verge of running out of work. With almost 60,000 households which have completed 100 days of work, Chhattisgarh has the highest rate among States, followed by Andhra Pradesh with almost 24,500 households in this category.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, earlier known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed in 2005 to augment employment generation and social security in India. The act provides for 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
It functions under the Ministry of Rural Development. The primary objective of the scheme 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 covers all districts of India except the ones with 100% urban population. It is one of the largest work guarantee programmes in the world.
Impact of Covid-19 pandemic: The rapid spread of Covid-19 pandemic and panic due to the nationwide lockdown has resulted in thousands of migrant workers returning to their villages not just from cities, but also from company towns and rural areas leaving thousands of acres of prime agricultural fields lying fallow. This migration has resulted in severe food crisis in some parts of the country.
Increase in Demand for Work: The demand for MGNREGA work almost doubled in June as there is no other work available for many people. As a result, the economic motive for migration out of rural areas and into urban belts has increased dramatically, driven primarily by the hope of finding work and better livelihood opportunities.
Monsoon Season: As the monsoon dwindles away, the demand for work through MGNREGA has almost doubled. This is a clear example of how the monsoon often dictates the size of MGNREGA, with work demands increasing during the onset of the monsoon and declining as soon as it recedes.
Expansion of the Scheme: To bridge the gap between demand and supply of work, the Scheme of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has introduced the provision to enable States facing a critical shortage of funds due to non-receipt of the funds from the Centre to slow down the pace at which labour is provided. The States can slow down further in case of an exigency like natural disaster threatening a large number of people.
Change in limit: In the MGNREGA, the number of people who could get employment was limited to the household. This created a lot of problems because a family can have more than one adult individual working and still not get any work. To tackle this issue, the limit should be imposed per adult individual rather than per household.
Increase in Wage: An increase in wage is one of the most important problems in MGNREGS. An increase to ₹600 per day and 200 days per individual has been demanded by the people.
Farming: Farming is the one profession where you can work with nature. The agriculture industry provides maximum employment opportunities to migrant workers from Bihar. Most of them are uneducated and tend to seek farming as a cottage industry. MGNREGA is the best tool for this kind of people because it gives agricultural land on lease to these farmers and not only provides tools at subsidized rates but also ensures that they receive employment at minimal wages.
Government Initiatives: The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India has brought a new scheme for the workers of MGNREGA in Haryana State. By this scheme, the people who have been working under the scheme will get a hike of Rs. 2000 each on an average.
