UPSC Articles
MGNREGA: fewer jobs since July, wider demand-supply gap
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III Policy Vulnerable sections
In news
- Jobs generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have shown a dip compared to last year after July.
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is also witnessing a deceleration of activity .
- 2018-19, the year that preceded the Lok Sabha elections, saw a record number of households demanding as well as being provided employment under the flagship rural public works programme.
- In 2018-19, demand was registered from 5.88 crore households, and 5.27 crore of them were provided work.
Funds:
- For 2019-20, the Modi government has allocated Rs 60,000 crore towards MGNREGA. But out of this budgeted sum, Rs 9,493.80 crore would be required for clearing the liabilities of wages, material and administrative costs for previous years.
Fall in Employment due to:
- The fall in MGNREGA employment after July has been largely due to the onset of the southwest monsoon. Rainfall during the monsoon season (June-September) this year was 10% above the historical long-term average — the highest since 1994 — whereas it was 9.4% below average in 2018