Approach:

Introduction: Tell what MGNREGA is and state its significance.

Body: State some achievements and then limitations.

Conclusion: Mention recent government initiatives and suggest further measures.

Answer:

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005 provided a framework for the world’s biggest employment guarantee scheme with recognition of a legalised right to work for 100 days, based on the demand of any rural adult failing which an unemployment allowance is to be provided. This ensures employment to the rural youth and thus helps in poverty eradication through adequate economic activity in rural India.

To further ensure its effective implementation, the Central government has recently decided to make digital technology universal for capturing workers’ attendance.

Achievements of MGNREGA and MGNREGS:

• Helps people in distress times such as during a pandemic to tackle work demands due to huge migration.
• Legalised the right to work as part of the right to life changing the paradigm around employment.
• Helped reduce poverty among the poor as well as socially weaker actions. According to the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) 2021 report, MGNREGS reduced poverty by up to 32 per cent from 2004-05 to 2011-12.
• Decentralised planning by Panchayati Raj Institutions to help plan at a local level as per people’s priorities along with the provision of social audits empowering people.
• Main driver for water conservation at a local level as 143 lakh hectares of land benefitted through these interventions between 2014 to 2018 as per the NREGA portal.

Limitations in MGNREGA and its implementation:

• Low wage rates result in a lack of interest among workers. In 2018, wages in 17 states were less than their corresponding minimum wages.
• Insufficient budget allocation-As per PAEG( People’s Action for Employment Guarantee), budget allocation for MGNREGA in 2022 was 34% less than the revised budget for 2020-21.
• Regular payment delays such as in the processing of Fund Transfer Orders, which are not considered delays in Management Information Systems ( MIS). Caste-based payments in 2021 due to a central government circular further created a furore. Such delays affect people’s trust.
• Technology and accountability-Allegations of faulty MIS data, fake job cards and fictitious names, thus accountability not being ensured with a centralised use of technology.
• Centre-state collaboration issues-Workers get penalised due to administrative lapses such as centre withholding payments when states do not meet requirements like timely filing of utilisation certificates etc.
• Allegedly, the creation of non-productive assets temporary assets with little focus on meaningful infrastructure creation.

 These limitations create roadblocks in uplifting rural areas from poverty by ensuring employment. Thus, recent steps taken by the government to tackle these limitations are:

• Formation of a 9-member panel by the centre to study governance issues, and performance of states alongside examining factors affecting demand for wage employment in MGNREGA.
• Geotagging of assets created in real-time to check over corruption.

Further steps need to be taken such as better coordination among the centre and state and further streamlining MIS to deal with delays. Moreover, local people should be empowered to regularly conduct social audits. Convergence with the green India initiative, skill development initiatives can be deliberated upon to further improve workforce quality as well as integrate social justice and sustainable development.