MGNREGA allocation: Provision and demand not in sync, say experts

FM had allocated Rs 73,000 crore towards MGNREGA in last year's Budget, which has been revised to Rs 98,000 crore on account of higher demand for the work

With the Centre increasing the allocation in the revised estimate for the current fiscal towards the flagship rural job scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Em­pl­oyment Guara­ntee Progra­mme, an expert said the allocation does not match with the overall demand of the scheme on ground.

“Though we saw an increase in allocation of NREGA, if you compare bud­geted estimates with revised estimates, as on February 1, 7.7 million household wanted work from NREGA have not been able to access work is telling you that budgetary allocation at this point of time don't match the overall demand for the scheme on ground,” Yamini Aiyer, president and chief executive of Centre for Policy Research said at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations’ (ICRI­ER’s)16th 5-Institute Budget Seminar 2022: Unpacking the Union Budget 2022-23, held on Monday.

Finance minister Nirmala Sith­araman had allocated Rs 73,000 crore towards MGNREGA in last year’s Budget, which has been revised to Rs 98,000 crore on account of higher demand for the work. The allocation was Rs 1.1 trillion in FY21. For the financial year 2022-23, the allocation has been slashed by a fourth. Deepak Mishra, director and chief executive of ICRIER, said in the Budget, the finance minister has infused a set of new vocabulary to the post budget discourse and strengthened the foundation of a new economy in India. However, he said that as far as trade policy is concerned, it is a mixed bag.

According to Poonam Gupta, Director General National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), who was also a part of the virtual event, the thrust of the Budget was restoring and accelerating growth.

“While at one level, the Budget was supporting growth, it was mindful of the fact that macroeconomic stability needs to be restored. So, there is nominalisation of fiscal policy, which means that revenue expenditure is being taken back to pre-pandemic level and here the assumption is that the worst is behind us and that perhaps there will be no new waves, and if at all they will be of shorter duration and less disruptive,” Gupta said.