MGNREGS, PMAY-G account for 75% of rural development dept's budget: Report

Flagship rural employment scheme MGNREGS and housing scheme PMAY-G together account for 75 per cent of the budgetary allocation for the Department of Rural Development, a new report has said.

In the union budget for 2025-26, the Ministry of Rural Development was allocated Rs 1,90,406 crore. 

The Department of Rural Development, which implements programmes to provide employment in rural areas, support economic development and ensure livelihood and social security for the poor and vulnerable, was allocated Rs 1,87,755 crore, 8 per cent higher than the revised estimates of 2024-25, while the Department of Land Resources was allocated Rs 2,651 crore, 35 per cent higher than the revised estimates of 2024-25, the report by thinktank PRS Legislative said.

As of 2021, 65 per cent of India's population lives in rural areas.

MGNREGS, which provides for 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year for adults of rural households, accounted for 46 percent of the allocation for the department of Rural Development, while PMAY-G got around 29 per cent of the allocation, together accounting for 75 per cent of the budgetary allocation.

This is followed by National Rural Livelihoods Mission and PMGSY (which each account for 10 per cent of the department's allocation), and the National Social Assistance Programme (5 per cent).

Between 2014-15 and 2025-26, budgetary allocation to the Department has grown at an average annual rate of 12 per cent, the PRS report said.

The report said between 2020-21 and 2022-23, allocation to the department was increased significantly to provide more financial support during the pandemic. This increased allocation was towards MGNREGS and welfare schemes, such as the direct benefit transfer to women under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

PMAY (G), which was launched to address gaps in the demand and supply of rural housing and aims to ensure housing for all by 2022, was allocated Rs 54,832 crore, an increase of 69 per cent over the revised estimate of 2024-25.

However, as per revised estimate for 2024-25, 41 per cent of funds allocated to the scheme had not been utilised, the report said.

Based on the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011, the housing shortage in rural areas was estimated to be 4.03 crore.

The PMGSY which is for providing all weather road connectivity to all eligible rural habitations was allocated Rs 19,000 crore in 2025-26, 31 per cent higher than the revised estimate for 2024-25.

The Department of Land Resources has been allocated Rs 2,651 crore in 2025-26, which is 35 per cent higher than the revised estimate for the previous year. Since 2013-14, the actual spending by the department has been consistently less than the budgeted estimate, the report said. In 2024-25, at the revised state 74 per cent of the department's fund had been utilised.

The department implements two major schemes: The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana Watershed Development Component (PMKSY-WDC) and the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) to modernise the management of land records.

DILRMP has been allocated Rs 120 crore in 2025-26, which is 15 per cent lower than the revised estimates for the previous year. Apart from three years between 2017-18 to 2019-20, fund utilisation under the scheme has remained above 90 per cent, the report added.