MGNREGA: Is the govt expecting unemployment levels to change soon?

Inflation adjusted, the Integrated Child Development Scheme figure is 36 per cent lower for 2021-22 than it had been the year PM Narendra Modi took over

In 2020-21, the allocation for MGNREGA swelled to Rs 1.11 trillion — four times the size it was in 2014, having steadily risen as unemployment rose. This was thought to be linked purely to the national lockdown. Last year only Rs 73,000 crore was budgeted, perhaps on the assumption that the jobs market would bounce back. The money, however, ran out in the first seven months itselfand the Revised Estimate was Rs 98,000 crore.

Even so, 23 states and Union Territories showed a net negative balance — having spent more money than they received — and workers were getting paid later