Page 3 - Mgnrega

Is the drop in MGNREGA work demand a sign of improving rural job markets?

Civil society activists and people working on the ground, however, believe that the decline in work demand is artificially created due to fund shortages for the programme

Rural job market improving in FY25 but lags behind pre-pandemic levels

The work completed by July in the 2024-25 fiscal year is 230 million person-days fewer than in the same period last year under MGNREGS, signalling some improvement in traditional centres of employment

MGNREGA living monument of PM Modi's betrayal of rural India, says Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday slammed the Centre over its handling of the MGNREGA, alleging that the present state of the scheme is "a living monument of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "betrayal" of rural India. Kharge recalled that in 2005, on this day, the then Congress-led UPA government enacted the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to ensure 'Right to Work' to crores of people in rural India. In a post on X, he said at present, there are 13.3 crore active workers who depend on the MGNREGA, despite low wages, abysmal work-days, and facing deletion of job cards. In the guise of using technology and Aadhaar, the Modi government has deleted over seven crore workers' job cards, cutting these households off from MGNREGA work, the Congress president claimed. This year's Budget allocation for the MGNREGA is just 1.78 per cent of the total budgetary allocation, which marks a 10-year low in the scheme's funding, he said. The lower allocat

MGNREGA work demand 'not linked' to rural distress: Economic Survey

Data does not show that states with more poverty and higher unemployment rates use more of the scheme's funds, it says

Hopes in the balance: How much can the Budget do for the rural sector?

The government will have to tweak the demand for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and may retain the demand for PM Kisan to not allow fiscal slippage

Rising focus: Budget push likely for social sector to lift rural demand

Bumper RBI dividend may help govt increase funding

FY25 begins with tepid work demand under MGNREGA, shows govt data

In April 2024, around 21.51 million households sought work under the scheme, which was 10.59 per cent lower than the number of households who sought work under the scheme in April 2023

Will stock market crash if BJP gets less than 270 seats in Lok Sabha polls?

In the worst case scenario where the NDA is unable to secure a majority (seats less than 272), analysts at Bernstein expect 'heavy profit booking' in the markets with low or negligible returns

Zero electricity bill, tax tweaks: Govt's 100-day agenda, budget wish list

From a long-term perspective, however, the focus, Mirae Asset said, would be on infrastructure development, farm laws, skill development, and creating employment

Voter's choice: Mediocrity or prosperity?

The present day voting population is deciding whether economic transformation will determine its electoral choice

Wages to workers: MGNREGA's fluctuating fate during Modi government

The rural employment scheme's nature and the objective had come in for strong criticism and plans were afoot to change its characteristics, according to civil society activists

CPI releases manifesto; promises to scrap CAA, 50% cap on reservation

The Communist Party of India (CPI) released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, promising to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, and enhance the daily wage under MGNREGA to Rs 700. The Left party called for the defeat of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to save secular democracy. It said the 10-year BJP rule has proven to be a disaster for the country. If elected to power, the CPI promised to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations, conduct a caste census, introduce taxation measures such as wealth tax and inheritance tax, increase corporate tax, introduce reservation in the private sector, and raise the daily wage under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Rs 700. "General elections for the 18th Lok Sabha are going to be very crucial and critical for our secular democratic republic, its future and to our ...

Over 80 million people worked under MGNREGA in FY24, shows data

It is the lowest number of beneficiaries to have accessed employment under the scheme since the Covid-19 pandemic

Salaried workers' real wages dropped between 2012 and 2022: ILO study

The average real monthly wages of a regular wage worker dipped to Rs 10,925 in 2022 from Rs 12,100 in 2012

West Bengal starts transfer of MGNREGA dues of around 3 million workers

The West Bengal government has started paying dues of around 30 lakh MGNREGA workers in the state, a senior minister said. The state government started transferring dues amounting to Rs 2,700 crore to the bank accounts of MGNREGA workers on Monday. These dues have been pending from the Centre since March 2022, he said. "A large number of transfers were successfully done yesterday but some were unsuccessful due to technical issues from the bank-end. We hope that the remaining transfers will be completed by today," state Panchayat Minister Pradip Majumdar told PTI. He said around 30 lakh MGNREGA workers will receive the due amounts, with the maximum hailing from South 24 Parganas district. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier this month staged a 48-hour dharna in Kolkata demanding that the Centre release the unpaid dues to the state. She had then announced that her government would transfer the dues to the bank accounts of the MGNREGA workers.

MGNREGA scheme led to decline in gender wage gap in rural India: ILO

The paper also noted that the gap in rural wages between formal salaried workers and casual workers also decreased due to the employment guarantee scheme

Govt seeks Rs 78k cr cash outgo in second supplementary demand for grants

The second tranche of supplementary grants by various departments and ministries includes Rs 10,798 crore expenditure towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

CM Mamata announces payment to 2.1 mn MGNREGA workers in Bengal by Feb 21

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced that her government would transfer funds by February 21 to the bank accounts of 21 lakh MGNREGA workers in the state. The Trinamool Congress supremo, who on Friday started a 48-hour-dharna in front of the BR Ambedkar statue in the city demanding release of "unpaid dues" from the Centre for various social welfare schemes, also said that she would soon come out with another announcement regarding the unreleased funds for the Awas Yojana. "We do not want to beg from the BJP nor do we want their alms. By February 21, we will transfer money to the bank accounts of 21 lakh workers who did not get the money from the central government even after working for the 100-day work scheme (MGNREGA) in the last three years. This is my first step", Banerjee announced at the dharna site. "The central government is thinking that they will starve Bengal to death. We will not allow them to succeed in that... Have faith in me... I will try

CM Mamata Banerjee to stage dharna in Kolkata today over West Bengal's dues

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will stage a dharna here from Friday to protest against alleged withholding of the state's dues by the Centre. The issue of the Centre withholding the dues, particularly under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), has snowballed into a significant political controversy in the state. "The dharna will start at 1 pm in Red Road area in Maidan. Our party supremo Mamata Banerjee will lead the agitation. Other senior leaders of the party will also be present," a senior TMC leader said. Earlier demonstrations by TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, along with a cohort of party legislators, MPs, ministers, and MGNREGA workers at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, followed by a five-day sit-in outside Raj Bhavan here, have underscored the gravity of the situation. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, aims at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas by providin

Interim Budget: 'Fiscally prudent, growth-promoting pronouncement'

The underlying nominal GDP growth assumption of 10.5 per cent for the Budget and tax collection estimates are realistic