MGNREGA

Subject:Economy

Context:

WITH THE lockdown sending lakhs of migrant labourers back to their villages, over 2.19 crore households utilised the rural job guarantee scheme in May, which is the highest for the month in the last eight years

Concept:

An analysis of data in this category available currently from 2013-14 on the MGNREGA portal  shows that the number of households that worked in May was 7.10 lakh higher than the 2.12 crore during the same month last year.

• MGNREGA, which is the largest work guarantee programmein the world, was enacted in 2005 with the primary objective of guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment per year to rural households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
• The act provides a legal right to employmentfor adult members of rural households.  At least one third beneficiaries have to be women.
• Employment must be provided with 15 days of being demanded failing which an ‘unemployment allowance’ must be given.