In the Republic of India approximately 80 per cent of the poor and 77 per cent of the workforce live in rural areas and experience an average of 104 days of unemployment per year. In order to address rural poverty and unemployment the Government of India introduced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005. MGNREGA aims to enhance the level of income security for rural households by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment every year to poor rural households. The Ministry of Rural Development implements the scheme in 619 districts throughout India in order to achieve more sustainable livelihoods for working-age men and women in rural areas.
The act entitles working-age members of poor rural households the right to request up to 100 days of unskilled wage employment from village-level authorities with full funding support from the Government. MGNREGA ensures that employment is provided within 15 days of demand, within a five kilometre radius of the village; otherwise, the scheme provides transportation and 10 per cent extra wages, which vary by State, from a minimum of INR 162 (USD 2.42) per day in Bihar to a maximum of INR 251 (USD 3.76) per day in Haryana. Employment is organised by the government with activities ranging from infrastructure development to natural conservation. If employment is not provided within 15 days an unemployment allowance is granted by state-level authorities. In 2014-2015 MGNREGA provided income security to 57.8 million adults from 38.9 million rural households. In 2015, 98 million bank accounts were newly established by the Government of India, under its efforts to install an electronic payment system.
MGNREGA belongs to a long history of income security programmes in India and was realised at a time of consensus building for the rights-based approach. While the programme has impacted many lives, local authorities have experienced challenges in keeping up with high demand for job cards. Nonetheless, schemes such as MGNREGA, are essential in building India’s social protection floor to ensure that all in need have access to basic income security, including all permanent and temporary residents and registered migrants.
Further Reading:
Sharma, Amita (2010). Rights-Based Legal Guarantee as Development Policy: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. UNDP, Delhi. Access from http://www.ipc-undp.org/pressroom/files/ipc163.pdf on December 2016.