MGNREGS demand declines elsewhere, rises in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh
Overall, there has been a decrease in demand for employment under MGNREGS by 23.68 % between 2020-21 and 2023-24 in 34 states and UTs
NEW DELHI: At a time when the demand for jobs under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is seeing a decline in India on a year-on-year basis since 2020-21, there has been an increase in demand for MGNREGS jobs in two states, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh, according to data collated by the ministry of rural development.
The data, which was shared by the ministry in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, indicated that the number of households that demanded employment reduced from 8.53 crore households in 2020-21 to 6.51 crore in 2023-24.
Overall, there has been a decrease in demand for employment by 23.68 % across all 34 states and UTs.
In the same period, however, the data indicated that Maharashtra saw a steady increase in demand, from 18.83 lakh households in 2020-21 to 27.24 lakh in 2023-24. In Arunachal Pradesh, 2.34 lakh households demanded jobs in 2020-21 as compared to 2.79 lakh households last financial year. However, states such as Bihar and Jharkhand, saw a decline in the same period, by 11.37% and 20.49% respectively.
To be sure, the 2023-24 Economic Survey did deal with the question of whether there was a correlation between the change in demand and rural distress. “Some reports suggest that MGNREGS demand is indicative of rural distress. If this is indeed the case then data trends should show that states with more poverty and higher unemployment rates use more Scheme funds and generate more employment person-days,” the Survey said.
It added that FY 24 data shows that although Tamil Nadu has ‘less than 1% of the country’s poor population, the state accounted for nearly 15% of all MGNREGS funds released. “Similarly, Kerala, with only 0.1 per cent of the poor population, used almost 4% of the nation’s MGNREGS funds. Together, these states generated 51 crore person-days of employment. In contrast, Bihar and UP (altogether) with about 45 per cent of the poor population, accounted for only 17 per cent of MGNREGA funds and generated 53 crore person-days of employment.”
Kamlesh Paswan, minister of state, rural development, who was responding to a question by Lok Sabha MPs Charanjit Singh Channi, Benny Behanan, and Dean Kuriakose, on the reasons behind variations in MGNREGS demand, told the Lok Sabha: “While the work demanded closely matches the work offered, the difference in the work availed with the former is on account of lack of utilisation of such offering by workers. This could be on account of better employment opportunities elsewhere, illness or any other relevant factor.”
Civil society organisations have maintained that the demand for jobs was essentially not being captured by the government machinery.
James Herenj, convenor of the Jharkhand Chapter of NREGA Watch, said: “First of all we are not capturing the demand as per the laid down procedure leading to dilution of the entire scheme. Irrespective, the decline, as shown, is also due to the lack of timely payments. The workers are also not demanding jobs because the wages are less than even the state’s daily wage.”
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