The reduction in the allocation of funds in the Union Budget to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has come as a disappointment to many involved in its implementation, not to mention the beneficiaries. By law, the government is bound to fulfil all demands for MGNREGS work. One of the world’s largest welfare schemes, it helped millions keep their heads above the water during Covid. But now, efforts must be made to ensure that those left on
The reduction in the allocation of funds in the Union Budget to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has come as a disappointment to many involved in its implementation, not to mention the beneficiaries. By law, the government is bound to fulfil all demands for MGNREGS work. One of the world’s largest welfare schemes, it helped millions keep their heads above the water during Covid. But now, efforts must be made to ensure that those left on the margins, mainly women, are encouraged to make the best use of it.
In a study done by Dalberg Advisors supported by Omidyar Network India which covered 4,600 low-income households in rural areas and 1,500 MGNREGS administrators across five states — Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh — it was found that there was an increase in employment under the scheme last year over the preceding five years. But the study found that even though MGNREGS is attracting more women, many of them face challenges in accessing employment under the scheme. Twenty-six per cent of women who wanted work under MGNREGS did not apply due to a lack of understanding of the application for the scheme; 6% of women with a job card could not apply for employment and expressed concerns about no work being available. Other prominent challenges — job cards, delayed wage payments, grievance redressal, work demand surveys and availability of work — were also mapped.
According to Swetha Totapally, partner, Dalberg Advisors, “When you look at the national statistics on female labour force participation, it’s 25%, but in MGNREGS, it’s much higher. MGNREGS has even surpassed the scheme’s initial target of providing 33% of employment to women. In fact, more women than men are being employed by the scheme with women accounting for a total of 50% of the active job cards and more than half of the annual days of employment provided in each of the last five years. We also know that many of these women were previously unemployed or working as unpaid labour, and that gives us confidence to say that MGNREGS can be transformative.”
Since more women are being drawn into the labour force because of MGNREGS, and given their enthusiasm and participation in the scheme, the reduction in allocation should not lead to a situation where they are overlooked, or their concerns not addressed.
It is perhaps time for the government in partnership with non-governmental organisations to improve beneficiary awareness of MGNREGS processes through targeted civil society-led drives. It should also expand, as recommended by Dalberg, the types of work available or introduce exclusive categories of work available for women to help them gain employment under the scheme. It should ensure these are incorporated in the annual work plan for gram panchayats. It could leverage female role models to help overcome prejudices against women’s employment. If this is done, studies suggest that at least in the five states surveyed by Dalberg, an estimated 1.5 million women could benefit from gaining employment. The effort now should be to improve the design and execution of MGNREGS and ensure that it is more inclusive for the rural women workforce.
Totapally says that when enforced properly, MGNREGS has the potential to shift the power dynamics of gender, an outcome which could be a game-changer in rural areas. Since the government is interested in the self-help group model of empowerment and sees it as a path to strengthen women’s agency in every possible way, it will be beneficial to tie this effort with MGNREGS’s thrust on reducing rural poverty and getting more women into the workforce.
lalita.panicker@hindustantimes.com
The views expressed are personal
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