In 2020–21, a survey finds that 39% of those with job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) were unable to secure even one day of employment.
The survey of 2,000 households in eight blocks across four states, carried out by Azim Premji University in collaboration with the National Consortium of Civil Society Organizations on NREGA and Collaborative Research and Dissemination, revealed that, on average, only 36% of households that worked received their wages in 15 days (CORD).
The survey was carried out between November and December 2021 in the Bihar districts of Phulparas (Madhubani) and Chhatapur Blocks (Supaul), Bidar (Bidar) and Devadurga (Raichur), Khalwa (Khandwa) and Ghatigaon (Gwalior), Madhya Pradesh districts of Khalwa (Khandwa) and Ghatigaon (Gwalior), and Maharashtra.
“Massive expansion of the programme is needed to deal with high work demand. Increase the number of administrative personnel by at least doubling the field functionaries. This is also likely to reduce corruption,” the report suggested.
The primary cause of unemployment, according to 63% of the households in the study, was “lack of adequate works being sanctioned/opened.”
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, despite these flaws, made a major difference during the epidemic, shielding the most vulnerable households from considerable loss of income, according to the poll. Depending on the block, higher MGNREGA revenues were able to make up anywhere from 20% to 80% of the income loss, according to the report.
