MGNREGA, Hingoli

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), formerly known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), is a social welfare law in India that aims to protect the “right to work.” Following the introduction of the bill in the parliament by the Minister for Rural Development, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, this act was enacted on August 23, 2005, and it came into effect in February 2006 under the UPA government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

It seeks to increase the security of livelihood in rural regions by giving at least one adult family member who volunteers to perform unskilled manual labor at least 100 days of paid employment in a fiscal year. Under the MGNREGA, women are promised a third of the available jobs. Making durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds, and wells) is another goal of MGNREGA. Within 5 kilometers of an applicant’s home, employment must be available, and minimum wages must be paid. Applicants are eligible for an unemployment payment if the job is not offered within 15 days of applying. In other words, if the government fails to create jobs for individuals, it must nevertheless give them certain unemployment benefits. Therefore, employment under MGNREGA is a right recognized by law. In addition to ensuring economic stability and building rural assets, the NREGA is believed to support social fairness, environmental protection, empowering rural women, and a decrease in rural-urban migration. P.V. Narasimha Rao, who was the prime minister at the time, originally suggested the law in 1991. Finally approved by the parliament, it started to be implemented in 625 Indian districts. As a result of this pilot program’s success, NREGA’s coverage was expanded to include all Indian districts as of 1 April 2008. The administration hailed the act as “the world’s largest and most ambitious social security and public works program.” The World Bank criticized the measure in 2009 along with others for impeding internal migration and harming growth. However, the World Bank referred to it as a “stellar example of rural development” in its 2014 World Development Report. Gram Panchayats (GPs) are primarily responsible for implementing MGNREGA.