MGNREGS in the Context of Recent Changes in Rural India: Learning from Selected States

Mishra, R N and Viswanathan, P K and Bhattarai, M and Iyengar, H (2014) MGNREGS in the Context of Recent Changes in Rural India: Learning from Selected States. Monograph. Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

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RP-Market Institutions and Policies

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Abstract

Despite growing double digit level of annual growth for the last one and half decades, the lack of regular employment and mass prevalence of under employment is still a major factor of persistent rural poverty and vulnerability in India, especially among certain ethnic communities and in rural hinterlands. In 2006, the Government of India implemented the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to address the growing rural distress and vulnerabilities. Based on synthesis of research findings and several case studies across the states of India that were presented at the national workshop on MGNREGS organized in Ahmadabad on 10-11 December 2013, this policy brief summarizes the key messages and policy level challenges emerge while improvingthe performances of the MGNREGS program. The employment guarantee schemes like MGNREGS have provided meaningful employment to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. In many respect, the scheme is successful in bringing marginalized sections and women to mainstream labour force, reducing vulnerability in rural areas, and in integrating a vast section of neglected rural population to formal financial institutions like banks and postal offices saving schemes, especially of rural agricultural labor forces of women and backward communities. The implementation of MGNREGS in areas with higher agricultural wage seems a problem due to better opportunities for labor in other sectors of the economy than the MGNREGS work activities. Therefore, better targeting of the schemes to backward districts and in those rural areas where seasonal unemployment is rampant, and where overall agricultural wage rate is at staggering low level for a long time. Likewise, better convergence of the MGNREGS activities at the community level with the other on-going rural development and livelihood improvement activities will provide better synergy effects of the programs and high impact on the ground in terms of long term livelihood improvement, and long-run sustainability of the program activities

Item Type: Monograph (Monograph)
Divisions: RP-Market Institutions and Policies
CRP: CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)
Series Name: GIDR-ICRISAT Policy Brief 1
Uncontrolled Keywords: Rural Employment; Rural Poverty; National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS); Rural Development; Livelihood Improvement
Subjects: Others > Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
Depositing User: Mr T L Gautham
Date Deposited: 29 May 2015 10:18
Last Modified: 29 May 2015 10:31
URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/8760
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