Work demand under MGNREGA up in FY22; 77% of budget utilised in 5 months: Report
MGNREGA: Out of the total allocated fund of Rs 73,000 crore for this fiscal year, around Rs 55,915.31 crore has already been utilised
The demand for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) remains strong in the first five months of FY22, according to a report. As the Covid-19 situation subsides the economic activities are gradually gaining momentum. But in rural areas, a large number of casual workers are still looking for work under the MGNREGA scheme.
The numbers are still not as high as last year, which was unprecedented for the labour and social security programmes owing to the nationwide lockdown and the mass exodus of workers from cities to rural areas following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. However, if compared against the pre-pandemic levels of FY20, a spike can be seen, which is a strong signal, as per a report in the Business Standard.
77% of the budget already utilised
Out of the total allocated fund of Rs 73,000 crore for the scheme, close to Rs 55,915.31 crore (approximately 77%) has already been utilised in the first five months of the current fiscal. An additional allocation of Rs 25,000 crore might be needed to meet the demand in the remaining part of FY22, according to the report.
As per data sourced from the MGNREGA website, close to 31.9 million households raised the demand for work under the scheme in July, which was 0.25% lower than the previous year, but approximately 74% higher than July 2019, report added. In August, the demand for work came from around 24.36 million households, which was 0.21% higher than the last year and 68% more than August 2019.
MGNREGA was launched in 2006 by PM Manmohan Singh-led UPA-I government. It was a flagship scheme of the erstwhile government that guarantees at least 100 days of employment in a financial year to unskilled rural households at a predetermined minimum wage. It was renamed MGNREGA in 2009. The scheme was a saviour for thousands of workers who returned to their native places following the nationwide lockdown in March 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.