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Features of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005

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The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is characterized mostly by the features of 100 days of assured employment every year across rural households in India, if any applicant has not been provided with employment then he or she is entitled to a specified daily unemployment allowance and one-third of the jobs have been reserved for women.

P.V. Narasimha Rao’s government proposed a scheme with the main objective of creating employment in the rural parts of the country. This plan was proposed in the year 1991. The main objectives of this scheme were to generate employment in rural areas, infrastructure development, and enhancement of food security in rural areas. This scheme was merged with the Food for Work program which lead to the creation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005. It was earlier known as Employment Assurance Scheme and was later renamed to the current name. 

Features of MGNREGA

Features of MGNREGA

MGNREGA 2005

The government of India had tried to improve the existing problems with the Economy by various methods like the introduction of five-year plans. When the present conditions of unemployment are considered there was a steady increase in the unemployment rate in India from 1999 to 2005. The rate of unemployment in the year 2005 was 8.3 when compared to the unemployment rate of 7.3 in 1999. The problem of unemployment was more in the rural area when compared to the urban area. 

To reduce the unemployment problem in the rural area the government of India launched the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 in the month of September 2005. It was launched in all the gram panchayats in India by the government of India. This act guaranteed hundred days of work of wage employment in one financial year to adult members in rural households who are willing to do manual labor and demand employment. The main objective of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, of 2005 was the enhancement of life security for people of rural households by providing guaranteed employment for one hundred days to the people willing to do unskilled manual labor. The cost for this plan was shared by the central and state government in a 9:1 ratio. 

As of April 2022, the minimum wage for a day’s work is 331 rupees. The wage provided to men and women is equal. The said payment is provided through post office accounts. If the government fails to provide employment to the people from the rural areas within 15 days of the receipt of the application the government has to provide the people with an unemployment allowance. The various works which were included under this scheme were water conservation and harvesting infrastructure, drought proofing, the building of irrigation canals, land development, agriculture-related works, etc.

Features of NREGA,2005

The main features of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act are:

  • The act promised to provide hundred days of wage employment to any Adult from the rural area who was willing to provide manual unskilled labor.
  • This scheme acts as a way to strengthen the Panchayati Raj by giving a significant amount of control to the gram panchayat in managing and maintaining the various public projects. They were given control over the decision-making process regarding the projects and were allowed to reject proposals from higher levels.
  • This scheme is way more transparent in its operations when compared to other government schemes. This instills accountability into the operational guidelines.
  • This act is applicable to all the districts which have registered under the scheme of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or MGNREGA.
  • Once applied for the scheme, every household would get a job card issued within 15 days of application of the scheme.
  • The work area provided to the worker should be within 5 kilometers of the Jurisdiction of the village.
  • If the government fails to provide the people with work within 5 kilometers but work is provided to them outside of the said area then they receive an additional 10 percent in the wage as compensation.
  • The wage provided to men and women was equal and there was no discrimination based on gender while the wage was provided.
  • To ensure that women were given equal employment opportunities third of the places were reserved for women workers.
  • If the government fails to provide work to the people then the government has to provide one-fourth of the wage for the first 30 days and half the wage for the remaining part of the hundred days. 
  • The payment for the work done by the laborers should be provided within 15 days through post office accounts or bank accounts.
  • Proper working conditions were provided for the people to work like availability of drinking water, a place to rest, and clean washrooms.

Success and Failures of MGNREGA

Like any other scheme, it has some successes and some failures. But this program is considered a success due to its achievements. This scheme promoted equality among the workers, unlike other schemes of that time. The government paid equal wages to both women and men. Among all the places one-third were reserved for women workers. This scheme did not discriminate on the basis of caste or gender. This scheme lead to huge improvements in the infrastructure in the rural parts of the country which were previously neglected. Many ponds, lakes, and wells were restored which made water available for many people. Many water conservation systems were introduced to help the people. One of the main achievements of this scheme is the restoration of the Sundarbans which had been destroyed by floods. This was helpful in restoring the ecological diversity of the place. This scheme leads to new and effective waste management in many places, like Tamil Nadu. This scheme is known to create almost 1980 crore days of employment to be generated. 

Some of the failures of this scheme are its failure to create any new assets. This scheme was effective in the generation of employment but there were no effective assets created for the huge investment made by the government. This scheme was categorized as nonprofitable by the government. Over the course of the first ten years over 3.14 lakh crores was spent on the scheme. This scheme was prey to corruption, as well as a lot of the reports submitted, had been exaggerated to fool the government and have higher returns. The work done by the workers was random and not at all systematic. The work was only done when it was approved by the gram panchayat which sometimes led to selective development. A lot of money from the government was wasted due to the poor organization of work. What the high wages provided by the government people were more attracted to work here which created a scarcity of workers in the agricultural fields.

Related Links

  1. What is a Worker’s Worth?
  2. Food for Work Programme
  3. Rural Employment Generation Programme

Frequently Asked Questions

Q 1. What is  Mahatma Gandhi’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act?

Answer-

The main objective of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 was the enhancement of life security to people of rural households by providing guaranteed employment for one hundred days to the people willing to do manual unskilled labor. P.V  Narasimha Rao’s government proposed a scheme with the main objective of creating employment in the rural parts of the country it was merged with the food for work program which lead to the creation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005. It was earlier known as Employment Assurance Scheme and was later renamed to the current name. 

Q 2. What Does the  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act promise the workers?

Answer-

The main objective of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 was the enhancement of life security to people of rural households by providing guaranteed employment for one hundred days to the people willing to do manual unskilled labor.

Q 3. What is the wage provided to the workers under this scheme?

Answer-

As of April 2022, the minimum wage for a day of work is 331 rupees. The wage provided to men and women is equal. The said payment is provided through post office accounts. The payment for the work done by the laborers should be provided within 15 days through post office accounts or bank accounts.

Q 4. What is the work provided to people under this scheme?

Answer-

The various works which were included under this scheme were water conservation and harvesting infrastructure, drought proofing, the building of irrigation canals, land development, agriculture-related works, etc. Proper working conditions were provided for the people to work like availability of drinking water, a place to rest, and clean washrooms.

Q 5. List some failures of MGNREGA.

Answer-

Some of the failures of this scheme are its failure to create any new assets. This scheme was effective in the generation of employment but there were no effective assets created for the huge investment made by the government. Over the course of the first ten years over 3.14 lakh crores was spent on the scheme. This scheme was prey to corruption as well as a lot of the reports submitted had been exaggerated to fool the government and have higher returns. The work done by the workers was random and not at all systematic. A lot of money from the government was wasted due to the poor organization of work. 



Last Updated : 22 Jan, 2024
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