MGNREGA Full Form

Full Form of MGNREGA

MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, is the government of India’s rural employment guarantee scheme. The scheme under MGNREGA is called Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Indian parliament passed MGNREGA on 23rd August 2005 and later came into effect on 2nd February 2006. The programme was renamed MGNREGA in 2009. It has been running successfully for more than 16 years now, employing all rural households across India.

Overview of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

The MGNREGA act is the most extensive rural development and employment guarantee programme globally. The complete project is demand-driven and people-oriented that guarantees a minimum of hundred days of work during a financial year. Furthermore, this programme is applicable to every rural household that volunteers for unskilled labour work. Through the scheme, unskilled rural people can earn wages and support their families.

The scheme is currently distributed across all rural districts, panchayats and localities of India. The Indian government’s Ministry of Rural Development, or MRD, is the supervising body for implementing the programme across India. The MRD works in association with different state government bodies to fulfil the objectives under MGNREGA.

Article 41 of the Indian constitution mentions the ‘Right to Work’ for all Indian citizens. MGNREGA guarantees employment for every individual across rural parts of India for at least a hundred days in a calendar year. The Act further states that every individual from the rural household needs to register themselves with the village gram panchayat authorities. Once registered successfully, such individuals shall be employed within 15 days from their application.

MGNREGA is an ambitious and crucial rural work programme from all aspects of rural development. It primarily improves the purchasing power of rural people belonging to the unskilled category. The Act has also augmented the improvement in the livelihood and security of such poor people. Currently, it is active in all rural districts and localities except a hundred per cent urban populated areas.

Eligibility criteria for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Below are the eligibility criteria an individual needs to fulfil for claiming benefits under the MGNREGA act:

• The individual is an Indian citizen
• The individual is a potential job seeker and is above 18 years of age when applying for MGNREGA benefits
• The individual should apply with the rural gram panchayat of their area
• The individual should volunteer for unskilled manual labour

Importance of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is important in several aspects. The reasons for its significance are mentioned below:

• Rural development: Under the scheme, it is mandatory to keep at least 60% of the undertaken jobs related to land and water conservation. It ensures the boosting of the rural income as most villagers depend on agriculture for their livelihood. For example, the MGNREGA developed water conservation assets in MP’s Sidhi district.
• Handling water scarcity: MGNREGA, through its water conservation techniques, has conserved approximately 28000 million cubic metres of water in the last fifteen years. It is indeed a massive achievement in handling water shortage problems.
• Empowering women: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act employs 1/3rd of the women population in rural districts, developing trained women workers. For instance, it has formed the largest group of women well-diggers in Kerala’s Palakkad district.
•  Reducing urban-rural migration: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act provides support to individuals in distress situations. It thereby helps in curtailing the migration of the rural people to cities. For example, the Bandlapalli village in Andhra Pradesh is able to manage drought today, so people have stopped migrating to cities from the village.
• Providing support in uncertainties: The scheme acts as a sigh of relief to numerous migrants who lost their work during the pandemic. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act makes sure the vulnerable get social and financial security through basic income.
• Creating durable assets: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has helped create many durable community assets. These assets are ponds, roads, wells, etc. For example, the percolation ponds in several villages in Haryana were restored by the rural people under this Act.

Few issues under MGNREGA

• Insufficient funds: Covid 19 pandemic witnessed a considerable surge in the number of applicants for MGNREGS. However, the funds allocated were less of what was forecasted during the beginning of the year. This becomes an issue since the proportion of funds needs to be handled appropriately with increased demand.
• Insufficient resources: Urbanisation leads to a significant downfall in the rural population. People look for better prospects of earning in urban areas than rural areas.
• Poor Maintenance: MGNREGA reserves almost sixty per cent of its activities towards water and land conservation. However, the quality and materials employed under the scheme degrade over time which requires regular maintenance.

Conclusion

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or MGNREGA is a scheme applicable to people in the country’s rural areas. It is considered one of the best schemes launched by the government to empower rural people. One of the main aims of this scheme is to provide financial protection to the disadvantaged masses of the rural areas. The study notes on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act unveils the primary objectives and goals of the scheme and how it helps the underprivileged people of the country.