MGNREGA Bibliography

Abstract

MGNREGA, introduced by the Government of India in 2005, is a revolutionary programme enacted by law which guarantees hundred days of employment in a year to each rural household who are willing to provide unskilled labour. The secondary objective of the programme is creating sustainable assets in rural India which in turn strengthen natural resource management and help address the issues of chronic poverty in the long run. The programme has created ample opportunity for wage employment among rural masses and set a number of examples in building quality, durable and sustainable asset base in rural India though there are many criticisms. A number of studies have been conducted to review the performance of the programme across periphery from different perspectives. This paper is an attempt to study the performance of the programme in terms of wage employment generation and asset creation. Secondary data available from the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and other study reports have been used for the review. This paper has critically analyzed the progress of the programme nine years after introduction. Analysis of data reflects that the programme has created huge employment opportunities in rural India but has not been showing progressive trends from last couple of years. It has not been successful to include socially excluded families especially Scheduled Tribes significantly though participation of women is showing satisfactory trend. In terms of asset creation, where the plan has been prepared in a participatory manner, actual need of people has been captured and technical designs are taken into consideration, qualities of assets created proved to be durable and sustainable. The paper concludes with some suggestions for improvement for the both aspects.

https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijmss&volume=3&is...

Wages

Abstract

As majority of women live below the poverty line and are engaged in subsistence struggle, macro-economic policies and poverty alleviation programmes are to address the pitiful problems of poor women. Steps are being taken for mobilization of poor women, convergence of wide range of economic and social options along with support services to enhance their capabilities. Women’s perspective is being included in designing and implementing macro-economic and social policies by institutionalizing their participation in the process. One such programme focusing on unskilled based wage-employment is Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) [1]. The Ministry of Rural Development, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) aims at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA has become a powerful instrument for inclusive growth in rural India through its impact on social protection, livelihood security and democratic governance. Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is the first ever law internationally that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285384496_Inclusion_of_Female...

Gender Implementation Poverty Wages

Abstract

National Rural Employment Grantee Act (NREGA) is one of the progressive and transformative legislation passed by Indian Parliament in the year of 2005 by UPA government for ensuring employment guarantee and livelihood security to each rural household. In year 2007 it is renamed as Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The fundamental goal of this right based policy initiative is to provide employment guarantee and promote infrastructural development in the villages for the well-being rural household, it has also been considered as an integrated approach for rural poverty eradication and sustainable development. Since, nine years MGNREGA is being implemented in all 623 districts of the country, but it has not shown the result which had been expected and even put forward in MGNREGA objectives. Most of the evaluation studies shown that the scheme is not working properly at ground level because of its poor implementation. There are many issues and challenges are coming up in its implementation. It is observed that very few states like Andhra Pardesh, Rajasthan, etc. where programme is being implemented in successive mode. Maharashtra state is mile stone in MGREGA, the origin Of EGS scheme is a backbone of this act. In 1974, the Maharashtra state government had started Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and it was put into operation for entire year. At present the previous employment guarantee scheme has merged into MGNREGA guideline issued by the central government. Though the state has reach experience of EGS implementation, but the present merged MGNREGA programme is not working properly at ground level. There are many issues are coming up in its implementation process which are caused by different factors such as demand of work, identification of work site and planning, complicated administrative structure with less competent staff, delay in payment, lack of human resources. The author has made an attempt to analyze these factors based on case study of two villages, named Kashod Shivpur and Bhilkhed in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. FGD and interview schedule was used for data collection. This paper also trying to highlights if the act has implemented with spirit and commitment how it can help to regenerate the village resources to achieve the prime goals of sustainable development.

http://www.publishingindia.com/ijsd/88/issues-and-challenges-in-implem...

Challenges Implementation Poverty

Abstract

We estimate the effect of a large rural workfare program in India on private employment and wages by comparing trends in districts that received the program earlier relative to those that received it later. Our results suggest that public sector hiring crowded out private sector work and increased private sector wages. We compute the implied welfare gains of the program by consumption quintile. Our calculations show that the welfare gains to the poor from the equilibrium increase in private sector wages are large in absolute terms and large relative to the gains received solely by program participants. (JEL I38, J31, J45, J68, O15)

https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20130401

Implementation Poverty Quantitative Wages

Abstract

India has initiated massive economic development and safety net pro- grammes over the past two decades. It has, for example, moved from universal food subsidies to targeted food subsi- dies and back again to a near-universal programme. Some programmes have been able to target beneficiaries more easily, for example conditional cash transfers for hospital delivery. And oth- ers have been ambitious in their design, scale and reach, as for example the rural safety net provided by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a nation- wide rural public works programme that costs India about 1 percent of GDP and works on the principle of self-selection (workers have access to 100 days of public employment a year when they choose).

when such programmes are initi- ated, there is often tremendous politi- cal pressure for a quick rollout, and only over time is the need for evaluations felt. But by then evaluations can be dif- ficult since for comparison purposes the data collection for evaluation should ideally start before the programme starts. In such situations, household surveys can tell us how beneficiaries have responded and whether the pro- gramme has had its intended effect.

Household surveys by the National Council of Applied Economic Re- search have been filling this need since NCAER’s inception in 1956. The India Human Development Survey (IHDS), the basis for this report on MGNREGA, is particularly useful because it is a panel survey, periodically interviewing the same households. Conducted in 2004– 05 and 2011–12 (with earlier partial data available for 1993–94), the IHDS is a col- laboration between the National Coun- cil of Applied Economic Research and the University of Maryland. The data are released to the scientific community through the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Science Research (www.icpsr.umich.edu).

https://www.ncaer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Complete-report.pdf

Quantitative

Abstract

https://3ieimpact.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/mgnrega_wage_payment...

Wages

Abstract

This study reports on a survey of 4,881 users of more than 4,100 works created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Maharashtra. It provides evidence that MGNREGA works support agriculture, and benefit a large number of small and marginal farmers. An overwhelming 90% of the respondents considered the works very useful or somewhat useful, while only 8% felt they were useless. Further, most works continue to be maintained and are in a good condition. Overall, this study suggests that the widespread perception that the MGNREGA does not create anything productive appears to be misplaced, although there is scope for improving the choice of works, their design, and their execution.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24481747

Quantitative

Abstract

India is mainly an agricultural country in which the strength of rural unskilled labour is very high and majority of the rural poor depends mainly on the wages they earn through unskilled, casual, and manual labour. The main significance of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is to improve the livelihood conditions of the rural poor by providing 100 days of employment to any rural household whose adult members are willing to do unskilled manual work. The Act provides an opportunity to work in the lean season, which helps rural poor to maintain the consumption level and strengthen the livelihood resource base during this critical time period. Only the growth of economy cannot create social justice and balanced development unless, it is attached with poverty alleviation and employment generating opportunities for deprived and marginalised section of the society. Thus, a study on MGNREGA as a hope to reduce rural poverty has been taken in the village Shanoo of district kupwara of state Jammu and Kashmir.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/MGNREGA%3A-A-New-Hope-to-Reduce-...

Poverty Wages

Abstract

Statements made by the Union Ministers and other officials concerned regarding the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS) in the recent past have aroused doubts about the future of the Scheme among different sections of people. A group of economists has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing their deep concern about the future of MGNREGS. The PM in the recent Budget Session stated that he would not commit the political mistake of discontinuing the Scheme but would continue it to highlight the failure of the past Government. This raises doubt whether new government will implement the Scheme in both letter and spirit.

https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/News-Analysis/2015-03-06/MGNR...

Budget Challenges

Abstract

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme–despite its failings and dismissals by prominent economists as a “dole”–is in consonance with the idea of sustainable development whose important cardinal components are economic, social and environmental sustainability.

https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/23/notes/national-rural-employment-gua...

Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme—despite its failings and dismissals by prominent economists as a “dole”—is in consonance with the idea of sustainable development whose important cardinal components are economic, social and environmental sustainability.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24482292

Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

The performance of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Rajasthan was debated for its stupendous performance in the initial years of the scheme, but also for the relative sharp decline after 2010. Based on a large representative primary survey, this paper argues that the decline in performance of this scheme in Rajasthan is not entirely due to the lack of demand. Instead, the supply-driven top-down nature of the programme has led to a “discouraged worker” syndrome with workers showing disinterest in demanding work and passively waiting for availability of NREGS work. Strengthening the demand-based nature of the NREGS may reduce the need for rationing. Simple temporal tracking of NREGS outcomes at the village level along with proper recording of demand through the Management Information System may well help detect discrimination within panchayats.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24481364

Implementation

Abstract

Even if we concede that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is designed as a demand-driven programme, and that local residents desire to have work projects in their area, whether it translates into effective demand, and whether the work projects actually get initiated depends very much on the dominant voices in local power structures. As this study shows in the case of Maharashtra, however progressive the design of modern democratic institutions, traditional caste hierarchies will try to sabotage their working by using their standing clientelist structures, with class and caste coming together to make this possible.

https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/26-27/review-rural-affairs-review-issu...

Caste Challenges

Abstract

This dissertation grapples with the questions: Does transparency lead to accountability? Is it possible to “democratize” surveillance, turning surveillance into an instrument of democratic control over state bureaucracy? Can a state bureaucracy combine visions of surveillance within the state and “openness” to citizens to help police itself? To address these questions, I studied an “open governance” project located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and involving the countrywide National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). I raise the questions about transparency and accountability at two different levels: first at the level of the bureaucracy, and second at the level of the citizens themselves. Looking at the two inevitably raises further questions of the power relations both within the bureaucracy and between the state apparatus and the citizens it is intended to serve. Looking within the bureaucracy, I show that local bureaucrats and politicians have discovered ways to subvert these formal efforts of control through informal norms. Looking at relations between the state apparatus and the citizens, I examine the recruitment of citizens in two different social contexts, a class/caste-divided village and a tribal community. Between the bureaucracy and the citizenry, I argue that the state has attempted to construct a state-civil society “sandwich” to squeeze the lower-level bureaucrats both from the top, using information technology, and from the bottom, getting testimonies from workers by opening government records. Here, I find that expectations of participation from below in response to transparency from above are not met because workers fail to participate as expected. A central part of what follows explores and delineates the multiple, complex reasons for this failure of the “public sphere.” Overall, these findings illustrate how hard it is to actually eliminate last-mile corruption, even with sophisticated technological and social strategies. (Nonetheless, I also find and lay out numerous potential benefits to this program.) In conclusion, I argue that instead of the prevalent metaphor of “sunlight,” open governance is better thought of as a “flashlight” and that people embrace openness and reject surveillance depending on whether they are the subject or the object of the “flashlight.” This shift in metaphor helps to raise more directly the inevitable issues of power.

https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3805n440

Caste Challenges Corruption Implementation

Abstract

This paper analyses the extent to which Scheduled Caste (SC) households have participated and benefited from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Karnataka, with the help of both secondary and primary data. The demand for MGNREGS work and participation of SC households was found to be high in districts where the incidence of SC population was high. However, the number of days of employment obtained by SC households was relatively low. This suggests that SC households were discriminated in the provision of MGNREGS work in Karnataka. The paper discusses factors that constrained the participation of SC households in MGNREGS.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Participation-of-scheduled-caste...

Caste Challenges Quantitative

Abstract

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) envisages that the works undertaken as part of the programme will strengthen natural resource management and address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion, thereby encouraging sustainable development. However, the fact that it is not simply a work creation programme but derives its legitimacy from being an asset creation programme is often overlooked.

Contrary to the notion that people are paid for simply standing around in work sites or that the MGNREGA merely involves some digging, workers have built roads to farms and fields where there were none. They have replaced scrublands with forests, built earthen structures for impounding water and preventing soil erosion, cleared lands and levelled them to make them cultivable.

Several research studies have also indicated that assets created under the MGNREGA are beneficial in terms of reduced soil erosion, increased water availability, groundwater recharge, biomass, savings in diesel costs due to increased availability of water.

In this photoessay, we share a few examples of these assets, mainly from the states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. These are good examples of what the MGNREGA can and has achieved. The materials presented here were collected over the course of two years by researchers from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) during field visits focused on learning about the MGNREGA. This photoessay has been compiled by Krushna Ranaware. For more information and reports, follow this link.

Abstract

Thanks to the law, workers have built roads where there were none, replaced scrublands with forests, levelled lands and made them cultivable.

https://scroll.in/roving/739220/photos-mnrega-hasnt-just-generated-job...

Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

This paper contributes to the empirical understanding of the concept of commitment and the role it plays in shaping India’s social policy implementation. Taking the case of the landmark policy, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the paper analyses in-depth qualitative information from four states – Chhatisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Assam. The paper examines the puzzle of differing outcomes in these four states, despite the same design and implementation mechanisms, through a political economy lens. It presents a nuanced and rich analysis of the characteristics of commitment that can be seen in different states, linking these to how they play out in shaping the implementation dynamics of MGNREGA from a comparative lens. The paper contributes to the existing body of literature on policy implementation and the role that commitment plays at the level of the sub-national state in delivering welfare policy in India.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2606244

Implementation Politics

Abstract

NREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) is the Indian government’s flagship anti-poverty program and is one of the largest public works programmes in the world which aims to increase employment opportunities for the poor and in particular, improve women’s access to the labour market. In this paper we analyse the relationship between female labour participation and violence against women. Using district-time variation in the implementation of this anti-poverty program we estimate the effect of improved participation and access to employment of women on gender-based violence. We find evidence that increased female labour participation following the NREGS increased total gender-based violence. There are increases in kidnapings, sexual harassment and domestic violence, while dowry deaths decreased.

https://ideas.repec.org/p/bir/birmec/15-09.html

Gender Implementation Poverty

Abstract

https://www.im4change.org/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Mahendra%20Dev%20...

Wages

Abstract

MGNREGA is an ambitious scheme providing employment to rural people of India. The basic aim of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is to enhance livelihood security of household in rural area. By this scheme Govt. gives assurance of employment to unskilled rural laborer for 100 days. With better implementation such type of scheme may be an effective weapon to fight against poverty. It also aims at transforming the rural areas by improving the socio-economic conditions of people. Rural economy is the back-bone of Indian economic development. Providing employment to rural households will certainly boost the economy. It increases demand for goods and services. In this article an effort has been made to analyses the socio-economic impact of MGNREGA scheme on the life of beneficiaries of Dungarpur district. The findings of the study revealed that the programme has brought the change in the lives of the beneficiaries. Though it is always a debatable issue that such changes, by MGNREGA are sustainable or temporary.

https://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0115.php?rp=P373610

Poverty

Abstract

This study analyses the real impact of MGNREGA in the state of Tamil Nadu, India in terms of financial inclusion of the rural poor, particularly women, SC and ST populations through employment generation. It examines the level of migration after implementation of MGNREGA, participation of skilled labourers in unskilled work, the difference among agricultural, non-agricultural and MGNREGA wages, and the awareness of provisions in MGNREGA by the stakeholders. The study finds that financial inclusion has taken place in the study area. The study also finds that migration has been reduced and the levels of agricultural wages have gone up after the introduction of MGNREGA in the study area. Most importantly, women have been empowered by bargaining power in terms of wage rate.

https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJEPEE.2014.066629

Caste Gender Implementation Wages

Abstract

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and pension payments in (undivided) Andhra Pradesh accounted for more than 90% of Aadhaar-authenticated payments in India. This may be the way forward for other public programmes that are plagued with inefficiency and corruption. Technology when worked on and used right takes us into a regime of transparency and impartial decision-making that are key to good governance.

https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/13/commentary/technology-governance.ht...

Corruption Wages

Abstract

https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/10/book-reviews/through-naregas-lens.h...

Wages

Abstract

Voter attribution lies at the heart of democratic accountability. Utilizing data on the world’s largest social program, this paper provides evidence that voters employ a heuristic of rewarding the enactment of new government programs to a greater extent than implementation, which is characterizing by informational difficulties of monitoring and attribution. Exploiting the staggered roll-out of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), this paper provides evidence that in the short run voters rewarded the party responsible for enacting the program. By contrast, panel regressions show a weak relationship between the amount of employment provided under NREGA and electoral returns within districts over time. The tendency of voters to reward enactment over implementation can account for the puzzle of social program proliferation and weak implementation across developing countries.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2454405

Implementation Politics

Abstract

We examine the effect of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), one of the largest workfare programs in the world, on human capital investment. Since NREGS increases labor demand, it could increase the opportunity cost of schooling, lowering human capital investment even as incomes increase. We exploit the staged rollout of the program across districts for causal identification. Using a household survey of test scores and schooling outcomes for approximately 2.5 million rural children in India, we show that each year of exposure to NREGS decreases school enrollment by 2 percentage points and math scores by 2% of a standard deviation amongst children aged 13-16. In addition, while the impacts of NREGS on human capital are similar for boys and girls, adolescent boys are primarily substituting into market work when they leave school while adolescent girls are substituting into unpaid domestic work. We find mixed results for younger children. We conclude that anti-poverty programs which raise wages could have the unintended effect of lowering human capital investment.

https://www.nber.org/digest/nov15/workfare-and-human-capital-investmen...

Poverty Quantitative Wages

Abstract

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a public works programme that guarantees 100 days of employment as a right to all rural households in India. This paper presents a political economy explanation for the dramatic decline of MGNREGA in Rajasthan. The paper clarifies that although Rajasthan was originally one of the highest performing states, it has seen a sharp decline from around 2010 onwards in the uptake of MGNREGA. However, in terms of the demand-side explanations, the author refutes the claim that there is a fall in the demand for MGNREGA work in the state. Identically, in examining the supply-side explanations, the document finds that there are specific capacity gaps in Rajasthan that have restricted the MGNREGA from achieving its full potential. Nevertheless, it points that these gaps do not explain the sudden decline in MGNREGA’s performance in the state. All things considered, the author argues that the answers to this sudden decline lie in the sudden decline in the state’s capacity to monitor the programme. Furthermore, she concludes that in countering the current downward trend, the state will need to provide incentives for demand capture, provide the right message to frontline officials and ensure timely and adequate wage payments.

https://www.eldis.org/document/A73150

Wages

Abstract

Jan Kregel’s wide-ranging work has covered many issues of direct and contemporary relevance to developing countries, and is marked by his careful attention to both the broad sweep and the detail of policy interventions. His contributions to the issues of financing development, macroeconomic instabilities generated by financial deregulation, including capital account liberalization and how to alter patterns of development toward diversification to higher value added activities, are all well known. But he has also been an insightful advocate of specific types of demand management policies that can play multiple roles in developing economies. One such strategy is of implementing public works as part of employment guarantees, which can then have positive effects on both the demand side of the labor market and the supply-side of production conditions.

https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137450968_7

Implementation

Abstract

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has led to the transformation of rural India through the infusion of an unprecedented degree of power and funds for the creation of works which lead to provision of employment while building up the asset base of rural areas, thereby contributing to their long term capacity for sustainable development. In 2013-14, 93.9 lakh works were taken up with a total expenditure of over Rs. 38,678.2 crores.Several studies have pointed out towards the massive potential of these works to build and develop rural India’s natural capital, provide environmental services and contribute significantly towards mitigating climate change. However, whether and to what extent, this potential is being realised has not been adequately answered. This study is a humble attempt to answer this question. And also to provide a methodology for more extensive and widespread studies to answer the same question.

It also attempts to create a Green Index, which could act as a tool for policy makers, planners and communities to assess the environmental impact of NREGA works and help them plan an optimum mix of assets which lead to an overall improvement in natural capital. It departs significantly from previous studies of a similar nature, in realising that the nature of NREGA works is changing, and many of the newly concieved assets are not necessarily ‘environmental’ or ‘natural resource based’ assets and can in fact contribute significantly towards environmental degradation. Even the so-called natural resource based assets, in fact, can sometimes have significant negative effects on some environmental parameters while improving other environmental parameters. It is these realisations, and practical lessons learnt from the ground, which allow us to ‘Go beyond Rhetoric’ and develop practical tools which could help improve the environmental outcomes of NREGA.

https://www.academia.edu/26556115/Environmental_Evaluation_of_NREGA_in...

Environmental Sustainability Implementation Quantitative

Abstract

MGNREGA was initiated in 2005 through a central Act to support poor and vulnerable households with labour oriented jobs. Central government since then has been allocating huge funds to the states to implement MGNREGA in their respective states. Gram Panchayats are expected to identify the vulnerable households most in need of jobs, issue Job Cards and provide households with 100 days of job on their demand. The present study is an attempt to explore the factors that facilitate (or hamper) the uptake of MGNREGA services by Socially Excluded Groups (SEGs) that include Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslims.Data from 14,101 households from 720 villages in 42 districts across 7 states of India reveals that the average workdays received by households are 24.4 days (23.8 for non-SEG households). The data also suggests that access to MGNREGA is dependent on several factors including awareness about MGNREGA, participation of households in Gram Sabha proceedings and awareness about NGOs working in their area. Access to MGNREGA is not in favour of Muslims or women headed households. Also, within SEGs, those at the bottom of wealth quintile have less access to MGNREGA jobs as compared to those at the higher wealth quintile.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0973703020140107

Caste Gender Politics Quantitative Wages

Abstract

The critique on the MGNREGA in the context of Biodiversity Conservation (Mathew K Sebastian and P A Azeez, “MGNREGA and Biodiversity Conservation”, EPW, 8 March 2014) points to two critical

https://www.epw.in/journal/2014/12/letters/foreground-local-contexts.h...

Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

This study has evaluated the differentiating impact of MGNREGA on the extent of fulfilment of the basic entitlements such as days of employment, wages and earnings and the extent of coverage of social groups like dalits, adivasis and women and poverty alleviation. This study has disaggregated state level data to discern the factors that make a difference to the performance. Also some micro level scenarios are presented based on the reports of focus group discussions (FGDs) in the villages of Andhra Pradesh. There is growing evidence of an increase in agricultural wages across the country over the period between 2006-07 and2011-12, in which the impact of MGNREGA is considerable. This review has also revealed a steep increase in female agriculture wage and a substantive decline in the male-female wage gap. The search for information on the impact of MGNREGA on agricultural labor markets leads to some evidence on labor shortage, changes in wages, mechanization, peak season adjustment of work or adoption of MGNREGA calendar and migration. The absolute decline in labor force has tightened the rural labor market leading to shortage of labor for farm operations. Thus labor scarcity has emerged as one of the major constraints to increase agricultural production in India. Furthermore, the tightened labor market has offered, better bargaining power to agricultural laborers, better treatment at the place of work, ability to negotiate the duration of the working day and has initiated a growing shift towards piece rate or contract work on agriculture facilitating change in the number of working days. Based on macro level results and micro level evidence some policy interventions are suggested – such as development of labor saving technologies and machines to mitigate labor scarcity, an inclusive farm mechanization program especially for women and youth, strengthening rural-urban connectivity, social protection for migrant labor and Capacity building programs for skill augmentation. Further, a revision of the time frame of MGNREGA work to create more employment in the lean season has been recommended.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268742735_Impact_of_Mahatma_G...

Gender Poverty Wages

Abstract

This paper has examined the changes in the households’ income and employment pattern and has assessed the impact of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) -a social-security scheme for the rural poor households launched by India Government (2005). This study refers to an exhaustive survey in three villages in Bankura district, West Bengal, India covering 100 households during the year 2011–12. The impact of MGNREGA focusing employment security, income generation, and its governance and future perspectives were dealt in the study. It was found that MGNREGA covered all poor sections of the rural society irrespective of castes, genders or social orders. It was also observed that this project enhanced income as well as savings of rural households. Further, it was noticed that MGNREGA has created rural employment opportunities.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5958/j.0976-4666.59.2.014

Caste Gender

Abstract

India is the second largest country after China in terms of population and manpower. The haunting problem of unemployment is not confined to any particular class, segment or society as massive unemployment exists among educated, well-trained and skilled people as well as among semi-skilled and unskilled labourers, landless labourers, small and marginal farmers etc. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an Indian law that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’ and ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The present study examines the economic empowerment and well being of the rural poor in Karaiyamputhur / Panayadikuppam villages of Puducherry Union Territory. The survey was conducted by use of interview schedule and data were collected from 323 beneficiaries of MGNREGA of the selected villages. The study reveals that there is a significant increase in the welfare of the family for both male and female workers in respect of spending more for family, children’s education and enables them to save in bank / post office after working under MGNREGA. However, the economic well being will be improved still better if 100 days of employment in a year is provided to them.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Impact-of-MGNREGA-on-the-Economi...

Caste Poverty Wages

Abstract

The eleventh five year plan marks a significant departure from the conventional way of looking at women in plan document. It tries to mark the centrality of women in all sectors. It explicitly recognizes, probably for the first time, that women are not just equal citizens but agents of economic and social growth. According to UN Women (2013) The Mahatma Gandhi Nation Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in India and the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in South Africa are examples of important safety nets for women. The study tries to evaluate the impact of MGNREGA on socio-economic empowerment of women in Kalakkanmoi panchayat of Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu. It further analyses various risk associated with the women during the working time of MGNREGA. The study finds that the MGNREGA increases income and expenditure of the households compared over the pre MGNREGA period and the scheme significantly enhances the social and economic decision making power to women in the men dominated rural society. Hence the scheme ensures improved standard of living of the vulnerable poor, more specifically among women. It also finds that poor worksite facility, hot climate condition and reduction of leisure time put them much hardship during the working hours of MGNREGA.

https://www.internationaljournalssrg.org/IJEMS/paper-details?Id=1

Gender

Abstract

The eleventh five year plan marks a significant departure from the conventional way of looking at women in plan document. It tries to mark the centrality of women in all sectors. It explicitly recognizes, probably for the first time, that women are not just equal citizens but agents of economic and social growth. According to UN Women (2013) The Mahatma Gandhi Nation Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in India and the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in South Africa are examples of important safety nets for women. The study tries to evaluate the impact of MGNREGA on socio-economic empowerment of women in Kalakkanmoi panchayat of Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu. It further analyses various risk associated with the women during the working time of MGNREGA. The study finds that the MGNREGA increases income and expenditure of the households compared over the pre MGNREGA period and the scheme significantly enhances the social and economic decision making power to women in the men dominated rural society. Hence the scheme ensures improved standard of living of the vulnerable poor, more specifically among women. It also finds that poor worksite facility, hot climate condition and reduction of leisure time put them much hardship during the working hours of MGNREGA.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Impact-of-MGNREGA-on-Women-Empow...

Gender

Abstract

The paper attempts to study the impact of MGNREGA on women empowerment through their participation in Odisha. It will highlight some facts about level of participation of women in MGNREGA in Odisha. Further an attempt has been made to have an analysis of impact of such participation on women empowerment in Nelia village of Tangi-Choudwar block of Cuttack district in Odisha. It has been found out that the level of participation of women in MGNREGA in Odisha has been between 35-40 percent over a period of five years (2008-09 to 2012-13). Further it was found out that overall impact of MGNREGA on women’s lives has been quite positive in many ways, whether it is by enhancing their economic independence and self-confidence or by helping them to have greater role in decision making in household. An integrated approach that links equality-based rights to manage productive assets and gender inclusive is the need of the hour for addressing risks arising from MGNREGA fatigue.

https://www.proquest.com/docview/1733218413?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Jou...

Gender

Abstract

I analyze the impact of India’s public employment generation program (NREGS) on entrepreneurship. One of the main barriers to entrepreneurship in India is a lack of access to capital. My hypothesis is that NREGS allows liquidity constrained individuals to accumulate savings, enabling subsequent investment in a risky, but more profitable, venture, and ideally, permanent graduation from poverty. Taking advantage of the quasi-experimental nature of the program, I use a nationally representative data set to estimate the impact of NREGS on selection into entrepreneurship. I find that rates of non-agricultural entrepreneurship increase by 3 percentage points in NREGS districts (increasing rates from 15% to 18%), compared to areas that did not receive the program. This result is robust to various specifications, including two falsification tests. The results suggest that by acting as a source of credit, NREGS impacts household occupational choice, contributing to increased income, and ultimately promoting current and future family welfare.

https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/WR1000/WR105...

Poverty Quantitative

Abstract

This paper uses a quasi-experimental framework to analyze the impact of India’s largest public works program, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), on schooling enrollment, grade progression, reading comprehension test scores, writing test scores, math test scores and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) scores. The availability of pre and two rounds of post-intervention initiation data from the three rounds of the Young Lives Panel Study allow us to measure both the short- and medium-run intent-to-treat effects of the program. We find that the program has no effect on enrollment but has strong positive effects on grade progression, reading comprehension test scores, math test scores and PPVT scores. The average effect size computed over several outcomes is similar to the effects of conditional cash transfer programs implemented in Latin America. These short-run impact estimates all increased in the medium run, that is, there is no decaying of impact but instead medium-run augmentation of the estimated short-run effects. The findings reported here are robust to attrition bias, endogenous program placement, type I errors and type II errors.

https://repository.upenn.edu/entities/publication/5e26a6ab-63c6-4e0a-8...

Quantitative

Abstract

The various activities being promoted under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme such as water harvesting and soil conservations could have high positive results on environment security and biodiversity and environment conservation. While this article appreciates the integration of biodiversity conservation into the MGNREGS, it points out the importance of preparing panchayat-level biodiversity registers, supporting individual and institutional efforts in biodiversity conservation and the formulation of appropriate policies.

https://www.epw.in/journal/2014/10/commentary/mgnrega-and-biodiversity...

Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Compared to urban sustainability, rural sustainability has traditionally received inadequate attention, especially in developing countries such as India. Because of their symbiotic relation with the local climate and landforms, vernacular structures of rural India are said to be inherently sustainable. However, since 2005, substantial amounts of intervention brought about by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act (MGNREGA) have changed this situation. India’s rural landscape is now intersected with numerous built forms, such as road networks, water management systems, and land development. Unfortunately, the MGNREGA’s goal of addressing the substantial void that characterised rural areas and bringing about a sustainable future through the generation of the multiplier effect have not been achieved in most cases. This study was conducted to investigate the reasons for this unexpected outcome. Water management, constituting the major thrust of the MGNREGA, was examined for two purposively selected areas with distinctively different physio-climatological variations at the micro level from the state of West Bengal. The data from the MGNREGA website and from field investigations show a short-term benefit, whereas sustainability issues on a long-term basis remain a concern. Straight- jacketed norms for scheme implementation ignoring physical heterogeneity across the country appear to be a major cause. Reframing and customisation of construction specifications are recommended as a solution.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/MGNREGA-and-Water-Management%3A-...

Environmental Sustainability Implementation Urban

Abstract

Towards the attainment of the women empowerment and bridging the gender imbalances at the household and community levels in rural areas, MGNREGA is a great milestone. The gender disparities prevailing in the countryside have been adversely affecting the quality of life of rural women. The gender sensitive, demand-led MGNREGA has the potential to correct the anomalies in labour market along with gender based discrimination. The effective delivery system with pro-women bias may be promising and efficacious to ensure the process of women participation in development programmes and also to have access and control over the use of resources. Andhra Pradesh is one of the few states in the country with high participation of women in MGNREGA. This also underlines the fact that female wages are much higher in the MGNREGA scheme in Andhra Pradesh than the non-public casual works in the state. The paper explores the MGNREGA to look into the status of rural unemployment and poverty rate in Andhra Pradesh with special reference to gender and rationale for the MGNREGA in Andhra Pradesh, to study the role of MGNREGA in providing employment to rural women and offer suggestion and recommendations for more women participation in MGNREGA in Andhra Pradesh.

https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijmds1&volume=3&i...

Gender Wages

Abstract

India’s scheduled tribes are among the most deprived socio-economic groups and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme has great potential in tribal areas. While the Andhra Pradesh government has made an effort to ensure implementation of the scheme in the scheduled areas, the gap between administrative orders and the grass-roots level is wide. This article lists measures that could radically improve implementation of the scheme in tribal areas.

https://www.epw.in/journal/2014/51/commentary/mgnrega-andhra-pradeshs-...

Caste Implementation Poverty

Abstract

India’s scheduled tribes are among the most deprived socio-economic groups and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme has great potential in tribal areas. While the Andhra Pradesh government has made an effort to ensure implementation of the scheme in the scheduled areas, the gap between administrative orders and the grass-roots level is wide. This article lists measures that could radically improve implementation of the scheme in tribal areas.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24481143

Caste Implementation

Abstract

This study reports on a survey of 4,881 users of more than 4,100 works created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Maharashtra. It provides evidence that MGNREGA works support agriculture, and benefit a large number of small and marginal farmers. An overwhelming 90% of the respondents considered the works very useful or somewhat useful, while only 8% felt they were useless. Further, most works continue to be maintained and are in a good condition. Overall, this study suggests that the widespread perception that the MGNREGA does not create anything productive appears to be misplaced, although there is scope for improving the choice of works, their design, and their execution.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24481747

Quantitative

Abstract

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a flag ship programme of the government of India. It has two views among the farmers and labour in rural areas i.e., pessimistic and optimistic respectively. The data were collected during May to October, 2011 in Banda and Hamirpur district of Bundelkhand region, Uttar Pradesh. Interviewed 120 each small, medium and large farmer in three villages in each districts located in different distances. Thus, 60 farmers from each village have been selected randomly for the study purpose. Qualitative data were also collected through focus group discussion. Study shows that main cause of labour shortage is rural out-migration and MGNREGA work. The consequence of labour shortage in agriculture is changes in cropping pattern and land market. The farmers have adopted various strategies to overcome labour shortage in agriculture such as use of family labour, increased use of machinery and hired labour from outside the village. Farmers (especially small and medium farmers) unable to pay wage rate as equal to the MGNREGA wage rate due to low income from agriculture. As MGNREGA is a labour bank in the rural areas, these labour should involve in agricultural work in the field of farmers that the best strategy to overcome labour shortage in agriculture. Another strategy is implementation of cooperative farming in the study areas.

https://journals.esciencepress.net/index.php/IJAE/article/view/656

Environmental Sustainability Implementation Qualitative Wages

Abstract

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is an epoch making event in the history of independent India. There is much that the NREGA promises from the perspective of women’s empowerment as well. Most boldly, in a rural milieu marked by stark inequalities between men and women in the opportunities for gainful employment afforded as well as wage rates NREGA represents action on both these counts. The act stipulates that wages will be equal for men and women. Andhra Pradesh and Panchayat have been very vigilant in spreading awareness about NREGA through radio, poster, television, notice board on gram sabhas Vision Mahatma Gandhi NREGA seeks to enhance the livelihood security of the women’s in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every women whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work., etc. The manifold functions taken up by MGNREGA members range from identification of projects to supervision of works and submission of records for wage disbursement. The objective of the Study is to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every poor women’s whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. This work guarantee can also serve other objectives generating productive assets, protecting the environment, empowering rural women, reducing rural urban migration and fostering social equity, among others. The main of objective of the paper is to study the performance of women labourers in generating employment in the study area.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/MGNREGA%3A-Making-Way-for-Social...

Gender Wages

Abstract

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was enacted on 23rd of August 2005 and got presidential assent on 5th of September 2005 expressing the consensus of the State to use fiscal and legal instruments to address the challenges of unemployment and poverty. Today the problem of unemployment is the single largest puzzle of Kerala which is the highest unemployment rate among the states of India which accounts 25.5 percent. But most of the unemployed are educated. The worsening unemployment situation is obviously related to the inability of the economy of the State to generate any fresh employment during the last decade. While this phenomenon of “Jobless Growth” is observable in all the States in the country, the situation in Kerala appears to be particularly distressing because most of the labour intensive/labour absorbing traditional industries depending on exports is facing a survival crisis in the liberalized trade environment. Unemployment and under employment among workers in traditional sectors are indeed of major concerns.

The significance of MGNREGA lies in the fact that it creates a right- based framework for wage employment programmes and makes the Government legally accountable for providing employment to those who ask for it. In this way, the legislation goes beyond providing a social safety net towards guaranteeing the right to employment. In Kerala, the program was initiated in February 2006 in the rural areas of two districts – Palakkad and Wayanad. The programme was extended to Kasaragod and Idukki by February, 2007 in second phase and to the remaining 10 districts by January 2009 in third phase. This programme came to be known as a Kerala State Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The responsibility has been assigned primarily to Local-Self Governments. Despite high levels of unemployment in Kerala, the high levels of literacy mean that unemployed men are educated and even though many men signed up initially and had job cards made, they do not want to do unskilled manual work and therefore have not applied for work on the scheme. While women too are educated they have not felt it to be below their dignity and in fact women frequently said that NREGA work, being ‘government work’, gave them a higher status. There are several constraints which hinder the effective implementation like difficulty in identification of sufficient number of projects, lack of staff at Gram Panchayat level, lack of participation of male members, lack of provisions for undertaking schemes require material and skilled labour cost , lack of awareness among various stakeholders , lack of capacity among the supervisors and monitors, reluctance in collaborating with the NGO sector in the state, lack of cooperation and collaboration between the project staff and Panchayat functionaries at various levels, lack of interest among the elected representatives, etc.

This paper analyse the performance of employment generated by MGNREGS in kerala, participation of under privileged class like SCs, STs and women and analyse various issues related with this programme in Kerala. The notable feature of this scheme is high participation of women which constitute about 90 percent that is why this programme is also known ‘Women Programme’.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3523065

Challenges Environmental Sustainability Gender Implementation Wages