No hike in rural job scheme, static at Rs 86000 cr

In the budget for 2023-24, the government came under criticism for a 21.66% reduction in NREGA allocations.

NEW DELHI: The flagship scheme for rural employment, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has been allocated Rs 86,000 crore in FY25 same as the revised estimate for FY24 and Rs 20,000 crore more than the budget estimate in FY24.

In the budget for 2023-24, the government came under criticism for a 21.66% reduction in NREGA allocations. However, the government revised it to Rs 89,400 crore later.

According to government estimates, 3.2 crore households have benefited from the scheme generating employment for 13.07 crore people in the current financial year. The Economic Survey tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday stated that the demand under the scheme is not a real indicator of rural distress.

The report pointed out that in FY24, Tamil Nadu, which has less than 1% of the country’s poor population, accounted for nearly 15% of all MGNREGS funds released. Similarly, Kerala, with only 0.1% of the poor population, used almost 4% of the nation’s MGNREGS funds. These two states together generated 51 crore person-days of employment. In contrast, Bihar and UP, with about 45% (20% and 25% respectively) of the poor population, accounted for only 17% (6% and 11% respectively) of MGNREGS funds and generated 53 crore person-days of employment.

In February this year, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development pointed out that the budgetary allocation for the scheme has been below the demand made by the Rural Development Ministry each year. “The pruning of funds at Budget Estimate (BE) stage itself does have a cascading effect on various important aspects such as timely release of wages which have a telling impact on the progress of the scheme. It feels that for smooth implementation of MGNREGS at ground level, shortage of funds is a big obstacle which does not augur well for the performance of the scheme.”

3.2 crore benefited

According to government estimates, 3.2 crore households have benefited from the scheme generating employment for 13.07 crore people in the current financial year.