MGNREGA Full Form

What is the full form of MGNREGA?

The full form of MGNREGA is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ,earlier known as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), is an Indian labour law and a social security measure that works to guarantee the 'right to work ‘. The act was passed on 23 August 2005 under the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

This Story also Contains

1. What is the full form of MGNREGA?
2. Launching of the scheme MGNREGA
3. Permissible works of MGNREGA
4. Main features of MGNREGA
5. Eligibility criteria for MGNREGA
6. Few issues under MGNREGA

It aims to improve livelihood security in rural areas by providing 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to at least 1 member of each and every household whose adult members volunteer to do any unskilled manual work. Women are guaranteed one-third of the jobs available under the MGNREGA. Another aim is to create assets like roads, canals, ponds and wells etc. Employment must be provided within 5 km of an employee’s residence, and minimum wages should be paid. If applicants are unable to get work within 15 days of applying, they will be provided with an unemployment allowance. Thus, according to MGNREGA “ Employment is a legal entitlement”. It is also engaged in protecting the environment, empowering rural women, reducing rural-urban migration and fostering social equality among others. This act was proposed by P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1991.

Launching of the scheme MGNREGA

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was launched by the government of India in all the Gram Panchayats of district Mahendergarh and Sirsa on 2nd February 2006 and the scheme was extended in two more districts Ambala and Mewat on 1st April 2007.

Permissible works of MGNREGA

• To promote water conservation and water harvesting including gabion structures, underground dykes, and dams.

• drought proofing, afforestation and tree plantation;

• irrigation canals

• renovation of water bodies, and desilting of tanks

• flood control and manage drainage of water-logged areas including repairing flood channels, and construction of water drains for coastal protection;

• agricultural works, like NADEP(Narayan Deotao Pandharipande) composting, vermicomposting, and liquid bio-manures;

• Managing livestock such as poultry shelters, constructing pucca floors, urine tank

Main features of MGNREGA

• It gives the legal guarantee of wage employment to the members of rural households for at least 100 days per household

• It is applicable to all villages in a District

• Every rural household has the right to register.

• Job cards are issued to every household who are registered under MGNREGA

• The work must be provided within 5 km of distance from the village

• If the work provided is beyond 5 Kms, the applicants will be given 10% of the minimum wages

• The state government will pay 25% of the minimum wage for the 1st 30 days

• Wages must be paid according to the State Minimum Wage rate under the Minimum Wages Act 1948.

Eligibility criteria for MGNREGA

The eligibility criteria for the MGNREGA scheme are as follows:

• To seek the benefits of this scheme, the individual must be an Indian citizen.

• The person applying for the scheme must belong to the gram panchayat or the local area.

• While registering under the scheme of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the person is expected to be at least 18 years.

• The person must register for unskilled labour under the MGNREGA scheme.

Few issues under MGNREGA

1. Low wage rates: The current wage rates of MGNREGA of 17 states are less than the minimum wages of the corresponding states. The low wage rates are the main reason for the lack of interest among workers in the MGNREGA scheme.

2) Insufficient budget allocation: Almost every year, about 80 per cent of funds get exhausted within six months. The fund allocation is not sufficient to ensure proper implementation of the scheme which is one of the main issues of MGNREGA.

3) Regular payment delays: Despite the order of the Supreme Court no provision has yet been implemented in the MIS (Management Information System ) for the calculation of wage delays as well as payment of compensation for the same. Therefore, the government’s claims of 92 per cent on-time payments generation are not correct. Even a quick survey on the ground will reflect that payments are regularly delayed.

4) The banking puzzle: The rural banks are usually de-capacitated in the context of staff and infrastructure, that's why they always remain very crowded. The workers usually have to visit the banks many times to withdraw their wages and because of the great rush and poor administration, the bank passbooks are not updated. Often, the workers are unable to get their wages on time due to the hassle and rush in banks.

5) Non-payment of unemployment allowance: The workers are unable to get unemployment allowance which is clearly shown in the MIS. No action is taken by the Central Government to resolve this issue.

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