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The lockdown and financial distress that ensued Covid-19 disturbed the fabric of rural life and migrants who returned to their homes in villages added to the burden on the rural economy. Data reveal that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) proved a lifesaver to many in rural India during the pandemic.
Out of 1.23-crore migrant workers who returned to their home States in 2020, 67 per cent were from five States — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Odisha. And these States received about ₹62,194.79 crore or 40 per cent of the Central funds under MGNREGS in 2020-21 and 2021-22 (as of August 5, 2021).
The data presented by the Ministry of Rural Development in the Lok Sabha this week show that during the pandemic West Bengal received the highest Central funds of ₹15,210 crore under MGNREGS, which is 10 per cent of the total funds allocated to all States under the scheme during this period.
The biggest beneficiaries
According to data from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Uttar Pradesh has the biggest share (26 per cent) of migrant workers who returned to the State, followed by Bihar (12 per cent) , West Bengal and Rajasthan (11 per cent each), Odisha (7 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (6 per cent).
Along with West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh also received 10 per cent of MGNREGS funds in two years. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are among the top five States to receive the highest MGNREGS Central release with Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Interestingly, Andhra Pradesh witnessed one of the lowest incoming migration (32,571) during Covid-19 but it received the third-highest Central funds of ₹14,694 crore (9 per cent of total release) under the scheme.
Despite higher incoming migration, Odisha received fewer funds.
Still depend on scheme
MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment programme that provides for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
According to data, the number of people wanting to work under the scheme increased during the pandemic.
During 2020-21, a total of 1.89 crore new job cards were issued, while 56.47 lakh job cards have been issued so far in the current fiscal. During 2020-21, a total of 389 crore person-days were generated which is 47 per cent more than that in 2019-20.
In 2020-21, a total of 7.55 crore households were provided employment which is 38 per cent more than the previous financial year. In the current fiscal, so far, a total of 5.96 crore households have been offered employment and 148.19 crore persondays have been generated.
The financial allocation for the scheme is ₹73,000 crore at the Budget Estimate stage in 2021-22. The Ministry has released ₹46,705.24 crore during the current financial year (as of August 6, 2021) to States/UTs for the implementation of the scheme.
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