MGNREGA saw a sharp contraction in its scale and reach in 2025–26

 The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) 


What is MGNREGA?



MGNREGA is the abbreviation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.


It is a law passed by the Indian government in 2005 that guarantees the "right to work" to rural citizens of India.

Under this, the government assures a minimum of 100 days of unskilled manual work to an adult member of an eligible rural household.

The main objective of the MGNREGA is to provide employment to rural citizens and improve their economic conditions....


WHY IN NEWS ?


MGNREGA saw a sharp contraction in its scale and reach in 2025–26


according to a report on the final operational year of the scheme introduced by the Congress-led UPA regime.


Registered more but work less 

number of registered households rose marginally, but 

  • fewer households and workers found employment, 

  • total workdays declined significantly, 

  •  fewer families completed the guaranteed 100 days of work.


The report 

was released by the 

  • NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, a coalition of non-profit bodies working with MGNREGS workers

  •  was prepared by LibTech India, a consortium of academics and activists.

  • LibTech estimates that the contraction resulted in an average income loss of ₹1,221 for each MGNREGS household during the financial year. 


Uncertain transition

Change in MGNREGA



The Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, which was passed in Parliament last December, is expected to come into force soon, replacing MGNREGS. 



The Union government has allocated only ₹30,000 crore for MGNREGS for the transitional period. 


Fewer working days


The number of registered households 



under the scheme 

  • increased by 3.2%, 
  • from 14.98 crore in 2024–25 to 15.46 crore in 2025–26. 


report notes that 

  • 44 lakh fewer households 
  •  67 lakh fewer workers were employed compared to the previous year

  • representing declines of 8.2% and 9.1% respectively.

The number of persondays of work generated under the programme 



  • fell sharply by 21.5%

  • from 268.44 crore in 2024–25 to 210.73 crore in 2025–26. 


Average persondays per household 


dropped by 14.5%, from 50.18 to 42.92. 


The impact of this decline is evident in the sharp fall in the number of households completing the full 100 days of guaranteed employment, 

which declined by 40.5%, from 0.37 crore to 0.22 crore.


The contraction was geographically widespread


Fifteen out of 20 States 

recorded a fall in persondays during the year. 


West Bengal 

generated no persondays in either 2024–25 or 2025–26 and was excluded from the comparative analysis.


 Tamil Nadu recorded the steepest decline 


at 42.8%, followed by Haryana at 41.7%. Only four States registered an increase in persondays.

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