Know about Objective and Achievements of MGNREGA

About MGNREGA

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Guarantee Scheme is an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’. It has generated more rural employment than any other government scheme or private initiative in the history of independent India. At the same time, it has also generated a great deal of controversy over its merits and demerits.

The MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.

This is labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘Right to Work’.

The act was first proposed in 1991 by P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Key Objectives of MGNREGA

MGNREGA which has been hailed as the world’s largest and most ambitious social project was designed with the following key objectives in mind:

• Generation of paid rural employment of not less than 100 days for each worker who volunteers for unskilled labour.

• Proactively ensuring social inclusion by strengthening livelihood base of rural poor.

• Creation of durable assets in rural areas such as wells, ponds, roads and canals

• Reduce urban migration from rural areas

• Create rural infrastructure by using untapped rural labour

Achievements of MGNREGA

It is the world’s largest social welfare scheme and 3.14 lakh crore rupees were spent in the first 10 years.

• The scheme has managed to reduce the poverty levels in India by a huge amount. It was, hence, called a stellar example of rural development by the World Development Report of 2014.
• It has helped many women in rural areas to make a livelihood as well as gain social security.
• The unemployed youth in the age bracket of 18-30 got employment for 100 days a year.
• Helped employ the people effected by Demonetization and GST (Goods and Services Tax).
• Has rightly enforced the ‘Right to work’ Since agriculture and its allied activities make up about 65% of the scheme, the sector was benefitted.
• It provides basic facilities like clean drinking water and first aid to all the labor.
• It has helped in uplifting Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), this scheme has played a vital role in reducing poverty among the poor as well as the socially weaker sections (Dalits, tribals and marginal farmers).