Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - Topic: Development Politics, , language: English, abstract: This paper investigates how the employment generating scheme MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is different from other employment generating scheme and finds how MGNREGA is supporting economic development by creating community/productive assets at the level of villages. Since 2000, India has experienced rapid economic growth and a sharp decline in poverty. But employment has grown more slowly. Government intervened in the economy through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which provides employment to unskilled workers in rural areas besides creating community/productive assets at the level of village such as wells, tanks, ponds, roads etc. This programme is designed to provide income protection against poverty in rural area. The choice of works under MGNREGA seeks to address the causes of chronic poverty such as drought, deforestation and soil erosion. MGNREGA is different from other employment and poverty alleviation programme in the sense that it is a legal framework and right to work based programme. This is a paradigm shift from its earlier programmes for it is a bottom-up, demand driven structure with built-in social audits.

Economic development remains the major objective of any economy and rural development is an integral part of overall development programme. Similarly, one of the major objectives of the development planning in India, since independence, is "Growth with social justice". Upliftment of villages has always remained and will continue to remain to be the major area of achievements in all the discussions pertaining to economic growth of the economy. India is country of villages and according to census 2011, about 68.85 percent of its population reside in villages out of which 25.70 percent live below the poverty line. Majority of rural population of India depend on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood. Creation of employment opportunities in rural areas is affected by the low rate of growth of agricultural sector. The poor, who are at the below subsistence level, largely depend on the wages earned through unskilled casual manual labour. The inadequate labour demand in lean period in agricultural sector and events like natural calamities and personal ill-health, adversely affect the level of employment, income and livelihood of rural population. Employment generation in rural areas, therefore, becomes crucial for reducing poverty. The quantum of unemployment helps to decide the action plan to be framed and followed. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was introduced in Anatpur District of Andhra Pradesh by Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh on February 2, 2006. NREGA had been renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on the occasion of 50th Anniversary of launching of Panchayati Raj and observing 2009-10 as year of Gram Sabha in New Delhi on 2nd October, 2009.

Consistent with the approach for an employment-centered development strategy, India's public employment programs are an integral part of the country's planning and policy. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) came into force in 2006 with the objective of enhancing the livelihood security of unorganized workers in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to rural households where members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The Act further aims to create durable assets and strengthen the livelihood resource base of the rural poor. This book traces the origin and development of MGNREGA and analyzes its impact in India's rural areas in terms of the country's Millennium Development Goals, wage rates, financial inclusion, budgetary allocations, labor migration, Ã?Â?Ã?Â?governance, and environmental concerns. [Subject: India Studies, Sociology, Rural Studies, Labor Studies, Economics]

This comprehensive book is an attempt to understand the working of the operational part of this act—the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS). The expert contributors to this book have presented evidences of implementation and impact of the scheme across India, including both agriculturally developed states and the backward ones, and states where the scheme is better implemented as well as those where it is not. Their essays go on to explain the meaning, context, issues and development policy implications of MGNREGS through theoretical and empirical papers.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was enacted in India with the multiple objectives of providing employment in a rights-based framework, addressing rural poverty, checking migration, and building rural infrastructure. As such, every year around 15–20 per cent of households in India overall and 30 per cent in rural India receive some form of employment share under the MGNREGA programme. This volume looks at various aspect of the scheme, its linkage with employment, agricultural wages, livelihood and food security, gender issues, and migration in rural India. It also discusses challenges in implementation, hurdles and the relative successes of the scheme. Based on primary survey data from 16 major states in the country, the findings of the study provide key insights into MGNREGA and assess the implications for other welfare-oriented programmes. Rich in empirical data, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of political economy, economics, agriculture, rural development and sociology, as well as policymakers and nongovernmental organisations.