The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has lowered the Budget allocation for the Centre’s flagship job guarantee scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
The Budget, presented by finance minister Nrmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2023, has earmarked Rs 60,000 crore for implementing the rural job scheme in 2023-24, more than 32% less than the Revised Budget allocation for FY23. In the previous Budget, the NREGA was allocated Rs 73,000 crore while the revised estimate for FY23 was Rs 89,400 crore. This year’s allocation is the lowest seen in the past four budgets, covering this entire term of the Narendra Modi government.
More commonly referred to as the NREGA, the programme provides at least 100 days of guaranteed employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members are willing to do unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage. Government data show a total of 11.37 crore households availed of employment and a total of 289.24 crore person-days employment were generated under the NREGA till December 15, 2022.
The Ministry of Rural Development monitors the implementation of the scheme in association with state governments.
In their pre-Budget wish-list, social activist groups working for rural employment demanded the Centre allocate a higher budget of Rs 2.72 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24 to meet for existing shortfalls. “The unpaid dues in the financial year 2021-22 were registered to be Rs 24,403 crore against the Budget allocation of Rs 73,000 crore. Consequently, 25% of the Budget was utilised to clear the dues, thereby creating a shortage of funds for the latter year,” Nikhil Dey of NREGA Sangharsha Morcha said in a press conference ahead of the Budget.
“The Budget dealt a body blow to the MGNREGS… Low budget allocation when work demand is high suppresses it and is unlawful,” Dey said post the Budget.
NREGA workers bodies slam cut in Budget allocation
The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha and the Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee on February 4, 2023, said the FY 2023-24 Budgetary allocations for the NREGA is a “travesty” and “an assault” on people’s right to work.
“This (the Budget allocation) amounts only to around 1% of the GDP, and is in fact a conservative estimate that considers only households that were employed this year at the estimated minimum wage rate… This unjust allocation by the government is an assault on rights of rural workers and is a step towards killing the programme. In response, NREGA workers around the country hit the road on NREGA Diwas (February 2) to protest against budget cuts,” the organisations said in a statement.
See also: How to Check and Download NREGA Job Card List 2023?
Govt trims NREGA allocation to increase PMAY, Jal Jeevan budget: CEA
Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on February, 6, 2023, said the allocation for NREGS has been reduced in the Budget for 2023-24 as more funds have been allocated towards the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana and the Jal Jeevan Mission, which are expected to provide jobs to the same set of workers in rural areas.
“One of the reasons why allocation for the NREGS was lowered is because there is a much larger substantive increase in allocation in particularly the PMAY (rural) and the Jal Jeevan Yojana… so, the expectation is that the rural workers would be able to find jobs in these projects,” he said.
“If they (rural workers) don’t get absorbed (in PMAY or Jal Jeevan Mission)… we can accommodate them through higher allocation in MGNREGS since it is a demand-driven programme,” he added.