What is Mahatma Gandhi NREGA or MGNREGA?

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was enacted and passed in 2005 by the parliament and is a livelihood security scheme for the people of rural areas across all states and union territories of India, except 100% urban districts.

The MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled labour work. Various schemes and works are sponsored under MGNREGA that aim to help rural people, especially women, the Scheduled Castes, and the Scheduled Tribes.

Any adult member of a rural household who is willing to do unskilled manual work can register under MGNREGA to obtain a job card. The objective of MGNREGA is to provide livelihood security by guaranteeing wage employment opportunities and creating a durable rural asset base. There are 260 permissible works listed under the Act.

Any rural household that meets the MGNREGA eligibility is entitled to a job card, which contains the names and photographs of all adult members of the household, allowing them to demand and receive work. Any non-compliance with the MGNREGA provisions is considered an offence.

What if MGNREGA? 

MGNREGA was notified by the Indian parliament in 2005 as the National Rural Employment Generation Act (NREGA), and the words “Mahatma Gandhi” were later prefixed. The Act is applicable across all the states and union territories of the country, excluding those districts that have a 100% urban population.

The Act guarantees a hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household, whose adult members are willing to do unskilled labour work. An additional 50 days of wage employment, beyond the stipulated 100 days, is also guaranteed to Scheduled Tribe households in a forest area, if they have no other private property except for the land rights provided under the FRA Act, 2006, and to those households in rural areas where drought or natural calamity has been notified.

The households are entitled to a job card, which contains names along with photographs of the adult family members, making them eligible to demand and receive work. The Gram Panchayat at the village level is tasked to verify and register a household for the job card within 15 days of the application.

Objective of MGNREGA

The main objective of MGNREGA is to provide social and livelihood security by guaranteeing wage employment opportunities to the most vulnerable people living in rural India. The other key objectives of the Act are listed below:

• To rejuvenate the natural resource base of rural areas.
• To create a productive rural asset base.
• To empower the socially disadvantaged sections of rural areas.
• To strengthen the decentralised and participatory planning by converging anti-poverty and livelihoods initiatives.
• To strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the country.

Who is Eligible for MGNREGA 

Any rural household in India is eligible to demand and receive work under MGNREGA. The eligibility criteria include:

• The person must be a resident of India.
• The person must be above 18 years of age.
• The person must be willing to do unskilled labour.
• The person must be a member of a rural household with an MGNREGA job card.

How to Apply for MGNREGA

Application for MGNREGA is to be submitted to the local Gram Panchayat. The applicant will have to submit the name, age, gender and photographs of all the household members, village name, and details of ST or SC or IAY category.

Implementing Agencies Under MGNREGA 

The implementing agencies under MGNREGA are the following:

• A central government or a state government department;
• Zila Parishad;
• Panchayat at the intermediate level;
• Gram Panchayat
• Any local authority or government undertaking or non-governmental organisation authorised by the central or state government.

Works Covered Under MGNREGA 

There are 266 works permissible under MGNREGA and these works should create productive and tangible assets of prescribed quality and durability. These works are categorised into four major work categories, which are further grouped under 24 major heads and 39 work types. The 266 permissible works include 150 works related to agriculture and allied activities, 58 works related to Natural Resource Management, and 58 works rural infrastructure.

The works that are non-tangible, not measurable and repetitive in nature are not covered under MGNREGA. Also, a worker has to be allocated a worksite within 5 km of his or her residence, and the work has to be definitely provided within the Block. In case, the work is allocated beyond 5 km of residence, the worker has a right to get a travel allowance, which should be ten per cent of the wage rate.

The 38 work types covered under the MGNREGA include plantation, irrigation canals, bunds for land development, land related works for land development, renovation of water bodies, water conservation check dams, water conservation percolation tanks, water conservation ponds, rain water harvesting structure, water conservation recharge structure, water conservation trenches, water management bench terrace, water management bunds, water management check dams, water management trenches, and biogas plants.

The construction of PMAY and state houses, development of fallow or waste lands bunds, land related works related development of fallow or waste land, irrigation wells, fish drying yards, fisheries ponds, azola cultivation infrastructure, livestock shelter, work shed or building for SHG, food grain storage structure, liquid biomanure infrastructure, Anganwadi centre building, crematorium, and cyclone shelters are also the permissible work types under MGNREGA.

Gram Panchayat building, kitchen shed, Village or Rural Haat, drainage infrastructure, disaster response embankment, flood or diversion channel, storm water drains, border roads, building material, rural connectivity roads, soak pits, solid liquid waste management, toilets, government school compound walls, and play fields are also permissible work types.

Conclusion 

MGNREGA is a livelihood security scheme for the members of rural households which guarantees hundreds of days of wage employment. The works under MGNREGA are specifically prescribed under the Act and the works that are non-tangible and repetitive are not permissible. The eligible rural resident has the right to demand and receive the work if his or her household has a job card.

FAQs