Question: Consider the following statements:
(1) The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is a rural sector social security scheme in India under which poor household individual can get at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year.
(2) A provision of Rs. 1,01,500 crore has been made under MGNREGS in the financial year 2020-2021.
Of the above correct statement/s is/are:
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1& 2
(d) All of the above
Answer: (b)
Related facts:
- As of Ministry of Rural Development,a provision of Rs. 1,01,500 crore has been made under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the current financial year 2020-2021.
- It is the highest ever provision of funds under the programme.
- A sum of Rs. 31,493 crore has already been released in 2020-2021, which is more than 50% of the budget estimate of the current Financial Year.
- A total of 60.80 crore person days has been generated so far and work has been offered to 6.69 crore persons.
- Average number of persons to whom work offered in May 2020 has been 2.51 crore per day, which is 73% higher than the work offered in May last year, which was 1.45 crore persons per day.
- A total of 10 lakh works have been completed so far during the current Financial Year 2020-2021.
About MGNREGA:
- The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is a rural sector social security scheme in India.
- The scheme provides at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year, to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
- It was enacted in 2005 and is the largest work guarantee programme in the world.
- MGNREGA is implemented mainly by gram panchayats (GPs).
- Earlier launched as National Rural Employment Guarantee) Act,it was renamed MGNREGA in 2009.
Background:
- To ensure economic security and livelihood, the P.V Narashima Rao government proposed a pilot scheme for generating employment in rural areas in 1991. Goals ascertained were:
- Employment Generation for agricultural labour during the lean season.
- Infrastructure Development
- Enhanced Food Security
- In way to sustain so,a scheme called Employment Assurance Scheme was launched which later evolved into the MGNREGA after the merger with the Food for Work Programme in the early 2000s.
By-Amar Mani Upadhyay
Links:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1630332#:~:text=A%20provision%20of%20Rs.%201,of%20funds%20under%20the%20programme.
https://nrega.nic.in/amendments_2005_2018.pdf