The MGNREGA slowdown in India -Debmalya Nandy

-CounterCurrents.org

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) this year has almost come to a standstill. While the nation is debating the economic slowdown and falling demand in the rural areas , economists emphasizing that increase in the rural income and generating resources for the poor as a potential solution to the on going crisis, the so called world’s largest job scheme remains neglected by the Government of India.

While focusing on rural job creation and ameliorating the rural wages should have been the ideal policy solutions in this hour of crisis , the Government conveniently choosing to look away from the problems.

In the past few years we have observed that 85-90% of the allocated budget for NREGA generally get exhausted within the first six months of the financial year, surprisingly this year the utilization is only 64% of the total allocation till now, with just five and a half months to go in the financial year.

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