Congress leader Jairam Ramesh Friday expressed deep concern over the future of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), marking its 20th anniversary. Ramesh believes the scheme’s future is uncertain under the current government.
“Today marks the twentieth anniversary of MGNREGA formally becoming a law. On a day when we should recall the many achievements of the world’s largest social welfare scheme, we must instead grapple with the scheme’s very uncertain future under this government,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
Ramesh pointed out that the Finance Ministry has already spent 60 per cent of MGNREGA’s budget within five months, raising concerns about the scheme’s future. “The Finance Ministry’s regulations prohibit government schemes from spending more than 60% of the budgeted expenditure in the first half of the financial year. The ministry has blown through 60% of its budget within five months itself, leaving a question mark on what the future holds for crores of India’s rural families,” he said.
Ramesh highlighted several issues with the scheme’s implementation, including:
”MGNREGA has been underfunded for the past 11 years, with the budget remaining constant for the past three years despite high inflation rates.
Payments to workers are often delayed beyond the statutory period of 15 days without compensation.
MGNREGA wages have barely increased in the last 11 years.
The introduction of technologies like NMMS and ABPS has prevented over 2 crore workers from securing their right to work and payment.”
The Congress has consistently been demanding a significant budget enhancement, timely payment of wages, a minimum wage of Rs 400 per day, a standing committee to set MGNREGA wages, and a halt to exclusionary technology like the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) and National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS).