MGNREGA: what workers really think about the programme’s effectiveness

BCCL

MGNREGA workers in Uttar Pradesh, India on July 27, 2020.

Synopsis
Are there enough jobs under MGNREGA? What do workers have to say about it? By using a unique database, we have tried to find out workers’ response to the programme’s efficacy. We collected 6,580 raw data points from 40 districts, covering a range of 162 gram panchayats. Here’s what we discovered.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the largest workfare programme in the world with an average annual expenditure of over USD5 billion. And in recent times, the need for expanding the programme has gained prominence. MGNREGA is expected to provide employment opportunities to migrant workers who were displaced by the economic disruption due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Most of these migrant workers belong to the