MGNREGA workdays to be increased in drought-affected areas

NEW DELHI: Battling opposition charge of pursuing "anti-poor" policies, the NDA government has decided to increase the number of workdays under MGNREGA from 100 days to 150 days in drought-hit areas.

The law has been criticised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "living example of Congress's failure".

"A policy decision has been taken that if a family requires 150 days of work under MNREGA in a drought affected region, it should be provided. Some of the states are affected by drought.

"The ministry has decided that the number of workdays under the rural job guarantee scheme could be increased from 100 to 150 in drought-affected areas," Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh told PTI.

With the Monsoon playing truant in a number of regions and the government already facing the heat on farmers' issues, the move could help the government ward off some of the criticism that its policies are not helping the poor.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, launched just before the last Lok Sabha polls in 2009, had benefitted Congress electorally.

The scheme, in which half of the beneficiaries are women, roughly reaches every fifth household in the rural areas. The scheme is in operation in 632 districts in the country.

MGNREGA promises 100 days of work every year to rural households across the country.

The Centre will bear the cost of providing work to rural households for 50 more days and it will be applicable to only the households which complete 100 days of work.

The trend, however, so far shows that only a few households take up 100 days work under MGNREGA and hence it remains to be seen how many households actually seek work for more than 100 days even in the drought-hit regions.

Congress had recently accused the government of "diluting and weakening" MGNREGA just because it was brought by the UPA.

Countering the charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in Parliament during the Budget session that MGNREGA will continue and that it is "living example of Congress's failure".

The decision to increase the wagedays in drought-hit areas has been taken as Government is expecting an increase in demand for wage-based employment due to drought affecting regular agricultural activities in some regions.

The objective of MGNREGA is aimed at enhancing livelihood security of rural households for creating durable assets and discouraging migration. The focus of the scheme is on water conservation, water harvesting, drought proofing, land development, flood control and rural connectivity among others. The scope of the scheme has also been extended from time to time.

A few months back, the ministry had decided to provide 150 days of wage employment under the scheme for Scheduled Tribe households living in forest areas, which allows the households to undertake additional work on their own land.

The additional 50 days of employment in this category were applicable to individuals who got lease under Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 and was expected to benefit lakhs of people in states with a significant tribal population like Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Around 14 lakh individual and community titles have been distributed under FRA 2006. Of these around 8 lakh individual titles have been given in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha.

New works have been added to the existing list of permissible works under MGNREGA with a focus to strengthen synergy between MGNREGA and rural livelihoods, particularly in agriculture.

Besides ensuring durable quality assets, the expansion of MGNREGA works is likely to improve the socio-economic condition of marginalised section of the society like SC/ST, Small and Marginal farmers, IAY beneficiaries, Forest Right Act beneficiaries etc as most of the new works are now permitted on the land or homestead of specified individual beneficiaries.