Household demand for NREGS work up 14% in December

Household demand for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) increased 14% month-on-month to 21.1 million in December 2022 compared to 18.5 million in November, while individual demand went up 15% to 25.9 million against 22.5 million in November, official data showed.

The demand was the fourth highest on both counts in this financial year after June.

"The employment generation capacity of rural India is committed. Till the time farm jobs pick up in February, the MGNREGA demand will be under stress," labour economist KR Shyam Sundar said, adding the pressure would ease by the middle of February.


Data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed unemployment in India surged to a 16-month high of 8.3% in December compared to 8.03% in November.

The government had made a budgetary allocation of ₹73,000 crore to the flagship rural jobs scheme for 2022-23. However, recently it sought a supplementary grant of ₹16,400 crore.

Demand under the scheme continues to be higher than in pre-Covid period, suggesting the labour market has yet to normalise fully.