Women employees engaged in desilting work as half of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). File
| Photo Credit: Okay.R. Deepak
Six months into the monetary yr, the flagship rural employment programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), has run out of funds and as per the statistics put out by the Ministry on its web site is working a deficit of ₹6,146.93 crore.
An quantity of ₹60,000 crore was sanctioned for the scheme for 2023-24, which was 18% decrease than the ₹73,000-crore finances estimates and 33% decrease than the ₹89,000 crore revised estimates for the monetary yr 2022-23.
According to knowledgeable sources, on September 15, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) had approached the Finance Ministry asking for a supplementary finances of ₹23,000 crore. The sources additionally confirmed that there isn’t a phrase from the Finance Ministry but on the MoRD’s proposal.
Reacting to the criticism from the Opposition events for the finances cuts, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the MGNREGS is a demand-driven scheme and supplementary finances will likely be made out there each time the necessity arises.
In an announcement on Thursday, the MoRD has reiterated this level. “The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act [MGNREGA] is a demand-driven wage employment programme and fund release to States/union territories is a continuous process and the Central government is making funds available keeping in view the demand for work.” It additional defined the method of launch of funds to the States/union territories, which, it mentioned, is on the idea of the agreed “labour budget, opening balance, pending liabilities of the previous year, if any, and the overall performance.” “The Ministry seeks additional funds for the MGNREGS as and when required for meeting the demand for work on the ground,” it additional said.
The Ministry, quoting from statistics until October 4, mentioned that out of the sanctioned ₹60,000 crore, ₹56,105.69 crore, 93.5% of the funds had been launched to the States. Though, the Ministry’s statistical report (7.1.1) out there on the web site exhibits a deficit of ₹6,146 crore. Several questions texted to Rural Development Secretary Shailesh Kumar Singh went unanswered.
‘Same story’
“This is a story that repeats each year without fail. Every year there are budget cuts and we are told that the MGNREGS is demand-driven scheme and more funds will be released when required. A supplementary budget, usually insufficient, is approved only by the winter session,” mentioned Laavanya Tamang, a researcher with Libtech, a consortium of lecturers and activists working within the area. This unbreaking cycle adversely impacts the functioning of the scheme whereas the steadiness sheets could look alright on the finish of the yr. “As the available funds dip, the wage dues pile up and the work allocation goes down, bringing the programme to a near halt,” she added.
Between 2021-22 and 2022-23 too, the MGNREGS finances was reduce by 25%, forcing the Ministry to ask for a further ₹25,000 crore to satisfy the shortfall, nevertheless it solely received ₹16,000 crore.
