Lockdown: MGNREGS sees drastic drop

Over 30% reduction in the work generated compared to first wave of COVID-19 pandemic

Workers registered for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are a disappointed lot this year during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study by the NGO Libtech India for the months of April and May this year has concluded that there was drastic drop in person-days generated by way of employment guarantee when compared with last year’s first wave. There has been a drop of 30 per cent in the work generated, as visible from the person-days coming down from 8.27 crore of last year to 5.85 crore corresponding to the two months. Only three out of the 31 districts, Medchal, Gadwal and Asifabad, clocked increase in the person-days during the two months, the study noted citing statistics from the government website. When viewed separately, the month of April showed higher employment generation when compared to the corresponding month last year. Around 17 lakh households received employment during April this year, while 15 lakh households were covered during the same month last year. A total of 3.2 crore person-days were generated in the month this year, as against 2.2 crore last year.