Lok Sabha Question No. 4065 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-25
Subject: Employment Generated under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Ms. S Jothimani

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4065 ANSWERED ON 25/03/2025

## EMPLOYMENT GENERATED UNDER MGNREGS

## 4065. MS. S JOTHIMANI:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the total person-days of employment generated under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the country for each financial year from 2019-20 to 2023-24;
- (b) whether  the  digital  monitoring  systems  have  been  issued  to prevent  corruption  in  the  implementation  of  MGNREGS,  if  so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  MGNREGS including  wage  rate  revisions,  increased  workdays  or  skillbased employment?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

- (a): Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme  (Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS)  is  a  demand  driven  wage employment  Scheme.  State/Union  Territory  (UT)-wise  details  of persondays generated under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS from financial year 2019-20 to 2023-24 is given at Annexure-I.
- (b): The  Scheme  is  implemented  on  an  end-to-end  integrated transaction-based  Management  Information  System  (MIS)  platform called  NREGASoft.  Through  this  all  aspects  relating  to  planning, administrative  and  technical  approval  of  the  scheme,  issue  of  job cards, acceptance of demand, issue of muster roll, measurement of work,  approval  of  payment  and  finally  payment  to  the  beneficiary through a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)-Public Financial Management System (PFMS) platform are monitored.

Transparency  and  accountability  is  the  prime  focus  of  the scheme. Ministry of Rural Development has adopted robust process for ensuring the transparency and accountability in implementation of  the  scheme  across  the  States/UTs.  Brief  note  of  the  various monitoring  and  evaluation  arrangements  made  for  ensuring  the proper utilization of the funds released under the Scheme are given at Annexure-II.

(c): As  per  section  6(1)  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGA,  the  Central Government may, by notification, specify the wage rate for unskilled work for Mahatma  Gandhi NREGS  workers. Accordingly, the Ministry  of  Rural  Development  notifies  the  wage  rate  for  unskilled workers  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGA  every  financial  year.  To compensate the Mahatma  Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee  Scheme  (Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS)  workers  against inflation, the Ministry of Rural Development revises the wage rates every financial year based  on  the Consumer  Price  Index  for Agricultural  Labourer  (CPI-AL).  The  revised  wage  rate  is  made applicable from 1 st April of each financial year. The average increase in the notified wage rate  from FY 2023-24 to FY 2024-25 is 7%. Further, State can also give additional wages to workers over and above the notified wage rate of Government of India from their own resources.

So far as enhancement of guaranteed days of employment is concerned, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee  Act  (Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGA)  mandates  at  least  100 days  of  guaranteed  wage  employment  in  a  financial  year  to  each household  in  rural  areas  whose  adult  members  volunteers  to  do unskilled manual work. In addition to this, there is a provision for an additional 50 days of unskilled wage employment in a financial year in drought/natural calamity-notified rural areas.

There  is  also  provision  for  providing  50  days  of  additional wage  employment  (beyond  the  stipulated  100  days)  to  every Scheduled  Tribe  Household  in  a  forest  area,  provided  that  these households have no other private property except for the land rights provided under the FRA Act, 2006. Further, as per Section 3(4) of the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Act, 2005, the State Governments may make provision  for  providing  additional  days  of  employment  beyond  the period guaranteed under the Act from their own funds.

In order to upgrade the skill base of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS's workers, Government of India launched 'Project UNNATI' in

December 2019. By upgrading skill base of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS workers,  the  project  intends  to   improve  their  livelihoods,  so  that they can move from the current partial employment to full employment through either self employment or wage employment. The  Project  aims  to  enhance  the  skill  base  of 2  lakh  Mahatma Gandhi NREGS workers.

In  addition,  this  Ministry  also  implements  the  following  two welfare  schemes  in  the  field  of  skill  development  for  rural  poor youth for their gainful employment with a view to eradicate poverty in the country under the umbrella scheme of DeendayalAntyodayaYojana  -  National  Rural  Livelihoods  Mission (DAY-NRLM):

- I. DeenDayalUpadhyayaGrameenKaushalyaYojana (DDU-GKY): DDU-GKY is a placement linked skill development program for rural  poor  youth  in  the  age  group  of  15-35  years.  DDU-GKY guidelines provide for earmarking 50% of the funds for SCs and STs and 15% for minorities. Further, one third beneficiaries of the respective categories including general category, covered under the scheme, should be women.
- II. Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs): RSETI is a Bank  lead-  MoRD  funded  training  institutions  established  by the  Sponsor  Banks  in  their  Districts,  to  provide  training  for Skill and Entrepreneurship Development. MoRD extends financial  support  for  the  construction  of  RSETI  buildings  and also bears the cost of training the Rural Poor candidates. Any unemployed youth in the age group of 18-45 years having an aptitude to take up self-employment or wage employment and having some basic knowledge in the related field can undergo training  at  RSETI.  Some  of  the  trained  candidates  may  also seek regular salaried jobs / wage employment.

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Annexure-I Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a)  of  LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 4065 dated 25.03.2025

| SI.   |                                          | Total Persondays generated (in crore)   | Total Persondays generated (in crore)   | Total Persondays generated (in crore)   | Total Persondays generated (in crore)   | Total Persondays generated (in crore)   |
|-------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| No.   | State/UTS                                | 2019- 20                                | 2020- 21                                | 2021- 22                                | 2022- 23                                | 2023- 24                                |
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh                           | 20.02                                   | 25.87                                   | 24.15                                   | 23.95                                   | 25.55                                   |
| 2     | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 0.86                                    | 1.28                                    | 1.59                                    | 1.51                                    | 1.61                                    |
| 3     | Assam                                    | 6.23                                    | 9.12                                    | 9.16                                    | 7.88                                    | 8.75                                    |
| 4     | Bihar                                    | 14.07                                   | 22.61                                   | 18.03                                   | 23.65                                   | 22.05                                   |
| 5     | Chhattisgarh                             | 13.62                                   | 18.41                                   | 16.92                                   | 13.25                                   | 12.77                                   |
| 6     | Goa                                      | 0.0034                                  | 0.0110                                  | 0.0095                                  | 0.0094                                  | 0.0043                                  |
| 7     | Gujarat                                  | 3.54                                    | 4.82                                    | 5.68                                    | 4.66                                    | 4.93                                    |
| 8     | Haryana                                  | 0.91                                    | 1.80                                    | 1.46                                    | 0.97                                    | 1.23                                    |
| 9     | Himachal Pradesh                         | 2.59                                    | 3.36                                    | 3.71                                    | 3.08                                    | 3.44                                    |
| 10    | Jammu and Kashmir                        | 3.13                                    | 4.07                                    | 4.06                                    | 3.09                                    | 3.75                                    |
| 11    | Jharkhand                                | 6.42                                    | 11.76                                   | 11.32                                   | 9.15                                    | 10.97                                   |
| 12    | Karnataka                                | 11.19                                   | 14.80                                   | 16.32                                   | 12.58                                   | 13.85                                   |
| 13    | Kerala                                   | 8.02                                    | 10.23                                   | 10.60                                   | 9.66                                    | 9.95                                    |
| 14    | Ladakh                                   | 0.19                                    | 0.21                                    | 0.19                                    | 0.20                                    | 0.20                                    |
| 15    | Madhya Pradesh                           | 19.29                                   | 34.18                                   | 29.99                                   | 22.60                                   | 19.96                                   |
| 16    | Maharashtra                              | 6.30                                    | 6.79                                    | 8.25                                    | 7.88                                    | 11.60                                   |
| 17    | Manipur                                  | 2.34                                    | 3.31                                    | 3.03                                    | 0.75                                    | 1.50                                    |
| 18    | Meghalaya                                | 3.70                                    | 3.84                                    | 3.94                                    | 2.89                                    | 3.25                                    |
| 19    | Mizoram                                  | 1.92                                    | 1.99                                    | 2.01                                    | 2.02                                    | 2.04                                    |
| 20    | Nagaland                                 | 1.38                                    | 1.80                                    | 1.93                                    | 1.97                                    | 1.79                                    |
| 21    | Odisha                                   | 11.14                                   | 20.81                                   | 19.78                                   | 18.53                                   | 18.28                                   |
| 22    | Punjab                                   | 2.35                                    | 3.77                                    | 3.31                                    | 3.21                                    | 3.51                                    |
| 23    | Rajasthan                                | 32.86                                   | 46.05                                   | 42.43                                   | 35.71                                   | 37.52                                   |
| 24    | Sikkim                                   | 0.29                                    | 0.37                                    | 0.34                                    | 0.32                                    | 0.34                                    |
| 25    | Tamil Nadu                               | 24.85                                   | 33.39                                   | 34.57                                   | 33.47                                   | 40.87                                   |
| 26    | Telangana                                | 10.71                                   | 15.80                                   | 14.58                                   | 12.19                                   | 12.09                                   |
| 27    | Tripura                                  | 3.44                                    | 4.37                                    | 4.26                                    | 3.35                                    | 3.70                                    |
| 28    | Uttar Pradesh                            | 24.43                                   | 39.31                                   | 32.56                                   | 31.15                                   | 34.53                                   |
| 29    | Uttarakhand                              | 2.06                                    | 3.04                                    | 2.43                                    | 2.06                                    | 1.97                                    |
| 30    | West Bengal                              | 27.23                                   | 41.40                                   | 36.42                                   | 3.79                                    | 0.02                                    |
| 31    | Andaman and Nicobar                      | 0.022                                   | 0.026                                   | 0.011                                   | 0.013                                   | 0.012                                   |
| 32    | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 0                                       | 0                                       | 0                                       | 0                                       | 0.004                                   |
| 33    | Lakshadweep                              | 0                                       | 0                                       | 0                                       | 0                                       | 0                                       |
| 34    | Puducherry                               | 0.077                                   | 0.106                                   | 0.061                                   | 0.083                                   | 0.219                                   |
|       | Total                                    | 265.21                                  | 388.69                                  | 363.10                                  | 295.62                                  | 312.26                                  |

(As per NREGASoft)

## Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (b)  of  LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 4065 dated 25.03.2025

- i. Direct  Benefit  Transfer  (DBT):  Direct  Benefit  Transfer  (DBT) system  in  wage  payment  has  been  adopted  under  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS).  The  payment  of  wages  to  the  bank/  post  office accounts  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS  workers  is  through National Electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS)/Electronic Fund Management System (eFMS).
- ii. National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS): It enables capturing of attendance of  workers  at  Mahatma  Gandhi NREGA  worksites  (except  for  individual  beneficiary  works) along  with  geo-tagged  photograph  twice  in  a  day.  This  app aids in increasing citizen oversight of the programme. This is one more step towards transparency and accountability.
3. Area Officer Monitoring Visit Application:  This App facilitates the officials of the State/UT to record their field visit findings online.  The  App  also  allows  the  officials  to  record  time stamped  and  geotagged  photograph  for  all  the  schemes launched by Department of Rural Development. Also, this App helps  in  developing  hassle-free  reporting  of  the  field  visits. This  app  records  the  field  visit  findings  and  views  the  field
- iii. visit outcome report by the senior officials.
- iv. GIS based plan- Use of Space Technology: GIS based GP level plan  (ridge  to  valley  approach)  preparation  using  Remote Sensing technology in a saturation mode for all the GPs of the country.
- v. Yuktdhara  :   GIS  based  planning  tool  -  To  simplify  the  GIS based  planning  at  GP  level  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGA  ' Yuktdhara'  a Geospatial planning portal is developed  in collaboration with ISRO-NRSC.
- vi. SECURE  -  Software  for  Estimate  Calculation  for  using  Rural Rates for Employment :-Application is being used to  estimate the  cost of works to be undertaken under the scheme.
- vii. GeoNREGA:  the  app  has  been  developed  by  using  Space Technology to track the creation of assets by geotagging it, at 'Before', 'During' and 'After' stages of the asset creation.
- viii. JALDOOT  App:  JALDOOT  app  has  been  developed  to  enable monitoring  of  ground  water  tables  across  the  country.  The Jaldoot  app  enables  Gram  RojgarSahayak  (GRS)  to  measure the water level of selected wells twice a year (premonsoonand post-monsoon).

- ix. JANMANREGA app: this app  helps  in  proactive  disclosure  of information to its citizens in reference to the implementation of  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS.  Citizen  awareness  is  a  key  to efficient, effective, and transparent execution of the scheme.
- x. Ombudsperson App-An Ombudsperson App has been developed for smooth reporting and categorization of grievances received from  various  sources  viz.  physical,  digital  and  mass  media related to the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, easy tracking and timely passing of awards on each case as per the guidelines and easy uploading of quarterly and annual report on the website.
- xi. Social Audit: As per the mandate of the Act, the Ministry has laid emphasis on the setting up of an institutional structure at the  States/UTs  level  for  facilitating  social  audits  of  all  the Gram  Panchayats  at  least  twice  a  year.  With  the  consistent efforts  by  Ministry,  a  total  of  27  States  and  1  UT  have established Independent Social Audit Units.

Further, monitoring by National level monitors regular and special monitoring, monitoring by team of central level officers, monitoring visits by Common review Mission teams, monitoring through use of Area Officers app is being conducted for better implementation of the programme. Also, State/UT specific reviews are also undertaken from time to time.

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