Lok Sabha Question No. 162 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: Rural Job Seekers under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri K Radhakrishnan

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 162 ANSWERED ON 11/03/2025

## RURAL JOB SEEKERS UNDER MGNREGS

## *162. SHRI K RADHAKRISHNAN:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  measures  to  expand Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to provide employment for the increasing number  of  rural  job  seekers  especially  in  light  of  economic distress and migration from cities; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN)

- (a)  &  (b):         A  statement  is  laid  on  the  Table  of  the  House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) & (B) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 162 FOR 11.03.2025

(a)& (b): The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), 2005, is an Act to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas  of  the  country  by  providing  at  least  one  hundred  days  of guaranteed  wage  employment  in  every  financial  year  to  every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

The Ministry mandates the provision of an additional 50 days of  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 Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.

In addition to this, there is a provision for providing up to an additional  50  days  of  wage  employment  in  a  financial  year  in drought/natural  calamity-affected  notified  rural  areas.  Further,  as per  Section  3(4)  of  the  Act,  the  State  Governments  may  make provision  for  providing  additional  days  of  employment  beyond  the period guaranteed under the Act from their own funds.

To provide adequate employment opportunities to rural households under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, the Central Government has  initiated  several  measures  to  generate  awareness  about  the scheme.  These  include,  (i) to initiate appropriate Information Education and Communication  (IEC) campaigns  including wall paintings  for  the  wide  dissemination  of  the  provisions  of  the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, (ii) to expand scope and coverage of demand registration system to ensure that demand for work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA does not go unregistered, (iii) prepare plans in a participatory mode and approve them in the Gram Sabha, (iv) Organization of 'RozgarDiwas'.

The scheme is implemented in rural areas of all States/Union Territories (UTs) in the country (except UT of Chandigarh and NCT of Delhi) as per the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment  Guarantee  Act,  2005.  The  Government  continuously monitors its implementation in order to ensure that employment is provided to eligible beneficiary within stipulated time frame.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mahatma Gandhi NREGS played a crucial role as a social safety net for rural communities. A total of 389.09 crore person days were generated during FY 202021 and an amount of Rs. 1,11,170.86 crore was released, which is the highest so far since the inception of the scheme.

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