New Delhi: The Centre’s allocation of Rs 86,000 crore for the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the interim budget 2024-25 is the same as the revised estimate for the financial year 2023-24.
But, the allocation in 2024-25 is 43.33 percent (Rs 26,000 crore) more than what was budgeted in 2023-24. The total expenditure till date has been Rs 88,309.72 crore, according to the information available on the ministry’s website.
After a steep cut last year, civil society members say, the increase in the MGNREGS allocation for 2023-24 and allocation of Rs 86,000 crore for 2024-25, though insignificant, is an admission by the Modi government that the 2023-24 decision was a mistake.
The allocation of Rs 86,000 crore in an election is a message by the government that adequate funds are allocated, they say.
In the budget 2023, the Modi government had slashed the budget for MGNREGS by 33 percent to Rs 60,000 crore from the revised estimate of Rs 98,000 crore of the previous financial year.
The budget cut clubbed with the push towards use of technology in payment of wages and attendance of workers had adversely impacted the scheme’s implementation on the ground, according to civil society members.
These activists further say that the allocation of Rs 86,000 crore for 2024-25 will not be sufficient to meet the demand for work in rural areas. They said that the allocation should have been at least over 2.5 times the present allocation.
In the past three financial years, the total expenditure on the scheme has been more than Rs 1 lakh crore each year. The expenditure in 2022-23 was Rs 1.01 lakh while in the previous year it was Rs 1.06 lakh.
“The increase in budget allocation for MGNREGS 2024-25 is an admission by the government that the budget cut last year was a mistake. In an election year, they want to send a message that there is no budget cut for the implementation of the rural employment scheme. But the fact is that this allocation is not sufficient given the increase in demand for work under MGNREGS,” Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangthan (MKSS) co-founder and NREGA Sangharsh Morcha member Nikhil Dey said.
Dey highlighted that Rs 86,000 crore has already been used while two months are left in this financial year. “While allocating the funds for the next financial year, the government has not kept in mind the increase in material cost and other factors. The allocation should be at least 2.5 times more than what has been allocated—more than Rs 2 lakh crore for the scheme.”
Once described by PM Narendra Modi as a “living monument of the Congress-led UPA’s failures”, the MGNREGS played a crucial role in providing employment to migrant workers who had returned to their villages during the pandemic. There was a sharp rise in demand for work in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
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Work likely to be affected in next fiscal, say activists
Though the budget for financial year 2023-24 was increased from Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 86,000 crore, activists say that the fund will be insufficient to meet the demand.
“The absence of an increase from the revised budget allocation for 2023-24 renders the allocated budget for 2024-25 disappointingly inadequate. This shortfall leaves hopeful workers disillusioned, especially given the challenges they faced last year due to various technological interventions,” Chakradhar Buddha, researcher with LibTech India, said.
“The funding insufficiency not only jeopardises the welfare of a large number of rural masses dependent on MGNREGS but also violates their right to life guaranteed by the act. Notably, the budget appears sufficient for less than 40 days of work after deducting estimated year-end dues, raising concerns about its adequacy.”
The budget cut in 2023-24 had hurt the scheme’s implementation with several states demanding release of funds. Six months into the 2023-24 financial year, the rural development ministry had to ask the finance ministry for more funds as it had released 93.5 percent of the allocated MGNREGS budget to the states. The government has released additional Rs 26,000 crore for the scheme, according to the revised estimate.
The budget cut, activists say, clubbed with the push towards mandatory use of technology for attendance of workers and payment of wages has adversely impacted the implementation of the scheme on the ground.
From 1 January this year, the Centre has made the Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS) mandatory for payment of wages under the MGNREGS. Due to this, close to 1.58 crore active workers, whose Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS) linkage is incomplete, have been rendered ineligible to seek jobs.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)