MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) was put into place in 2005. It was introduced with an aim to boost the purchasing power of the rural lives primarily those who live Below the Poverty Line.

The 10 Years of MGNREGA is significant for both the UPSC Prelims and GS Paper 2 of the UPSC Mains curriculum. In this article, we will provide you with all necessary information on criticism of 10 Years of MGNREGA.

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10 Years of MGNREGA-Download PDF Here!

What is MGNREGA?

• The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA), subsequently known as the National Rural Employment Act (NREGA), is recognized as Indian Legislation and social security scheme.
• MGNREGA, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, is one of the governments of India’s hallmark schemes.
• The Act aims to improve the resource foundation for rural poor people’s means of subsistence and to generate long-lasting assets.
• The Act’s suggested projects aim to address the root causes of long-term poverty, such as soil erosion, drought, and deforestation, in order to create jobs in a sustainable way.

Objectives of MGNREGA

The following are the objectives of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) –

• It gives rural unskilled laborers 100 days of guaranteed employment at pay.
• The MNREGA scheme’s primary goal is to give the economically underprivileged segment of society a means of subsistence.
• It promotes greater economic security.
• It takes initiative to reduce the amount of labor migration from rural to urban areas.
• The MGNREGA scheme actively aids the less fortunate people in society.
• It aims to provide at least one hundred days of unskilled manual labour as guaranteed employment in a fiscal year to each rural household based on demand.
• It also ensures increasing the poor’s livelihood resource base.
• The scheme actively promotes social inclusion.
• The scheme will strengthen the Panchayati Raj system throughout India.

Significance of MGNREGA

• MGNREGA also represents a departure from previous relief initiatives in favour of a viewpoint on integrated natural resource management and the creation of livelihoods.
• The bottom-up, demand-driven, self-selecting, rights-based design of the MGNREGA is unique and unprecedented.
• It is a programme driven by demand that offers a formal guarantee of wage employment.
• Through its self-targeted beneficiary selection system, the MGNREGA solves targeting issues.
• The MGNREGA programme is demand-driven, and the distribution of resources from the Center to the States is dependent on the need for jobs in each State.
• MGNREGA provides a brand-new function of Social audit which gives States more motivation to use the Act to fill the job gaps for the disadvantaged.

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Success of MGNREGA in 10 Years

The MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) initiative has now been in operation for ten years. The MGNREGA programme is the world’s largest social welfare programme. Several lakhs of villagers have been lifted out of rural poverty as a result of the initiative. Following are the major aspects of success of MGNREGA achieved in last 10 years.

Promoted Cleaning

The NREGA programme spent a significant amount of time cleaning. Roadside ditches used for water supply were cleaned out. To guarantee improved drainage, the NGREGA began clearing shrubs and grass from the canals in certain Tamil Nadu districts. Less bunds were breached during the latest flood in the state as a result, which was advantageous.

Recycling of waste

MGNREGA employees have undergone a superb waste management initiative in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring regions. They gather abandoned home trash and store it in a yard. The non-degradable trash is sold to road contractors to be used in road laying, while the biodegradable waste is composted.

Promoted equality

In India, having equal employment opportunities without gender or caste discrimination is a dream. MGNEGA demonstrated that equality can succeed in the workplace. The programme offers everyone, regardless of caste or gender, an equal opportunity to find employment. In India, gender parity in salary is still a pipe dream, but MGNERA has made it feasible for rural women to earn just as much as men.

Sundarbans restorations

Embankments were constructed to keep populated regions safe from flooding and high tide. Large-scale flood prevention efforts were made. Mangrove restoration has also been quite successful in halting soil erosion.

Restoring ponds and wells

By removing silt, MGNREGA has reached out to several isolated communities and assisted in the rehabilitation of ponds. The summer heat has kept many wells from drying out. NREGA has found several strategies to address the problems of water restoration in addition to hiring residents of these communities to build watering facilities for them. One of the finest things accomplished under this plan is the construction and restoration of water conservation infrastructure.

Other projects that benefited people

MGNREGA worked with the fisheries department to make money from ponds they dug for fish farms. The work done on plantations and afforestation as part of this programme has improved the environment. MGNREGA has also taken on the task of recharging public wells and borewells, which has proven beneficial in several regions of Jharkhand and Karnataka.

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Failures of in MGNREGA 10 Years

The MGNREGA has failed and been condemned on several occasions. The scheme failed to provide people with job and unemployment benefits. Other drawbacks of MGNREGA include fraudulent practises, the manufacturing of phoney invoices, payment delays, and so forth.

Baseless Reports

Contrary to what actual facts show, stories of better agricultural wage rates and a dramatic decline in rural residents moving to urban areas are slightly overstated.

Unorganised work

The majority of the projects carried out under NREGA are haphazardly completed tasks that lack competent planning and implementation. The silt that was taken out of ponds was left close to the pond, only to flow back during the subsequent monsoon. Additionally, some superfluous work was carried out as part of the NREGA initiative. These initiatives were a complete financial waste since they required excavating where it wasn’t essential during the summer when water evaporation was quick.

Improper allocation of resources

Corrupt practises such as inappropriate pay distribution to employees, the manufacture of bogus invoices, payment delays, and money scamming had long been prevalent in MGNREGA. It has led to the program’s sad failure and official condemnation.

No asset created

According to the audit reports of The Controller and Auditor General, the programme has “severe shortcomings” and further investment would not be viable. A government initiative cannot be deemed a complete success until some asset has been produced.

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Limitations and Issues faced by MGNREGA

The following image describes the issues and challenges faced by MGNREGA:

Conclusion

While MNGREGA may have certain drawbacks, it is impossible to ignore the benefits and possibilities it has provided. The money for NREGA was also increased in the current budget, demonstrating full support for the rural development strategy.

On the program’s tenth anniversary, it is critical that the government recognises its flaws and makes changes based on a comprehensive examination of the program’s efficacy throughout the years.

This scheme will not only be useful for employment but also for the production of assets, which has been its main fault, with adequate planning, efficient coordination by the government engineers, and careful monitoring of finances in rural regions.

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मनरेगा के 10 साल से संबंधित यह लेख हिंदी में भी पढ़ें!