Congress general secretary for communications and former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh also expressed disappointment over the sharp cut. Image for representation purpose only. , Photo Credit: KK Mustafa
In line with the recent trend of budget cuts for its flagship rural employment scheme, the Union Budget allocated only Rs 60,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme for 2023-24. This is 18% less than the budget estimate of ₹73,000 crore for the current year, and 33% less than the revised estimate of ₹89,000 crore for the plan.
In the last budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the MGNREGA allocation was cut by 25% to Rs 73,000 crore. Left with a spiraling unpaid balance at the end of the year, the Ministry of Rural Development sought an additional Rs 25,000 crore to meet the shortfall in the scheme. The finance ministry approved only ₹16,000 crore, taking the revised budget for this financial year to ₹89,000 crore.
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Despite higher revised estimates, less than 3% of households employed under MGNREGA completed the 100 days of work to which they are legally entitled. As Hindu As per the January 26 report, the average days of employment per household is at a five-year low this fiscal. As of January 20, the average days of employment provided per household was only 42, compared to 48 to 52 days in the previous four years.
‘murder of the law’
On the eve of the Union Budget, a consortium of activists and educationists working under the umbrella group of People’s Action for Employment Guarantee and NREGA Sangharsh Morcha had said that the legally guaranteed 100 days of work would be provided to all households For those who have worked in the current year, the scheme requires an allocation of Rs 2.72 lakh crore. According to his calculations, even giving only 40 days of work to each active household would require funding of Rs 1.24 lakh crore, more than double the current allocation.
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“Such a meager allocation is clearly aimed at killing the law. This allotment does not even meet the minimum threshold. And you have to remember that even the revised estimate of ₹89,000 crore is after completely excluding West Bengal, which until previous years accounted for 10% of the total MGNREGA budget,” said Nikhil Dey, founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan.
‘Brutal surgical strike on the poor’
Congress general secretary for communications and former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh also expressed disappointment over the sharp cut. “Even considering MGNREGA as demand-driven, the cuts are rather brutal. But this is in line with the government’s moves to suppress demand,” he pointed out Hindu,
Kerala Rural Development Minister and CPI(M) leader MB Rajesh called this “huge shortage” a “brutal surgical strike on the poor” that reflected the government’s “anti-poor” disdain. “The current budget allocation is less than a quarter of what the country needs to comply with the law in letter and spirit. This is the culmination of a systematic attempt by the Narendra Modi government to sabotage MGNREGA. They should not forget that it was MGNREGA that helped in eradicating starvation during the pandemic,” Mr. Rajesh said.