Cutback in MGNREA allocation surprising given its salience

Representative image

In a big surprise, the allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP) has been slashed drastically.

The 2022-24 budget has made an allocation of Rs 61,032.65 crore, which is 30 percent less than the revised estimate of Rs 89,154.65 crore for 2022-23.

This is the second straight cut in the scheme's budgetary allocation. In the 2022-23 budget as well, the allocation was cut by 25 per cent to Rs 73,000 crore, from the revised estimate of Rs 98,000 crore.

The job guarantee scheme offers 100 days of wage-based employment every fiscal year to each rural household across the country.

The MGNREGA was introduced in 2005 through a Parliamentary Act, and earmarks a third of rural jobs for women.