Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 5, 2019 allocated Rs 60,000 crore for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) for the financial year 2019-20.
The scheme, executed under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, provides minimum 100 days of employment out of 365 days in a year to every rural household willing to do unskilled manual work.
In the last three financial years, the government has continued to increase its allocation towards the rural job scheme. In 2018-19, the government had spent Rs 61,000 crore in the scheme, while in Budget 2016-17, Rs 38, 500 crore was allocated to the scheme, which was later revised and ramped up by 23 percent to Rs 47,499 crore, while Rs 41,699 crore was spent during financial year 2015-16.
The finance minister has also indicated that the Budget 2019—the NDA government's first full budget in the current term—will see major thrust on areas such as infrastructure and social sector.
The higher allocation for NREGA, the 11-year old job scheme, comes in the wake of reports of rural distress in many states.
While the 13-year old job scheme has generated more rural employment than any other government scheme or private sector initiative, it has also shared its share of criticism of fuelling inflation, delaying payment to workers, with drought-hit areas in the country not getting 100 days of work.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
