22.61 crore jobs demand under MGNREGA in last 3 years: Govt
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday told Lok Sabha that the Ministry of Rural Development has offered employment to 22.54 crore households under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the last three years, including 2021-22 till March 8.
In a written reply to a question raised by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister Giriraj Singh told Lok Sabha that 22.61 crore households demanded employment under the MGNREGS in the last three years and 22.04 crore households turned up for employment.
As per the information provided by the government, it appears that 50 lakh beneficiaries didn't turn up for employment. However, the government has stated that the acceptance of the offer of wage employment depends upon the beneficiaries
In the year 2018-19, 6.17 crore households demanded jobs under the scheme, which increased to 8.55 crore in the year 2020-21 and reduced to 7.89 crore in 2021-22 (till March 8).
The government offered jobs to 6.15 crore households in the year 2019-20, 8.54 crore in 2020-21 and 7.85 crore in 2021-22 (till March 8), the minister said in its reply.
According to the government data, 5.48 crore beneficiaries turned up to avail the offered employment in the year 2019-20, while 7.55 crore turned up for the employment in 2020-21 and 7.01 crore in the year 2021-22 (till March 8).
The MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment programme that provides for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
The minister also said that the government had enhanced the financial allocation under MGNREGS for the financial year 2020-21 from Rs 61,500 crore at the budget estimate (BE) stage to Rs 1,11,500 crore at the revised estimate (RE) stage. In the current financial year 2021-22, the budget provision at BE stage was Rs 73,000 crore. The Ministry has requested additional budget allocation which has been enhanced to Rs 98,000 crore at the RE stage as per the requirement of funds.
