In a significant financial move, the Finance Ministry of India has allocated Rs 10,000 crore as an advance for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). This amount is in addition to the already budgeted allocation of Rs 60,000 crore for the financial year 2023-24. The announcement was made in the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of Parliament.
The decision to provide this advance from the Contingency Fund of India comes in response to the exhaustion of MGNREGS funds. Minister of State for Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, informed that the Union government had released a total of Rs 66,629 crore to states for various components of the scheme, including wages, materials, and administrative costs, up to November 29, 2023.
Furthermore, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh stated in an interview that an additional allocation of Rs 28,000 crore for MGNREGS had been approved, which is expected to be cleared in the ongoing Winter session of Parliament. The MGNREGS is a flagship welfare program in India aimed at enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment each financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
The current financial situation includes a pending liability of approximately Rs 2020.59 crore for MGNREGS wages to states and a liability of Rs 4,939.58 crore for material components. This substantial advance is a proactive step towards addressing these liabilities and ensuring the effective implementation of the MGNREGS, which plays a crucial role in rural employment and development.