MGNREGA's worst year in Andhra Pradesh: Employment collapses 23% amid policy transition

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh has recorded its weakest MGNREGA performance since state bifurcation, with employment generation falling sharply in FY 2025–26 across every key indicator and deteriorating further following the scheme's repeal in December 2025.

According to the latest MGNREGA tracker released Saturday by Delhi-based LibTech India, total persondays generated fell 23.2 per cent, from 2,422.84 lakh to 1,859.77 lakh year-on-year. The decline was broad-based as registered households dropped 6.1 per cent, households receiving work fell 8.6 per cent, workers employed declined 10.1 per cent, and average workdays per household fell 16 per cent. Most strikingly, the number of households completing 100 days of employment collapsed 57.6 per cent from 5.1 lakh to 2.16 lakh cutting the share of such households nearly in half, from 10.9 per cent to 5 per cent.

All 26 districts recorded a fall in person days, with NTR district suffering the steepest drop at 46.5 per cent, followed by Chittoor at 38.5 per cent and Annamayya at 30.9 per cent. The universality of the decline with no district-level exception points to systemic rather than localised failure.

Quarter-wise data reveals that the contraction began well before the scheme's repeal, though it intensified sharply in the final quarter (January–March 2026), which coincided with the transition to the new Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-GRAMG, framework. The October–December quarter recorded the largest proportional decline at 59.9 per cent, while the final quarter saw the largest absolute loss of approximately 170 lakh persondays.

"Employment fell throughout the year, but disruption peaked after the repeal. Even peak employment months did not recover as the system weakened steadily," said Chakradhar Budha of LibTech India. He attributed the contraction to a combination of reduced work availability, worker deletions, and transition-related uncertainty, noting that vulnerable communities bore a disproportionate share of the decline despite higher prevailing wages.

Chakradhar cautioned that the final quarter's figures may reflect administrative and operational disruptions specific to the transition period, including restrictions on the number of works permissible within a Gram Panchayat and constraints on opening new worksites. "These policy and technological changes may have influenced programme implementation during the post-repeal period," he said.

Compared to national trends, Andhra Pradesh recorded a steeper decline across key indicators, suggesting the state experienced an outsized contraction in employment outcomes relative to the rest of the country.