Around 39 per cent of all job card-holding households interested in working under the MGNREGA scheme did not get a single day of work in the pandemic year of 2020-21, said a latest study.
Only 36 per cent of households who worked under the scheme received their wages in 15 days, said the study conducted by Azim Premji University in partnership with the National Consortium of Civil Society Organisations on NREGA and Collaborative Research and Dissemination (CORD).
The survey of 2,000 households across eight blocks in four states was conducted in November-December 2021. It covered Phulparas and Chhatapur in Bihar, Bidar and Devadurga in Karnataka, Khalwa and Ghatigaon in Madhya Pradesh, and Wardha and Surgana in Maharashtra.
The most frequently mentioned reason for not getting as much work as needed, across all blocks, was the lack of adequate works being sanctioned.
More than 8 in 10 households recommended that MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) should be 100 days per person per year while 3 out of 5 households said that MGNREGA contributed positively to the overall development of their village.
Despite its shortcomings, earnings from MGNREGA were able to compensate between 20% and 80% of income loss for households during the Covid-19 lockdown.
“Our study shows how much the workers value the need and utility of MGNREGA. More than 8 out of 10 households recommended that MGNREGA provide 100 days of employment per person per year,” said Rajendran Narayanan, co-author of the study and faculty member at Azim Premji University.
(Published 13 October 2022, 20:13 IST)
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