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Has India’s Employment Guarantee Program Achieved Intended Targets?

A Reddy, Namrata Singha Roy and Divya Pradeep

SAGE Open, 2021, vol. 11, issue 4, 21582440211052281

Abstract: This paper explores the performance of the world’s largest employment guarantee program, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India, both nationally and through a sub-national-level comparison based on key performance indicators viz. (i) financial indicators, (ii) physical performance indicators, and (iii) inclusiveness indicators. The paper is based on administrative data taken from the Ministry of Rural Development from 2006 to 2019. Despite sharp increases in fund allocation, total expenditures, and utilization rates, there was deceleration in majority of physical performance indicators after 2016, including total person-days employment and person-days of employment per household, with wide variation in sub-national level implementation capabilities. The finding also rejects the falsity of saturation of MGNREGA work in the rural areas, which is reflected in a strong positive correlation between fund allocation and employment generation. Its broader objective of social safety net for vulnerable people in rural areas shows an achievement, although with some gaps in implementation. JEL classification: H53, J43, P25

Keywords: social protection; MGNREGA; rural labor; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:21582440211052281

DOI: 10.1177/21582440211052281

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