 The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: A Policy Solution to Rural Poverty in India?Rhonda Breitkreuz, Carley‐Jane Stanton, Nurmaiya Brady, John Pattison‐Williams, E.D. King, Chudhury Mishra and Brent Swallow Development Policy Review, 2017, vol. 35, issue 3, 397-417 Abstract: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was developed by the Indian government to reduce rural poverty through 100 days of guaranteed employment per year. Using focus group methods, we explore whether this scheme has provided rights' based social protection through guaranteed employment for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. We found that the experiences of participating in MGNREGA varied depending on how MGNREGA wages compared to market wages in the region, as well as local implementation of the program. Although MGNREGA offered some basic employment for marginalized groups, it did not provide substantial help to the most vulnerable. However, there was some evidence of small but significant shifts in labour relations. Higher wages, more opportunities for work, better implementation and a greater recognition of the caregiving responsibilities of women will be required for this policy to fully meet its goals. Date: 2017 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:devpol:v:35:y:2017:i:3:p:397-417 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Development Policy Review is currently edited by David Booth More articles in Development Policy Review from Overseas Development Institute Contact information at EDIRC. |
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