Implementation and Performance of MGNREGA in Jammu and Kashmir A Decadal Study

Abstract

Background: The MGNREGA was notified by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India in September, 2005. The Act provides legal guarantee of at least one hundred days of wage-employment to a rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work in a financial year. The Act encompasses all areas concerning registration, plan formulation, implementation, timely payment of wages, grievance redressal mechanism, right to information, rendering of accounts, periodical meetings for fulfilling statutory requirement of providing 100 days guaranteed employment to rural households who volunteer to do unskilled manual labour. Methods: The present research is based on the secondary sources of data and empirical analysis of the data is conducted by using some basic statistical tools like percentage and graphs analysis of various variables in the study.Result: Since the implementation of MGNREGA, the number of households issued job cards increased from 4.97 lakh in 2008-09 to 12.53 lakh in 2017-18, thus showing a significant increase. The number of households who demanded employment and the level of employment in the State has also shown an upward trend and the number of person days of employment generated has increased from 32.3 to 84.61 lakhs and the total person days of employment provided the share of SCs STs and others has also been increased from 1.7, 7.5 and 23.05 to 4.09, 17.27 and 63.25 lakhs respectively. Although the share of employment of SCs, STs and women in the total employment has shown an increasing trend through-out the reference period but there is a large number of SCs and STs who have not yet got registered under MGNREGA and the increase in women participation is still far below the 33% share as enshrined in the guidelines of the Act.