Why condition of NREGA workers is likely to be more difficult this year

By Bharat Dogra*
Having just completed 16 years of its eventful existence, it is clear that despite several problems including underfunding, corruption and lack of adequate planning, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the works carried under it have emerged as a significant source of employment and relief to the rural poor in India. A big asset of this Act and the scheme it creates is that it makes available work on demand within or very near to the village and so people get paid to create or improve assets that bring greater sustainability to their own villages.
The role of NREGA in helping the rural poor became even more important in COVID times when reverese migration led to a big increase in the need to increase employment opportunities in villages. Hence increasing the NREGA (or MG-NREGA or Mahatma Gandhi-NREGA) budget became an important part of the special COVID packages announced by the government during the financial year 2020-21. While the full potential of NREGA has not been realized yet nor has it functioned entirely according to legal norms, nevertheless it was nice to see the NREGA expenditure peaking at 111,000 crore in 2020-21, providing employment to about 11 crore (110 million workers) from around 75 million households ( compared to around 99 million who have active job-cards). The next year the expenditure has declined to around Rs. 98,000 crore, judging from the revised estimate, resulting in lesser employment compared to the peak of 2020-21.
Even when the expenditure peaked, we were far from achieving the legal norm of providing 100 days employment per card holding household who demands work, or making all wage payments within the legal limit of 15 days, or meeting all demands for work ( or providing compensation in lieu of this). In 2021-22 about 8.3 million demands for work, or 11% of the total demands, remained unmet. Work per household was for around 44 days, instead of 100.
So it is sad to see that for financial year 2022-23 budget estimate for NREGA has been kept very low at Rs. 73,000 crore ( one crore=10 million). According to NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, a group that has played an important role in monitoring the progress of NREGA, pending liabilities amout to Rs. 18350 crore, so actually only Rs. 54,650 crore will be available. Assuming that all card holders denand work, this group has estimated that this amount will be adequate for providing only 16 days work instead of the legal norm of 100 days.
Another group called PAEG (People’s Action for Employment Guarantee) has also done admirable work on tracking and monitoring the progress of NREGA. According to PAEG, the past deficit amounts to Rs. 21,000 crore and so in effect only Rs. 52,000 crore will be available. If the same number of households demand work in 2022-23 as did in the previous year, then PAEG estimates that it will be possible to provide only 21 days work per household instead of the legal norm of 100 days employment. PAEG has also stated that wage payment delayed for over 15 days as on Jan. 31, 2022 amounted to Rs. 3273 crore, involving about 2 crore transactions. About 11% of the job demands in 2021-22 were refused, amounting to a total of about 83 lakh work demands which could not be met. This is set to increase, keeping in view the much lower real availability of funds for 2022-23.
Thus it is clear that MG-NREGA progress this year may be full of problems. The government stand may be that allocation will be increased later at the time of preparing Revised Estimates (RE), as was done last year. But if the need for higher allocation is so clear just now on the basis of simple calculations, then why postpone this for so long? As past experience has shown, the initial low budget creates avoidable uncertainties, impedes proper planning and a time of extreme shortage appears in the middle of the year when funds are just not available even to attend to urgent demands. Besides, monitoring groups point out that while REs have raised funds for NREGA in the past two years, the increases have fallen far short of actual needs.
Keeping in view the actual needs and the legal entitlements of NREGA committing the government to meeting the demands for work, as well as the very real need for increasing employment and income opportunities in villages, a very substantial increase of NREGA budget is clearly needed.
—
*The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include 'Man Over Machine' and 'Protecting Earth for Children'

Comments

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

Farewell to Saleem Samad: A life devoted to fearless journalism

By Nava Thakuria* Heartbreaking news arrived from Dhaka as the vibrant city lost one of its most active and committed citizens with the passing of journalist, author and progressive Bangladeshi national Saleem Samad. A gentleman who always had issues to discuss with anyone, anywhere and at any time, he passed away on 22 February 2026 while undergoing cancer treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was 74.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

From ancient wisdom to modern nationhood: The Indian story

By Syed Osman Sher South of the Himalayas lies a triangular stretch of land, spreading about 2,000 miles in each direction—a world of rare magic. It has fired the imagination of wanderers, settlers, raiders, traders, conquerors, and colonizers. They entered this country bringing with them new ethnicities, cultures, customs, religions, and languages.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan* The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.

Search This Blog