Budget 2022: Demand for work higher than pre-Covid level but MGNREGS allocation not raised

Interestingly, the NREGS did not find a mention in Sitharaman’s 90-minute budget speech. This is the second time in a row in her budget speech that Sitharaman did not mention anything about the NREGS that has emerged as a safety net for the poor and migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year also, she did not mention the NREGS during her 110-minute speech, much like her first budget speech on July 5, 2019. However, in her February 1, 2020 budget speech she had mentioned the NREGS once.

The Economic Survey 2021-22 has said that the demand for work under the NREGS is still higher than pre-pandemic level.

“An analysis of the latest data on demand for work under MGNREGS suggests the following trends in the rural labour market: (i) MGNREGS employment peaked during the nation-wide lockdown in 2020 (ii) the demand for MGNREGS work has stabilized after the second COVID wave; (iii) aggregate MGNREGS employment is still higher than pre-pandemic level…,” said the Economic Survey 2021-22, tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday.

“During the nationwide lockdown, the aggregate demand for MGNREGS work peaked in June 2020, and has thereafter stabilised. During the second-COVID-wave, demand for MGNREGS employment reached the maximum level of 4.59 crore persons in June 2021. Nonetheless, after accounting for seasonality, the demand at an aggregate level still seems to be above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019,” The survey said.

The survey said: “For some states like Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, the demand for work under MGNREGS has reduced to below the pre-pandemic levels during the last few months.”

“Intuitively, one may expect that higher MGNREGS demand may be directly related to the movement of migrant labour i.e. source states would be more impacted. Nevertheless, state-level analysis shows that for many migrant source states like West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, the MGNREGS employment in most months of 2021 has been lower than the corresponding levels in 2020,” the survey said.

“In contrast, the demand for MGNREGS employment has been higher for migrant recipient states like Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for most months in 2021 over 2020. There are still other states that do not neatly fit into this categorization,” it said.

“Therefore, the relationship between MGNREGS employment and movement of migrant labour during the last two years cannot be conclusively determined, and requires further research,” it added.

According to the latest data available on the NREGS portal, 6.73 crore households (9.72 crore individuals) have availed the rural job guarantee scheme till January 31 during the current financial year.