Centre to introduce Bill to replace MNREGA with new job guarantee scheme

The expansion of MGNREGS and the change of the name of the law were under discussion within the Union cabinet.

About MGNREGA

The NREGA was enacted in 2005, and was renamed by the then UPA government as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act with effect from October 2, 2009. Under MGNREGA, every rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work, is entitled to get at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year.

What report said

In 2022, a committee constituted by the Ministry of Rural Development, which administers the MNREGS, was tasked to study the performance of states and issues related to the scheme’s governance. The committee had submitted its report last year.

While the law guaranteed jobs for 100 days under the existing scheme, the average days of employment provided per household under the scheme was just about 50 days in 2024-25. In fact, the number of households completing 100 days stood at 40.70 lakh last year. In the current financial year, only 6.74 lakh families have hit the 100-day ceiling.

In the past, several states including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have been demanding from MGNREGA workers to raise the 100-day work ceiling. While states can provide work beyond 100 days, they have to fund it themselves, and very few do so.

Of the 290 crore person-days generated during the last financial year (2024-25), only 4.35 crore were generated by the states using their own budget. Among the states generating work from their own resources are Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.

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