Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Central Government has released more than Rs 7.81 lakh crore over the last 10 years from 2014-15 to 2024-25, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA), resulting in the creation of 8.07 crore rural assets, according to an official statement issued on March 19.
This represents a sharp increase from the allocation of Rs 2.13 lakh crore in the previous decade (2006-07 to 2013-14) which resulted in the creation of 1.53 crore rural assets, it said.
The number of person-days of employment created under the scheme have gone up by 82 per cent to 3,029 crores.
“Over the last 10 years, the Government’s increased efforts have led to a remarkable increase in the creation of rural assets which is evident from over 526 per cent increase in the rural assets which are geotagged and of better quality. Moreover, due to continued focus on women empowerment, the participation of women has increased from 48 per cent in FY 2013-14 to over 58 per cent in the current FY 2024-25,” the Ministry of Rural Development statement said.
The annual allocation for the scheme has jumped from Rs 1,660 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 86,000 crore in the Budget for 2025-26.
The work taken up under MNREGA is related to agriculture and allied activities, natural resource management, and rural infrastructure. Various water-related works such as check dams, farm ponds, community ponds and irrigation open wells are taken up under the scheme. The Government’s continued thrust on water conservation has yielded remarkable results, with a 35 per cent reduction in the number of water-stressed rural blocks from 2264 to 1456 in the last decade, the statement said.
Another major success is in the form of Mission Amrit Sarovar, which has led to the creation of over 68,000 Amrit Sarovars in the country in Phase I. Currently, Phase II of Mission Amrit Sarovar has been rolled out with a renewed focus on water availability with community participation, Jan Bhagidari, at its core.
The Government’s focus on improving the livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable sections of the society has also resulted in the substantial increase in the creation of individual assets from 17.6 per cent in FY 2013-14 to 56.99 per cent in FY 2024-25, according to the statement.
The ABPS (Aadhaar-based Payment System) and the NMMS (National Mobile Monitoring System) have been introduced as major reform processes to ensure the effective implementation of this scheme. For instance, the ABPS helps in better targeting, increasing the efficiency of the system, and reducing the delays in the payments arising out of frequent changes in the bank account, thereby, ensuring better inclusion, and curbing leakages.
As on date, Aadhaar seeding has been accomplished for 13.45 crores (99.49 per cent) active workers under the MGNREGA, whereas in 2014, Aadhaar seeding was done for only 76 lakh workers. Similarly, the NMMS has brought about enhanced transparency in the implementation of MGNREGA. Electronic real-time attendance capturing through NMMS has streamlined the timely creation of muster rolls as well as the elimination of fake attendance. Moreover, in case of exceptional circumstances, there is a provision for approving manual attendance at the field level, the statement said.
