MGNREGS work demand increases 20% on low August rains, shows data

This does not include the COVID-impacted years of 2020-21 and 2021-22 when work demand for August was higher

Around 19.16 million households sought work under the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in August 2023.

This is 20 per cent more compared to the same month last year as monsoon saw a prolonged break in August 2023 and this added to the existing weakness in the rural job market, said experts.
 

Though, sequentially, August work demand is the lowest since April 2023. However, the number of households that demanded work under the scheme is the highest for August since 2014-15. This does not include the financial years of 2020-21 and 2021-22 during Covid when work demand for August was higher. In the financial year 2023-24, month-wise MGNREGS work demand has been consistently higher than all previous years so far (since April 2023) except for the Covid years.
 

The work demand has come despite activists alleging that millions of workers across the country were reluctant to turn up at worksites. This was due to difficulties in getting payment through the Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS). 

In states like West Bengal, the scheme has virtually stopped.
 

Data shows that till August 31, 2023, (the last date for enrolling under the ABPS system), out of the estimated 143 million active MGNREGS workers, around 17 per cent were not under ABPS.
 

The central government, in a statement issued on August 30, had said that the deadline for mandatory MGNREGS payment through ABPS has been extended to December 2023 or till further orders. It also added that states have been instructed that beneficiaries who come to work will be required to furnish their Aadhaar cards. However, they won’t be denied work for not having an Aadhaar card.
 

Meanwhile, civil society groups and activists said that the weak monsoon is a reason for the jump in MGNREGS work demand in August. However, it is also reflective of the overall weakness in the rural job market as MGNREGS is considered the last employment resort for the rural poor.

July along with August are usually weak months for work demand under MGNREGS as sowing for kharif crops is in full swing during this period. This provides rural casual workers with alternative sources of employment.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed that the monsoon in August 2023 was the weakest since 1901 at just 161.7 mm.
 

The rains were a whopping 36 per cent less than normal.
 

Meanwhile, MGNREGS data showed that till August 31, 2023, around Rs 54,000 crore of the available Rs 60,000 crore, according to the 2023-24 Budget Estimates (around 90 per cent), has been spent on the scheme.

With around seven months more for the fiscal year to end, the scheme would need additional fund infusion through supplementary demand for grants to keep the works going.

“The fact that so many people are still turning to work under MGNREGS despite the scheme not being fully funded and glitches in ABPS clearly shows that the rural job market is not in a good shape. This is because MGNREGS is distress employment,” Nikhil Dey, founder member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), told Business Standard.

Chakradhar Buddha, senior researcher at Lib Tech India, said that its research shows that in states such as Telangana, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, MGNREGS demand has gone up in districts where monsoon has been weak.

“This is despite glitches in ABPS and uncertainty over its deadline extension,” Buddha said.