 "Over 80 million people worked under MGNREGA in FY24, shows data")
The demand for work under the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has tapered off during the financial year 2023-24 with almost 83.2 million people working in the programme down from 87.5 million in FY23.
This is the lowest number of people who have got temporary jobs under the scheme since 2020-21 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and scores of labourers migrated from the cities to the villages. MGNREGA became their only source of income.
However, when compared to the pre-pandemic years, the number of people who have worked in the scheme in FY24 still remains fairly high. This, several economists say, is also an indicator that though the overall economy is doing well and sectors such as construction are booming, when it comes to rural jobs markets, it hasn’t gone back to its pre-pandemic levels. Around 3.070 billion person days of employment was provided in FY24, which is 4.42 per cent more than FY23. The number of people who have worked in the scheme does not include West Bengal, where the scheme has been suspended due to a dispute between Centre and the state government.