Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Implimentation Status in Kerala

Abstract

Evolving the design of the wage employment programmes to more effectively fight poverty, the Central Government formulated the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005. With its legal framework and rights-based approach, MGNREGA provides employment to those who demand it and is a paradigm shift from earlier programmes. Notified on September 7, 2005, MGNREGA aims at enhancing livelihood security by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The Act covered 200 districts in its first phase, implemented on February 2, 2006, and was extended to 130 additional districts in 2007-2008. All the remaining rural areas have been notified with effect from April 1, 2008.

Kerala has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. But most of the unemployed are educated. Thus NREGA has only limited application in tackling the problem of unemployment among the poor of Kerala. Yet it has a niche idea for about 4 to 5 lakh people who are willing to do physical labour and for woman additional annual income of Rs.12,500/- obtained from the Employment Guarantee Scheme would be a substantial boost in income and purchasing power. These all are importance of MGNREGA, the paper concentrate Implementation Status report of Kerala during the period of 2012-13 and also explains the average growth pattern work status of Kerala.