Mismatch between MGNREGS coverage, delivery, says report  

Image used for representational purpose.
| Photo Credit: G. Moorthy

A review of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for the financial year 2024-25 reveals that while the coverage has increased, with 8.6% rise in registered households under the programme, the delivery of promised employment has actually gone down, with person days having dropped by 7.1%.

Persondays under the MGNREGS is defined as the total number of workdays by a person registered under the scheme in a financial year. This was revealed in a report released by LibTech India, a consortium of academics and activists on Monday (May 19, 2025).

The LibTech study revealed that only 7% of households got 100 days of work. The MGNREG Act promises guaranteed employment up to 100 days. The report highlights that total registered households under the programme have gone up by 8.6% from 13.80 crore in FY 2023-24 to 14.98 crore in 2024-25. At the same time, average days of employment per household fell by 4.3%, from 52.42 person days in FY 2023-24 it was down to 50.18 person days in FY 2024-25. This, the LibTech report states, reflects a mismatch between the scheme’s coverage and its delivery. “This trend raises questions about systemic and implementation-level challenges that continue to constrain the programme’s effectiveness,” the report said.

Also, the persistent problem with the programme of regional variations continues. Odisha (34.8%) Tamil Nadu (25.1%) and Rajasthan (15.9%) saw sharpest decline in person days, while Maharashtra (39.7%), Himachal Pradesh (14.8%), and Bihar (13.3%) recorded increases.

Inadequate allocation

Among the key factors leading to an overall employment drop are the inadequate allocation of budget and extraordinary delay in wage payments reported from across the country. Both issues have been highlighted on various platforms. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development in the past has raised concerns over reduction in budget allocation by the Union government and its effect on the progress of the scheme. People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) had recommended a budget allocation of ₹2.64 lakh crore for the MGNREGS for FY 2022-23 itself. However, the Union government has allocated only ₹86,000 crore for FY 2024-25. There was no revision in the MGNREGS budget for FY 2024-25.

The LibTech report also notes that the deletions of MGNREGS workers across the country have been arrested at least partially. Between 2022 and 2024 in 24 months 7.8 crore workers were deleted. The Ministry maintained that both deletions and additions are part of a regular process. But the rate of deletions far exceeded the rate of additions. In the corresponding period, only 1.92 crore workers were added. For the first time in FY 2024-25, this trend has been reversed, the report notes. So, while 99 lakh workers were deleted, 2.22 crore were added. The number of additions spiked in the second half of the financial year, after the Ministry of Rural Development issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the reinstatement of deleted job cards and workers.