FM Sitharaman shares why Budget 2023 MGNREGA allocation was cut

As per the budget data last year the BE for the scheme was Rs 73,000 crore and the Revised Estimate (RE) was Rs 89,400 crore. Further, the actual expenditure for MGNREGA in 2021-2022 was at Rs 98,468 crore while the BE was Rs 73000 crore.

The FM further added that other schemes like the PM Awas Yojna and the Jal Jeevan Mission are also helpful in providing jobs to workers in the rural area.

PM Awas Yojna is also to be done by workers in the rural area who in the absence of this scheme would have gone for MGNREGA. Even the Jal Jeevan Mission is also there for the same, she added.

The allocation for Jal Jeevan Mission in Union Budget 2023 was at Rs 70,000 crore seeing a rise of 16 percent from the BE of Union Budget 2022-2023. The actual expenditure for 2021-2022 as at Rs 63126 crore. While the allocation of PM Awas Yojna is Rs 79590 crore, which is 65 percent more than the BE of Union Budget 2023-2023. The actual expenditure for 2021-2022 was at Rs 90020 crore.

The Economic Survey 2023-24 released on January 31 stated that 6.49 crore households demanded jobs under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) as of January 24, 2023. As per the Union government in FY23, as of 24 January 2023, 6.49 crore households demanded employment under MGNREGS, and 6.48 crore households were offered employment out of which 5.7 crore availed employment till January 6, 2023.

The survey said that the number of works done under MGNREGS has steadily increased over the years, with 85 lakh completed works in FY22 and 70.6 lakh in FY23, as on January 9, 2023.

Data shows that 8.55 crore households demanded employment through MGNREGA work in 2020-21, followed by 8.05 crore in 2021-22. While a total of 6.16 core households demanded work under rural employment scheme in the pre-pandemic year 2019-20. Now the number has crossed 6.4 crore till as of January 24, 2023.

MGNREGA has always been a much talked about employment scheme and there are multiple issues plaguing the scheme. As per the central government’s statement, the Union government owed MNREGA wages of Rs 4,700 to 18 states as of Dec 2022.

Under MGNREGA wage payments must be made within 15 days of the date of closure of the muster roll. Delays in payments are calculated from the 16th day onwards.

The Standing Committee on Rural Development (2022) in its report mentioned that wage transfers under MGNREGA are delayed by unsuccessful transactions and unfinished Aadhaar-based payments. It further mentioned that there have been multiple occasions where the transferred funds have not been credited to the accounts of the beneficiaries, which delays the actual realisation of salaries.

Inconsistent payment of unemployment allowance, is another major issue faced by the rural employment seekers under the scheme.

According to data from MGNREGA MIS Report, unemployment allowance for financial year 2022-2023 the amount to be paid stands at Rs 5.2 crore, while the amount actually paid was at Rs 18603 while the amount due stands at Rs 5,20,4717.5.