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Business News/ News / India/  Economic Survey: Allocation to rural jobs programme highest ever at Rs1.1 trln
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Economic Survey: Allocation to rural jobs programme highest ever at Rs1.1 trln

In the Budget for 2020-21, the Centre had allocated Rs61,500 crore to the rural jobs programme, seen as a lifeline for poor farmers and farm labourers in times of drought and bad monsoon which would otherwise trigger distress migration

Better fund allocation for the rural jobs scheme has begun having an impact. (PTI)Premium
Better fund allocation for the rural jobs scheme has begun having an impact. (PTI)

NEW DELHI: An additional allocation of Rs40,000 crore to the rural jobs scheme, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, helped create nearly 3.12 trillion person days of work, which in turn sustained millions of migrants who returned home to their villages from urban centres in the wake of the lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.

According to the Economic Survey for fiscal 2020-21, a total of “311.92 crore person-days have been generated" under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

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"Wages under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA were increased by 20 from 182 to Rs202 with effect from 1st April, 2020, which would provide an additional amount of Rs2000 annually to a worker."

In the Budget for 2020-21, the Centre had allocated Rs61,500 crore to the rural jobs programme, seen as a lifeline for poor farmers and farm labourers in times of drought and bad monsoon which would otherwise trigger distress migration.

In May, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an extra Rs40,000 crores to address the “need for more work for the returning migrant workers as well as to take care of the monsoon season," the Survey said. The reference was to the millions of people, who trekked home from cities after the national lockdown was announced on 24 March. The lockdown led to businesses and commercial establishments shutting shops, rendering millions jobless.

In November, Sitharaman again announced an additional 10,000 crore to boost rural employment and accelerate growth in the rural economy. This money was funnelled through the jobs programme and the rural roads construction programme or the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY).

Taken together, the allocation of Rs1.11 trillion is the biggest sum provided to the programme since its inception in 2006.

The creation of 311.92 crore person-days in FY2020-21, according to figures received till 21 January, 2021, is “an all-time high", the Survey said.

High subscription showed the "depth of rural distress" in the country, as per Himanshu, a professor at the New Delhi based Jawaharlal Nehru University. He said he expected the government to announce a substantial allocation for the rural sector in the budget to be unveiled on Monday.

Ninety nine percent of the wages were transferred electronically into the accounts of the MGNREGS workers in 2020-21 as against 37.17 % cent during 2013-14, the Survey said.

The rural roads programme or PMGSY, run by the rural development ministry and which aims to provide connectivity to rural habitations across the country, began its third phase with the target of 1.25 lakh km of all-weather road connectivity, the Survey said. In the first two phases, more than 6.44 lakh km of roads have been constructed, it said adding, that the programme "has helped immensely in providing access to basic services and lifting the income of rural masses."

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Published: 29 Jan 2021, 06:27 PM IST
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