In the ongoing winter session, the Government is expected to bring a bill to change the name of the MGNREGA scheme to “Pujya Bapu Grameen Rozgar Yojana”. Senior Government Officials reported that the bill regarding the same has already been cleared by the government in its cabinet meeting held on 12th December, Friday.
However, no official statement about the same has been made by Ashwini Vaishnaw, who addressed the cabinet briefing. The scheme was originally passed in 2005 with the name “National Rural Employment Guarantee” scheme, and the prefix “Mahatma Gandhi” was later added to it in 2009. It aims to give 100 days of work to every household, where the member volunteers to do unskilled or semi-skilled labour. It is often hailed as one of the most efficient and successful replacement guarantee schemes in the country and the world.
Sources suggest that the government might also plan to increase the number of days from 100 to 125. In 2022, the government created a panel headed by former Union Rural Development Secretary Amarjeet Sinha to review the scheme, with respect to the state variations, and lower expenditure in states with high poverty like Bihar, compared to those with lesser poverty like Tamil Nadu. The New bill is also expected to include suggestions from this review and try to bridge the gap between states, with the help of the states’ economic indices.
Further sources reveal that the government may also change the funding pattern for the scheme, which is currently a centrally funded scheme. It is likely to also make changes that will prevent fallout, as the one seen in the case of West Bengal.
MGNREGA is one of the most celebrated schemes of the past government, and is also one of the highly criticised schemes. The expected changes cannot be fully predicted, but they give an idea that it might change the overall way the scheme is implemented. The results will, however, have to wait until the bill is finally presented in the session.
