As per the economic survey, demand under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was not a “real indicator” of rural distress
Studies marked variation in the performance of the scheme across States
None of the studies conducted so far had come up with a satisfactory explanation on the unevenness in outcomes.
Tamil Nadu has less than 1% of the poor population in the country, it accounted for nearly 15% of all the MGNREGS funds released in the financial year 2023-24.
Kerala, with only 0.1% of the poor population, used almost 4% of the total funds allocated.
Together, they generated 51 crore person-days of employment.
In contrast, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, with about 45% of the poor population, accounted for only 17% of the MGNREGS funds and generated 53 crore person-days
Correlation coefficient, between State-wise multidimensional poverty index and person-days generated was only 0.3,
indicating that MGNREGS fund usage and employment generation were not proportional to poverty levels.
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