MGNREGA gets highest-ever total allocation in a fiscal at additional Rs 6,000 cr after concerns raised over fund crunch

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday said it has made an additional allocation of over Rs 6,000 crore to rural employment scheme MGNREGA, taking the total allocation to Rs 61,084 crores, which is highest ever in a financial year. The additional allocation comes after nearly 90 lawmakers, several prominent civil society members, activists, leaders of farmers’ movements and former bureaucrats wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising concerns over fund crunch. “The government of India has allocated an additional Rs 6,084 crore to MGNREGA. This brings the total allocation to the scheme to Rs 61,084 crore in 2018-19, making it the highest-ever allocation,” the Union Rural Development Ministry said. [caption id=“attachment_5564841” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AP[/caption] Over the last four years the Centre has completed major reforms in the MGNREGA to transform it into a resource for sustainable livelihoods for the poor, it said. The governance reforms in the Act and thrust on sustainable livelihoods through durable assets has ensured better lives for the poor through wages, it added. Giving a comparison of the status of the MGNREGA when the Modi-led government assumed power and at present, the ministry said more than 29.44 lakh works were completed in 2014-15 which has now increased to 61.9 lakh completed works. In 2014-15, 26.85 percent of payments to beneficiaries were generated within 15 days which has now jumped to 91.82 percent. The total funds allocated in 2014-15 was Rs 37,588 crore, it said. On 1 January, over 99 percent fund of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or MGNREGA scheme was reportedly exhausted, three months before the end of the financial year. Following this, 250 lawmakers and activists wrote the letter urging the prime minister to work for strengthening the scheme on a priority basis and “formally include it as part of the set of measures being considered to deal with the current rural and agrarian crisis”.     To keep watching India’s No. 1 English Business News Channel – CNBC-TV18, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family Pack (inclusive of 24 channels), available for Rs. 35/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 4/- per day. To keep watching the Leader in Global Market & Business News – CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, call your Cable or DTH Operator and ask for the Colors Family HD Pack (inclusive of 25 channels), available for Rs. 50/- per month, or subscribe to the channel for Rs. 1/- per day.