MGNREGS and Rural Employment: A Study of the Changes in the lives of the Beneficiaries in North 24 Parganas

By : Arundhati Bhattacharyya

Page No: 264-274

Abstract
Rural unemployment and poverty are causing distress to many rural people. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) has been an avenue to alleviate poverty and mitigate the unemployment problem. It is the largest employment programme in the world. The Government of India through the scheme is trying to improve the social safety net. The paper tries to understand the features, issues that have been attempted to be sorted out and the challenges that are still there in the execution of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It has also tried to gauge responses about the economic advancement due to MGNREGS work and the responses about engagement of rural people in any other form of work other than MGNREGS work. The paper has been part of the experience, which was obtained while conducting a project funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research by the contributor in the district of 24 Parganas (North).

Author :
Arundhati Bhattacharyya : Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Diamond Harbour Women’s University.