RD Ministry clarifies regarding data of MGNREGS employment

Reacting to reports that the first 17 days of December were the lowest ever in terms of employment generated under the rural employment guarantee scheme, the Rural Development Ministry said the scheme is demand-driven and that the comparison was not as per the spirit of MGNREG Act.

It needs to be mentioned that during the current financial year, so far, more than 261 crore person-days has been generated as per the demand by the beneficiaries, said the ministry, adding that during the financial year (FY) 2019-20, for the period April to Novem-ber , a total of more than 175 crore person-days got generated, in the same period of the previous year more than 276 crore person-days got generated, and in the current FY during the same pe-riod , more than 255 crore person-days got generated.

As per the ministry, the work done in a particular month is counted against the MR filled up during the month. The Scheme allows 7 days window for the entry of the data. Thus, full data of December is usually available about 10 days into the next month. Thus, a comparison based on the data for the first 17 days takes into account the person-days that have been generated during a minor fraction of the month of December. As per provision of the Act, the data entry for the works which would get completed in the last week of the month of December 2021, will be reflected in the 2nd week of January 2022, it stated.

It may also be mentioned that during November 2019 a total of 16.92 crore person-days were generated, in the same month of last year over 23 crore person days got generated and in the month of November, 2021 more than 22 crore person-days got generated.