Question : MGNREGS during Second Wave of Corona

(a) whether during the second wave of Corona many migrant workers migrated to their native places, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the demand of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) increased many fold during the second wave, if so, the details therof;

(c) whether MGNREGS generated thirty crore mandays of work in May 2021, if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether speed of corona in rural areas affected the demand of rural jobs in villages; and

(e) if so, the steps taken by the Government to provide help to those people who lost their livelihood in rural areas due to disease and the further steps taken or being taken in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a): As per information provided by Ministry of Labour and employment, an all India survey on migrant workers has been launched during the first week of April, 2021 by the Ministry Labour and Employment. This survey will provide estimates of migrant workers in the country. The survey will also capture/generate estimates on the movements of migrant workers due to the nationwide lockdown announced on 25th March, 2020. The report of this survey is expected within one year of the start of field work on 15.07.2021, subject to the condition that no further disruptions in field work are caused due to the pandemic.

(b): The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven scheme for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It provides livelihood security i.e., fall back option for livelihood for the rural households when no better employment opportunity is available.

The details of employment demanded by households under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the financial year (FY) 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 is given below:

(In crore)

Indicators 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22

(as on 06.08.2021)

Employment demanded by household 6.17 8.55 5.99

Source: NREGASoft

(c): Total of 37.18 crore person-day have been generated in the month of May, 2021 under the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme. In this regard, the State-wise detail of persondays generated in the month of May, 2021 is given at Annexure.

(d) & (e): The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven scheme. It provides livelihood security i.e., fall back option for livelihood for the rural households. During the financial year (FY) 2020-21, a total of 1.89 crore new job cards were issued and 56.47 lakh job cards have been issued so far in current FY 2021-22.

During the FY 2020-21, a total of 389 crore persondays were generated which is 47 % more than the previous FY 2019-20. During the FY 2020-21, a total of 7.55 crore households have been provided employment which 38% more the previous financial year. During current FY 2021-22, a total of 5.96 crore households have been offered employment and 148.19 crore persondays have been generated so far.

The financial allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme is Rs.73,000 crore at Budget Estimate stage in the current financial year 2021-22. The Ministry has released Rs. 46,705.24 crore during the current financial year 2021-22 (as on 06.08.2021) to States/UTs for the implementation of the Scheme.

********