Impact of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India on Rural Poverty and Food Security
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K. KAREEMULLA, P. Ramasundaram, Kumar Shalander, C. A. Rama Rao. (17/5/2013). Impact of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India on Rural Poverty and Food Security. Current Agriculture Research, 1(1), pp. 13-28.
Abstract
A study based on regional and micro level household data was taken up to inquire in to the
impacts of a national rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGS) in India. Studies in four
sample districts in predominantly rainfed areas, which benefited from the scheme for the last six
years indicated that the scheme attempted to address the core issue of rural unemployment of
unskilled labor in earth works related to natural resource management. Primarily the rural labor
obtained seasonal employment, but the resource poor farmers also participated in the Scheme
more so in states like Maharashtra. The study findings indicated that the seasonal migration of
rural labor has come down significantly due to the opportunities of employment provided under the
scheme. The share of NREGS employment was up to one-third of wage days in some of the study
districts. Similarly the contributions of income to the family from the wages of participation in the
scheme were in the range of 12 to 33 per cent across the districts. These additional incomes were
used by the rural households primarily for food security, education of dependents, health care and
debt repayment. Wherever, the there were surpluses beyond these expenses, the households
acquired durable assets and created amenities in the households. The negative fall out of the
Scheme, albeit at a low scale, especially from the farming point of view is that there was abnormal
rise in the wage rates. The scheme thus is a revolutionary one with broad spectrum impact on the
rural milieu of India.
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Shalander, Kumar https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8072-5674