Record 3 billion days of work generated but women’s share shrinks

NEW DELHI: For the first time since it was expanded to cover the entire country by April 2008, India’s flagship rural jobs programme has generated more than three billion days of work in less than a year, but as more people scrambled for work, the share of female workers and the average days of employment for families shrank for the first time in five years, according to government data.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Jobs Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has this financial year generated 3.11 billion days of work, 460 million days more than last year, according to data by the ministry of rural development. The surge in the year that began in April is attributed to the pandemic and the lockdown enforced at endmarch that forced millions of workers to return to the countryside from the cities

But as more people demanded work, employment opportunities for women have shrunk. In the current year, 52.7% of work (share in persondays) has been done by women, the lowest in five years. Between 2016-17 and 2019-20 , women’s share of work allotted under MGNREGS was 54.77%, 54.59%, 53.53% and 56.16%.

MGNREGS, a rural jobs guarantee programme, stipulates that half the employment generated by the scheme be earmarked for women. Under the scheme, at least one member of each poor rural household is assured 100 days of work in a year.

More people seeking such work meant fewer average days of employment for households. In this financial year, rural households have found an average of just 44.8 days of employment. Only 3.1 million families have completed the full quota of 100 days of work per year.

The scheme, widely seen as the last resort for rural households, received the highest annual funding this year of more than ₹1 lakh crore. MGNREGS work was also included in the special package to offer employment to labourers who returned home during the initial months of the pandemic.

This year, 105 million people have participated in MGNREGS, the highest in five years, indicating the surge in demand for jobs even as the Indian economy contracted by a record 23.9% in the quarter ended June, followed by a decline of 7.5% in the three months ended September.

Former rural development secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra said: “Usually, the men go to cities or take up other work and women engage in MGNREGS for extra family income. But this year, it might be that the health concerns have seen a section of woman workers reluctant to come out and work.” He added, “The fall in average days of employment is likely to improve as young men have returned to the cities and now less families are likely to see work in the remaining months.”