Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The Union government is hopeful of fully utilizing the Rs 86,000 crore allocated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in FY25. This expectation also takes into account the increase in the demand for work under the plan and the change in wages, according to the officials of the Ministry of Finance talking to Business Today TV.
So far, Rs 73,527 crore, or 88 percent of the annual budget, has already been spent. Of this, Rs 48,547 crore was directed towards salaries and Rs 21,667 crore was allocated to equipment and skilled workers.
Officials are assessing whether additional funds may be needed and are vigilant to prevent misuse.
“MGNREGS is demand-driven and aims to help those who really need it, not as a way to get jobs,” said an official.
The government has been encouraging countries to take a major role in the implementation of the policy in order to overcome the problem. Additionally, the NITI Aayog is in the process of appointing a consultant to review the programme’s performance, focusing on funding, transparency and accountability.
In order to improve monitoring, the Center launched digital access earlier this year through the National Mobile Monitoring System. The system ensures that payments are made through Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, reducing the possibility of money laundering.
So far in FY25, the scheme has generated 1.89 billion work days. For its part, FY24 saw 3.1 billion person-days, compared to 2.93 billion in FY23 and 3.63 billion in FY22.
MGNREGS, a government-funded program without sharing funds from the states, ensures that 100 days of labor are paid annually to rural families whose heads are engaged in unskilled manual labor, especially during agriculture.
