Work Without Guarantee, Wages Without Certainty: The New Reality Of MGNREGA In Jharkhand

Fifty five-year-old Phulwa Devi is counting her workdays. By the end of the financial year, she hopes her attendance under the aegis of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) will touch 80 days. By the final month of the previous year, she had already completed 50 days of work. With three months still remaining in the current financial year from April 2025 to March 2026, she believes the target is within reach.

 Standing at the edge of her mud-roofed house, Phulwa repeats the word MGNREGA almost reflexively, as if her sentences cannot proceed without it. Over the years, the scheme has come to define the rhythm of her household economy. Nine years ago, after her husband died, MGNREGA emerged as the only steady support for the family, shaping how food is arranged, expenses are planned and survival is negotiated from season to season.

 Phulwa Devi says, “Before passing away, my husband worked at a brick kiln. I used to work under MGNREGA whenever work was available. After his death, I try to do as much MGNREGA work as possible. Farming gives us just enough foodgrain to eat. In the village, some people give us a little vegetable from their fields. For daily fuel, we collect firewood from the forest and for emergencies, we have one gas cylinder that lasts the whole year. We use the money from MGNREGA for the education of the children, buying oil and basic spices, for illness and for weddings and other social obligations.”

 Phulwa Devi, a mother of four, is from Kairo village in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district. In Jharkhand, on average, less than 50 days of work is provided per MGNREGA job card instead of the promised 100 days, as per available data. Phulwa Devi, however, is among the few who received 80–90 days of work in a year. In 2024–25, she worked for 82 days and in 2023–24, she worked for 85 days, earning approximately Rs 20,000–22,000 annually through MGNREGA wages.

 When asked about changes to MGNREGA, she says she does not know much, but has heard that the guarantee of 100 days of work has been removed and is unsure what the revised Act provides.

 Phulwa Devi then introduces Sandip Ravidas, who works at the NREGA Sahayata Kendra (NSK). Those working at these centres, known as saathis, are local people who help villagers understand MGNREGA schemes, assist with applications and ensure that workers receive their payments. These centres operate in every block under government oversight and most saathis were themselves MGNREGA workers in the past.

Sandip Ravidas works in the Kairo block region. He is deeply concerned not just about the renaming of MGNREGA but also about the major amendments it has undergone.

 The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been renamed by the Government of India as VB–G RAM G, which stands for Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), now commonly referred to as “G RAM G.”

Under the MGNREGA, a special Gram Sabha is held every year on October 2. The Gram Sabha prioritises work and sends approvals to the panchayat sevak, rozgar sevak and mukhiya based on villagers’ needs. These three can get projects worth up to Rs 5 lakh approved at the block level, while larger projects require district-level approval. Once sanctioned, the projects are allocated to the village.

 The second key point to understand is how workers demand employment. Any registered or job-card-holding MGNREGA worker can demand work on any day, either orally or in writing, from the panchayat sevak or rozgar sevak. They can also make this demand through the gram sathi, who is usually a woman educated up to Class 8 and selected from among MGNREGA workers to monitor worksites. Once work is demanded, employment must be provided within 15 days, within a five-kilometre radius of the village. A master roll is issued for six days of work, listing the worker’s name, project name and code and worksite location. After completion of work, payment must be credited to the worker’s bank account within 15 days.

 Although the original MGNREGA law has not been formally repealed, the nature of its implementation has changed. The most significant change concerns the guarantee of 100 days of employment. Earlier, it was a demand-based legal right, with the government obligated to provide work within 15 days. Under the G-RAM-G, work is now increasingly connected to government targets, budgets and notified areas.

 MGNREGA experts argue that this weakens the practical enforceability of the 100-day guarantee and shifts the programme from a rights-based law towards a scheme-based arrangement. The opposition has also protested changes in the Centre-State funding structure, under which states are now required to contribute 40 per cent of wage costs for a crucial social welfare programme. They argue that most states lack the financial capacity to bear an estimated wage burden of Rs 56 crore.

 Under the new arrangement, MGNREGA funding will be shared between the Centre and states in a 60:40 ratio instead of the earlier 90:10 ratio. Additionally, a 60-day “no work” window has been introduced, meaning workers will not be able to demand MGNREGA work for two months during the agricultural season.

 Opposition leaders argue that this will further strain already weak state finances and effectively shrink the scope of the scheme, as limited resources will restrict the amount of work available.

 Sandip Ravidas believes that these changes will severely affect workers in Jharkhand, especially due to the increased financial burden on the state. He explains, “The current MGNREGA wage is Rs 282 per day. Out of this, the state contributes Rs 27 and the Centre Rs 255. Even (while) paying Rs 27, the state government faces serious delays. Under the new law, the state’s share will rise to Rs 108. Where will the state find this money? If the state fails to release its Rs 112.8 share, the Centre will not release its Rs 169.20 either. Tell me, who suffers in such a situation? Only the MGNREGA worker.”

 According to Ravidas, these provisions will lead to severe delays in wage payments and therefore gradually erode workers’ trust in MGNREGA. Their right to demand work will disappear, which will result in increased unemployment and migration from Jharkhand.

 Jharkhand is already facing severe issues of unemployment, migration and high poverty levels. According to NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (2021), about 42.16 per cent of Jharkhand’s population lives in multidimensional poverty, making it the second poorest state in India.

 The issues and concerns raised by Sandip have left Babita Devi, a 31-year-old MGNREGA worker from Kairo village, deeply disturbed. Babita has worked under MGNREGA for 12 years and says, “I have raised five children through MGNREGA. My husband does nothing; he only wastes money on alcohol. We have 32 decimals of land, where paddy grows only if there is good rain. Every year, around Rs 22,000–25,000 comes from MGNREGA. If this work stops, it will be impossible for us to survive.”

 Babita worked 93 days in 2024–25, 100 days in 2023–24 and 82 days in 2022–23. In the current financial year (2025–26), she has completed 51 days of work so far.

 Lohardaga is a district in Jharkhand that faces drought almost every alternate year. Another reality of Lohardaga is that thousands of workers leave their homes between 4 am and 5 am daily, catch a train to Ranchi by 7.30 am, wait in long queues across the city for work and, if lucky enough to find employment, return home at 9 pm after catching the evening labour train, spending nearly 15 hours a day for a wage of Rs 400 to 500.

 A single MGNREGA job card is often used by multiple family members. Jharkhand has 34.4 lakh active job cards and 40.32 lakh registered active MGNREGA workers. Over the past five years, the state has failed to provide even 50 days of work on average per active job card. Official data shows average workdays of 45.27 in 2021–22, 44.31 in 2022–23, 50.22 in 2023–24, 49.92 in 2024–25 and 43.53 days so far in 2025–26.

 In Lohardaga, there are 27,715 active MGNREGA job-card-holding families. Yet in the current financial year, only 1,269 families have received 100 days of work. If all active job-card holders were provided 100 days of work in their villages, migration would reduce substantially.

 A common complaint regarding MGNREGA in Jharkhand is delayed wage payments. The law mandates payment within 15 days of work completion, but in reality, payments are often delayed by several months.

 Renowned economist Jean Drèze has described the revised G-RAM-G Bill as a bulldozed and hastily introduced legislation. The promise of 125 days of work under the G RAM G Act is just to sweeten the pill. Only two per cent of families nationwide receive 100 days of MGNREGA work. Drèze argues that there is little point in raising the ceiling if it is not binding in the first place and that the new financial framework undermines this promise. “The 125-day promise is not backed by any financial commitment from the Centre.”

 Explaining how the states will be burdened more, he further says, “It is only below the so-called state-wise normative allocations that the 60:40 sharing formula between Centre and states applies. Beyond that, states have to contribute 100 per cent of the costs. This will be particularly difficult for the poorer states.”

 He further adds, “The Centre can always find money by borrowing or printing money if need be, but state governments have a borrowing limit. When they reach the limit, delays often appear in the payment of frontline workers, social security pensions and so on. Similar delays are likely to affect the payment of wages under VB-G RAM G. Employment guarantee has little meaning without timely wage payments.”

 Attendance under MGNREGA is now recorded using the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app. This involves logging in, selecting the worksite, choosing workers and uploading geo-tagged photographs twice a day. The process requires e-KYC and Aadhaar-based face authentication. While intended to improve transparency, it has led to significant technical challenges.

Currently, online attendance is mandatory only for community projects such as roads, drains and community buildings. Individual works like wells, ponds and horticulture still rely on manual muster rolls. However, under G-RAM-G, online attendance is proposed to be made mandatory even for individual work.

 Jharkhand’s hilly terrain includes hundreds of villages without reliable mobile connectivity. After the digitalisation of the PDS system, complaints of ration denial became frequent. Similar challenges are now emerging in MGNREGA.

 In Gadarpo Cheratoli village of Bhandra block, poor mobile connectivity has resulted in wage payments being stalled for over a year. Shaniyaro, who works at the MGNREGA Support Centre in the region, is unsure why payments have been delayed for so long.

 She says, “Digital attendance has created serious problems. Sometimes there is no network and sometimes the person responsible for attendance does not show up. Workers complete their work and leave, but they have no idea whether their attendance is being counted. It’s unclear whether payments are stuck due to online attendance or the state’s chronic payment delays.”

 Workers like Sitaram Oraon (29), Baleshwar Oraon (55) and Luduppu Oraon (40) have not received MGNREGA wages for over a year. Sitaram filed written complaints and attended public hearings, but nothing changed. He now plans to migrate to another state for work.

 Sitaram worked 67 days in 2024–25 but was paid for only 24 days. In the current year, he worked nearly 60 days but received wages for only 21 days. “The main problem is non-payment,” he says. “That’s why I no longer feel like working under MGNREGA.”

 In Gadarpo Cheratoli village of Bhandra block, poor mobile connectivity has resulted in wage payments being stalled for over a year. Shaniyaro, who works at the MGNREGA Support Centre in the region, is unsure why payments have been delayed for so long.  She says, “Digital attendance has created serious problems. Sometimes there is no network and sometimes the person responsible for attendance does not show up. Workers complete their work and leave, but they have no idea whether their attendance is being counted. It’s unclear whether payments are stuck due to online attendance or the state’s chronic payment delays.”  Workers like Sitaram Oraon (29), Baleshwar Oraon (55) and Luduppu Oraon (40) have not received MGNREGA wages for over a year. Sitaram filed written complaints and attended public hearings, but nothing changed. He now plans to migrate to another state for work.  Sitaram worked 67 days in 2024–25 but was paid for only 24 days. In the current year, he worked nearly 60 days but received wages for only 21 days. “The main problem is non-payment,” he says. “That’s why I no longer feel like working under MGNREGA.”