The number of workers provided employment has fallen to a low of 6.24 crore in the current financial year.
The number of workers was 7.77 crore in 2018–19, peaking at 11.17 crore in 2020–21, the pandemic year.
Economists and opposition leaders warn that shifting 40 per cent of wage costs to states and increasing central control could weaken the scheme’s pro-poor character and hurt fiscally weaker states.
The funds released under MGNREGS have declined by 35.6 per cent in the last six years, amid claims that 99.7 per cent of rural households demanding work have been offered employment in the current financial year.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which has long buttressed rural unemployment and ensured livelihood security through unskilled manual labour, guaranteed up to 100 days of wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer.
Now, the Modi government has overhauled the two-decade-old scheme with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill — or VB-G RAM G Bill, under which states will have to share the wage payment burden, unlike MGNREGS, where the Central government bore the expenditure.
Even though VB-G RAM G Bill offers 125 days of employment, in 2024-25, the average number of days of employment per household under MGNREGS was just about 50, The Indian Express reported.
Furthermore, 40.70 lakh households completed 100 days of work in the last financial year, but so far this year, only 6.74 lakh households have reached the 100-day mark. The total number of job cards stands at 8.61 crore, covering 12.16 crore active workers.
Development economist Professor K P Kannan said that the original Act stipulated a maximum of 100 days of work per household and not per person. “This has meant a per capita work promise of 60 days per person, given an average number of workers at 1.6 in a rural household. The work is usually provided sporadically, not continuously.”
The national average of the actual number of days of work provided has been between 50 and 60 days per household ever since the launch of this scheme, he added.
After the launch of the scheme in 2005, there was a 237.81 per cent increase in the funding in the initial six years, from Rs 8,640 crore to Rs 29,189 crore. The funding strengthened over the years, reaching a peak of Rs 1,10,374 crore in 2020-21.
However, in the past six years, the funding has declined from Rs 1,10,374 crore to Rs 71,044 crore in 2025-26, a 35.6 per cent decline.
“If the UPA Government was lukewarm in implementing the MGNREGS, the NDA is more often hostile to it because the scheme is identified with the UPA Government,” Kannan said.
The sharp reduction in employment provided and expenditure incurred is due to stringent monitoring of the works, insistence on biometric identification, Aadhaar card linkage, sending photos of works to the central government agency, and so on, he added.
Additional reasons include the lack of enthusiasm in implementing the pro-poor scheme in states such as Bihar, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The states with a relatively better performance are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
According to government data presented in a Parliamentary answer, the number of workers employed over the last eight years was also the lowest in the current financial year at 6.24 crore, compared to approximately 7.77 crore in 2018-19 and peaking at 11.17 crore in 2020-21.
The Modi government, ignoring Opposition protests, has passed the VB-G RAM G Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament, which concludes on Friday, December 19. The opposition has unanimously spoken against the new scheme, and politician Yogendra Yadav announced nationwide protests from December 19.
“For the past ten years, his government has systematically tried to weaken it. Today, he is determined to erase MGNREGA altogether,” Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to transform MGNREGA into a tool of centralised control through various measures. The Centre will first be able to dictate the budgets, schemes and rules, he said, adding that States will have to bear 40 per cent of the costs. In the final stage, once funds run out or during harvest season, workers will be denied employment for months
“From Sadak to Sansad, we will oppose this anti-people bill," he posted.
“It is highly unfortunate that such a pro-labouring poor scheme as the MGNREGS, despite its limited coverage, is sought to be downgraded for political reasons,” said Kannan. He noted that the scheme will no longer guarantee employment. Secondly, states with the highest revenue deficits will have to share 40 per cent of the expenditure. Lastly, there is additional centralisation in the allocation of resources, which is bound to be politically biased.
“I am afraid that the well-performing states will be punished and the ill- performing ones will be rewarded,” he stated.
