NEW DELHI: India is experiencing a decline in demand for jobs under the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the finance minister said in Parliament on Wednesday. “In rural areas, the demand for MGNREGA has been declining in the recent past,” said Nirmala Sitharaman, referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
“MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme… (and) is on a downward trend.” However, the government this month sought an additional 164 billion rupees ($1.99 billion) for the program above the budgeted 730 billion rupees for the current financial year, which ends on March 31. Introduced more than 15 years ago, the MNREGA jobs program allows citizens to apply for jobs such as building roads, digging wells or creating other rural infrastructure and earn minimum wages for at least 100 days a year.
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