Is women's participation in MGNREGA declining?
MGNREGA is a flagship employment guarantee scheme of the Government of India. Under MGNREGA, villagers living in rural areas are provided at least 100 days of employment every year. This is a legal right which means that any rural household can ask for work under MGNREGA and should be provided work.
MGNREGA is a pay employment program that is based on demand. But encouraging women to participate is also one of its goals. The mahatma gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act stipulates in Schedule-II, Paragraph 15, that women must make up at least one-third of the beneficiaries. This implies that women who have registered and requested employment under MGNREGA should make up at least 33% of the beneficiaries. Moreover, there is a great chance that this will increase the involvement of women because jobs are available within a 5 km radius of the community. So, is it really guaranteed that 33% of women will participate?
What is the participation of women?
The Rural Development Ministry of the central government regularly monitors and reviews the MGNREGAscheme. Recently, data presented by the Ministry of Rural Development in the rajya sabha showed that the participation of women in MGNREGAis increasing in many states. The average participation of women in the financial year 2020-21 was 53.19%. In 2023-24, this figure increased to 58.89%.
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