Six months after lockdown lifted, no let-up in MNREGS demand — Harikishan Sharma

Job guarantee in India.

Six months after the easing of restrictions and phase-wise opening of the economy in view of the dip in coronavirus cases, the demand for work under the MNREGS continues to remain high, with nearly two crore* or more households availing the rural job guarantee scheme every month.

In fact, the number of households availing the MNREGS in the last two months, December and January, is at the same level as in August and September last year, when coronavirus cases were at their peak.

In all, 7.17 crore households (10.51 crore individuals) had already availed the MNREGS till February 17 in the current financial year (April 1, 2020 onwards) — an all-time high for a financial year since the inception of the scheme in 2006....

* 1 crore = 10M

The Indian Express
Six months after lockdown lifted, no let-up in MNREGS demand
Harikishan Sharma