Expanding scope of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

New Delhi, Mar 21, 2025 : The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), 2005, is an Act to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

The Ministry mandates the provision of additional 50 days of wage employment (beyond the stipulated 100 days) to every Scheduled Tribe Household in a forest area, provided that these households have no other private property except for the land rights provided under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.

In addition to this, there is a provision for up to an additional 50 days of wage employment in a financial year in drought/natural calamity-affected notified rural areas.

Further, as per Section 3 (4) of the Act, the State Governments may make provision for providing additional days of employment beyond the period guaranteed under the Act from their own funds.

There are total of 266 permissible works which can be taken up under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, out of which 150 works are related to Agriculture & Agriculture allied activities and 58 works are related to Natural Resource Management (NRM). Some of these permissible works and progress made are reproduced below:

As per Schedule I of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, Section 4 (3), Para 4 (1),

I. Category: A - Public works relating to Natural Resource Management:

(i) Water Conservation and water harvesting structures to augment and improve ground water like underground dykes, earthen dams, stop dams, check dams and roof top rain water harvesting structures in Government or Panchayat buildings with special focus on recharging ground water including drinking water sources;

As on 18.03.2025, a total of 7.61 lakh water conservation and water harvesting works are currently ongoing under Scheme, while 62.89 lakh works have been completed since inception. The total expenditure incurred on these works amounts to Rs. 1,77,840.09 crore. In the financial year 2024-25 a total of 4.99 lakh water conservation and water harvesting works have been completed, with an expenditure of Rs.17,889.52 crore.

v.Afforestation: tree plantation and horticulture plantation in common and forest lands, road margins, canal bunds, tank foreshore and coastal belts duly providing right to usufruct to the household covered in Paragraph-5; and

II.Category: B - Community assets or Individual assets) for vulnerable sections.

(ii)Improving livelihood through horticulture, sericulture, plantation and farm forestry;

As on 18.03.2025, a total of 28.48 lakh plantation works are currently ongoing under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, while 89.24 lakh works have been completed since the inception of the scheme. The total expenditure incurred on these works amounts to Rs. 72,996.52 crore. In the financial year 2024-25, a total of 7.96 lakh plantation works have been completed with an expenditure of Rs. 7762.59 crore

IV.Category: D - Rural Infrastructure

(i)Rural Sanitation related works, such as individual household latrines, school toilet units, Anganwadi toilets either independently or in convergence with schemes of other Government Departments and unskilled wage component for construction of Community Sanitary Complexes in convergence with Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) to achieve ‘open defecation free’ status and solid and liquid waste management as per prescribed norms are permissible activities.

As on 18.03.2025, a total of 1.68 lakh community rural sanitation works are currently ongoing under the Scheme, while 66.20 lakh works have been completed since inception of the Scheme. The total expenditure incurred on these works stands at Rs.11,452.32 crore. In the financial year 2024-25 a total of 1.06 lakh community rural sanitation works have been completed, with an expenditure of Rs. 768.63 crore.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Kamlesh Paswan in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.