New Delhi: The Government on Friday said that a record ‘working days’ have been created under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) during the Covid pandemic.
There has been an increase in the budget allocation but no proposal to increase the mandays under the scheme, it added.
Responding to a question during the ‘Question Hour’, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said 14 crore job cards have been issued under MGNREGA. Ten crore people are working which includes 52 per cent women participation, he stated.
Asked about the surge in demand in MGNREGA, the Minister said, “Whenever a demand is created, efforts are made to meet it. The Budget has increased. Rs 1,11,000 crore has been allocated and Rs 90,000 crore disbursed to the states.”
Earlier, Union Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said during COVID-19, migrant labourers would have been unemployment in the absence of MGNREGA. “There has been no proposal by the Centre to increase 100-work days under MGNREGA”. The states can increase it as done by Odisha and Himachal Pradesh which have added 50 days and made it 150 days in a year.
