Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005: A Brief Review

Abstract

The Govt. of India is set to introduce a new rural employment law in the Lok Sabha, proposing to repeal the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with another legislation, titled the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025. The bill seeks to replace the MGNREGA with a revamped framework aimed at aligning rural employment and development with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) is considered to be a game changer for rural India. India's rural economy remains the backbone of its socio-economic condition, with approximately 60% of the population residing in rural areas and a majority dependent on agriculture and allied activities. Yet, the sector faces persistent structural challenges that manifest as agrarian distress, including fragmented landholdings, low productivity, scarcity of irrigation, and fluctuating market prices the study evaluates the scheme’s effects on employment, income, women’s empowerment, poverty, and migration. The review confirms that MGNREGA has significantly improved rural livelihoods by providing income security, enhancing women's participation, and reducing distress migration. However, the analysis also highlights persistent implementation challenges, including regional disparities, wage payment delays, and corruption. The findings are summarized using tables to provide a robust, evidence-based assessment for policymakers and researchers. In light of such questions, this article, rather than engaging in debate over the various divisions of opinion, lets the figures speak for themselves. It collates the relevant statistics in user-friendly form and the concluding analysis then briefly analyses particularly the inter-state differences in the MGNREGS performance for the period of 2006–25.