Government of India reiterates its commitment to release funds for wage and material payments for proper implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREG scheme

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) provides guarantee of at least 100 days of wage employment against the demand made by a household in a rural area.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is a demand driven scheme.

During the Current financial year so far more than 240 crore person-days has been generated as per the demand by the beneficiaries.

Fund release towards wage and material is a continuous process. There has been increase of more than 18% of funds allocation for the current financial year in comparison to previous financial year as budget estimate. During the current FY so far more than Rs.68,568 crore funds have been released for the implementation of the scheme in the States/UTs.

Whenever, additional fund is required, Ministry of finance is requested to provide the funds. In the previous financial year, Ministry of Finance allocated Rs.50,000 crore additional funds for the scheme over and above that of BE.

Recently, Ministry of Finance allocated additional funds of Rs.10,000 crore for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA as an interim measure. Further, allocation may be made upon assessment of demand during the Revised Estimate stage.

Government of India is committed to release funds for wage and material payments for proper implementation of the scheme, as per the provisions of the act and guidelines applicable for Central Government as well as State Governments.

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APS/JK/IA