The demand for MGNREGA work so far in the month of April has increased to 2.57 crore households, 92% higher than a year ago, and a record high for April since 2013, as per State Bank of India (SBI) research.
“This indicates the extent of reverse migration from the lockdown States to their native States,” SBI group chief economic adviser Soumya Kanti Ghosh said.
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The government had allocated ₹73,000 crore in this year’s Budget for the MGNREGA, nearly 34.5% lower than last year’s revised estimates of ₹1.11 lakh crore, on the assumption that the economic recovery would alleviate the need for such spending.
The original budgeted spending for the scheme for 2020-21 was around ₹60,000 crore but was enhanced over the year as the national lockdown and large-scale reverse migration from urban employment centres to the hinterland triggered greater demand under the scheme.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in Parliament that the government would allocate more funds for the rural jobs scheme for 2021-22 if needed, over and above the ₹73,000 crore outlay proposed in the Budget.
