Village women work under the MGNREGA program in Jagannath Prasad village in Ganjam district, Odisha. | Photo credit: PTI
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has seen a sharp decline in its scope and reach in 2025-26, according to a report on the last operational year of the scheme introduced by the Congress-led UPA era.
The report points to a paradoxical trend where the number of registered households increased slightly, but fewer households and workers found employment, the total number of working days fell significantly, and fewer families completed the guaranteed 100 days of work. The report was released by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, a coalition of non-profit organizations working with MGNREGS workers, and prepared by LibTech India, a consortium of academics and activists.
LibTech estimates that the contraction resulted in an average loss of income of ₹ 1,221 for each MGNREGS household during the financial year.
Uncertain transition
The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act 2025, which was passed in Parliament last December, is expected to come into force soon and replace MGNREGS. The Union Government has earmarked only ₹30,000 crore for MGNREGS for the transitional period.
This decline is deeply worrying, said the NREGA Sangarsh Morcha, especially since the new employment scheme was brought forward without public consultation. “Employment guarantee programs play a key role in securing rural livelihoods and any significant restructuring of such programs must include meaningful consultation,” the statement said. Activists have called on the government to ensure that job opportunities continue to be unhindered during the transition period.
Fewer working days
The number of households registered under the scheme has increased by 3.2%, from 14.98 million in 2024–25 to 15.46 million in 2025–26. However, this did not translate into more employment. The report said 44 million fewer households and 67 million fewer workers were employed compared to the previous year, down 8.2% and 9.1%, respectively.
The number of person-days of work generated under the program fell sharply by 21.5%, from 268.44 million in 2024–25 to 210.73 million in 2025–26. The average person-day per household fell by 14.5% from 50.18 to 42.92. The impact of this decline can be seen in the sharp decline in the number of households that completed the full 100 days of guaranteed employment, which fell by 40.5% from 0.37 million to 0.22 million.
The contraction was geographically widespread. Fifteen of the 20 states saw a decrease in person-days during the year. West Bengal did not generate any personal days in 2024–25 or 2025–26 and were excluded from the benchmark analysis. Only four states saw an increase in person-days.
Tamil Nadu saw the steepest decline at 42.8%, followed by Haryana at 41.7%, Himachal Pradesh at 41% and Telangana at 40.2%. Jharkhand saw the highest increase in person-days at 12.9%, followed by Jammu and Kashmir at 7.3% and Odisha at 6.7%. Madhya Pradesh saw a marginal increase of 0.5%.
Lower income
The wage expenditure under the scheme has come down sharply by nearly ₹11,570 crore, from ₹67,835 crore in 2024–25 to ₹56,265 crore in 2025–26. This decline occurred despite an increase in average daily wages from ₹252.7 to ₹267, as the reduction in personal days outweighed the effect of higher wages.
LibTech estimates that if persondays had remained at 2024–25 levels, workers could have earned an additional ₹15,409 crore during the year. Average household income fell from ₹12,681 to ₹11,460. If the average person-days per household were to remain unchanged, the average income would be ₹13,398, representing a potential income loss of ₹1,938 per household.
Published – 08 May 2026 21:51 IST
