New Delhi: Demand for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA, has fallen sharply since June, with official data showing that the number of people seeking employment under the rural jobs scheme fell by almost two-thirds between June and October.
Total MGNREGA participation fell from around 35.4 million people in June to 12.8 million in October, according to the Ministry of Rural Development, one of the steepest mid-year declines in recent years. In the same period last year, attendance fell from 34.2 million to 19.9 million, a 42% drop.
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States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which account for a large share of total MGNREGA employment, have seen the sharpest declines. Participation in Andhra Pradesh fell from around 5 million workers in June to just over 445,000 in October.
Bihar saw a drop from 3.5 million to 518,000, while Madhya Pradesh saw participation drop from 3.5 million to 878,000 over the same period. Uttar Pradesh, which had the highest number of workers earlier this year, saw a drop from 3.7 million in June to around 1.15 million in October.
Other major states such as Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also reported a significant moderation in labor demand during the second half of the year.
The steepest decline occurred after July, when monsoon-related agricultural work typically absorbs much of the rural workforce, reducing reliance on public employment programs.
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By November, national participation fell below 5 million workers in the first eight days of the month, suggesting that demand for labor is weakening further.
MGNREGA, one of India’s largest social safety nets, guarantees up to 100 days of paid unskilled work to every adult member of a rural household who requests it. Demand for program labor generally increases when rural incomes weaken or non-farm employment opportunities shrink.
A spokesman for the Department of Rural Development did not respond to emailed queries at the time of publication.
“Demand for MGNREGA jobs usually peaks in May and June when migrant workers return home during the north Indian summer. Once agricultural activity picks up with the onset of the monsoon, demand naturally falls,” said Kiran Limaye, senior researcher at the deAsra Foundation, a non-profit business support organization.
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“A steeper decline this year could also indicate that urban migration is recovering to pre-Covid levels… Another factor could be increased social security spending and pre-election cash flows that may be replacing MGNREGA income in some areas,” he added.
On 14 October, Mint reported that the government was reviewing the budget for the MGNREGA scheme. The program allocation remained unchanged at ₹86,000 crore for two consecutive years, 2024-25 and 2025-26 respectively.
