Impact of mgnregs on income pattern of beneficiaries in Punjab

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme, being a demand-based initiative, holds a special place in the development process of country. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme provides guaranteed wage employment to all those rural households whose adult members are willing to do unskilled labour work. The main objective of the scheme is to promote the social and economic well-being of the rural people. It was launched in Punjab on 2nd February, 2006. It was implemented in Punjab in three phases. In the first phase, Hoshiarpur district was selected and then three more districts in second Amritsar, Jalandhar and Nawanshahr were covered during 2007-08. The scheme was extended to all the districts of Punjab on April, 2008 (www.nrega.nic.in). This study examines the impact of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme on income pattern of beneficiaries. The sample comprises of 480 respondents, 80 each from Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Moga, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts. The method followed is purposive sampling method. A detailed questionnaire schedule dealing with different aspects of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Schemehas been prepared.The survey for study has been conducted during January 2019 to January 2020 time period. The Paired Samples t-testis used to examine the difference between sample workers’ income pattern before and after joining scheme. The study concludes that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has improved the income patternof rural poor.