MGNREGS: Empowerment of the Socially Disadvantaged People

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Started from 200 districts on 2 February 2006 under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (earlier known as NREGA) but now renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It is an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work ’. It aims to ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In the financial year 2007–08 130 additional districts was added to NREGA (113 districts were included on April 1st 2007, and 17 districts in Uttar Pradesh (UP) were included on May 15th 2007) and with the effect 1 April 2008 it covers almost all the district of the country. The establishment objective of NREGA was social protection for the most vulnerable people living in rural India by providing employment opportunities, empowerment of the socially disadvantaged, especially women, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Schedules Tribes (STs), through the processes of a rights-based legislation Thus, the present study attempts to critically examine the implementation process of this programme and its impact on tribal livelihoods. The study state there is a significant effect of MGNREGS on tribunal livelihood and the socially disadvantaged people.