Impact of MGNREGA in Economically Forward and Backward Regions of Karnataka State, India

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was passed by the Indian Parliament in 2005 to address the poverty eradication issue in the country on war footing, by creating short-term productive employment for the poor and promoting a labour intensive development process. An attempt has been made in the present study to analyze the impact of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the economically forward and backward regions of Karnataka State, India, in terms of employment generation and income of the rural workforce and compare the results across the two regions. The data collected, fromprimary as well as secondary sources, were subjected to tests of significance viz., Paired t- Test and MANOVA. Paired t test results show that the scheme had significantly benefited the workers in terms of both increasing their employment days and annual income. It calls for continuation of the scheme to provide supplementary employment to rural wage earners during the off season. MANOVA results indicate that since economically backward and forward regions were significantly different with respect to number of additional days of employment received by workers participating in MGNREGS, priority must be accorded to economically backward regions in implementing the scheme as a means for mitigating misery of rural workforce.