Author: Subrata Malick
DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.70798/PP/020300019
Abstract: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was enacted as a social security scheme to ensure wagebased employment and improve rural livelihoods. Reducing distress in rural-to-urban migration is one of its expected outcomes by providing a secure source of income in villages. This research analyzes the impact of MGNREGA on migration trends in India, with an emphasis on its strengths and weaknesses. Employing a mixed-methods design, the study examines secondary data in the form of government reports and migration surveys and integrates primary data using field interviews and case studies. The study finds that although MGNREGA has helped diminish short-term seasonal migration by offering work opportunities locally, its overall effect is constrained by wage delays, non-regular work availability, and sub-standard wage levels relative to urban work. Moreover, implementation differences between states and the absence of skill development avenues under the scheme are responsible for ongoing migration patterns. The study concludes that though MGNREGA acts as a partial migration deterrent, structural reforms in employment generation, prompt payment of wages, and skill-based asset formation are required to render rural employment more sustainable. The paper provides policy suggestions to make MGNREGA more effective in reducing distress migration and improving rural livelihoods.
Keywords: MGNREGA, Rural Employment, Distress Migration, Rural-To-Urban Migration, Wage Security, Sustainable Livelihoods.
Page No: 156-164