Impact of MGNREGA on Socio-Economic Transformation of Rural India

MGNERGA is the world's largest rights based safety net initiative. It was launched in 200 districts of rural India in February 2006 which was extended all the rural India in April 2008. It is one of the first such programmes in the world, where wage employment is treated as their right for the majority of the unskilled masses. It is different from many earlier employment programmes as majority of the earlier programmes were allocation based or supply driven programmes, But MGNREGA is demand driven programme. MGNREGA has been conceptualized in such a way that its impact can be on many folds. It plays a major role in inclusive growth. It provides a stable economic base to masses. It also helps in attain financial inclusion of rural households, it can prevent migration to urban areas, it can help in poverty eradication, it can assists ineffective governance, it empowers women, it increases real wages, it reduce indebtedness, it also increase the water tables, it also helps in water harvesting and conservation, it helps in flood control, it helps in accelerating land development. In total it aims at transforming rural India into a pleasant living heaven for rural people