1. IMPACT OF MAHATMA GANDHI NREGA ON RURAL WAGES
Dr. Deepti
Radha Parmar
Dr. Priya Sauni
Dr. Deepti

2. INTRODUCTION
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the flagship programme of the Government that directly touches lives of the poor and promotes inclusive growth.
The Act came into force on February 2, 2006 and was implemented in a phased manner.
NREGA is the first ever law internationally, that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale.

3. Its auxiliary objective is strengthening natural resource management through works that address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion and so encourage sustainable development.
The wage rates under MGNREGA are fixed on the basis of minimum wages applied for agricultural labourers in that particular state. The experience of the overall impact of MGNREGA shows that it has some success in some parts of the country on the front of employment generation, but in terms of wage earnings the programme has unparalleled success.

4. The MGNREGA wages changed the entire wage structure in rural areas.
The allocation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA has been stepped up to Rs. 40,100 crore in
Mahatma Gandhi NREGS was mainly an employment generation programme but when seen with a broader perspective it is achieving number of secondary benefits. secondary benefits are inclusion of marginalized section of the society, physically challenged and old age population, social capital formation, women empowerment, impact on naxalism, impact on wage structure especially at the grass root level and rural areas, etc.

5. IMPACT OF MGNREGA ON RURAL WAGES
Data on farm wages released by labour bureau Shimla tells an electrifying tale. Actual farm wages as distinct from legal minimum wages, which are widely flouted-are now accelerating at the fastest rate.
during pre-MGNREGA period reveals that percentage increase in the average daily wages rates for male agricultural labourer, was highest in Madhya Pradesh (53.84 per cent), and followed by Andhra Pradesh (49.69 per cent) and Haryana (36.51 per cent).

6. The scenario changed completely in Post-MGNREGA period (i. e
The scenario changed completely in Post-MGNREGA period (i.e to 2011). Average daily wage rates for male agricultural labourers grew by per cent during in a poor state like Odisha followed by per cent in Karnataka, per cent in Maharashtra.
Wage rate of male agricultural workers in Rajasthan increased by 37.5 % in pre MGNREGA period (from Rs.72 to Rs. 99), while in the post MGNREGA period the percentage growth has been of the order of 40.5 %

7. Even the agriculturally developed state Punjab lacks behind Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in percentage point increase in wage growth rates between the reference periods however. Although the Kerala has highest average daily wage rates for male agricultural labourer, but the reason lies somewhere else.
Economic theory says that high wages should reflect high productivity .It is not obvious that Kerala tops in productivity.
Next highest wage rates are in Haryana (Rs in 2011) followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs ), and Punjab (Rs ) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs ). These all have buoyant agricultural sectors combined with labour shortage.

8. Effective implementation of MGNREGA in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh fueled the hike in farm wages.
New research by the University of Oxford has found that the National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) programme has increased real agricultural wages rates by 5.3% across India since its introduction in 2006.
In the period , MGNREGA generated 3.3 days of employment per year for each rural inhabitant in the average district. The analysis shows that each extra day of employment per capita per year raises wages by 1.6%, implying that the programme boosted real daily wage rates by 5.3% in the average district in the period.

9. there are two possible ways in which a large-scale public employment programme like MGNREGA can influence market wages. The first is that the extra competition for workers drives up the price of their services. The second is that the roads, dams and other infrastructure built under the scheme may increase rural productivity and therefore wages more generally.
The share of SCs/STs families in the employment generated under MGNREGA has been 55 per cent and 45 per cent beneficiaries are women.
Committee for Revision of Operational Guidelines for MGNREGA under the chairmanship of Mihir Shah also testifies that MGNREGA has led to major increases in wages of rural workers.

10. MGNREGA has made direct impact on the income of these groups
MGNREGA has made direct impact on the income of these groups. Average wages of workers have gone up by 54 per cent over the last five years; wages have now been so indexed that workers will be protected from the course of inflation. The MGNREGA has also increase the pace of financial inclusion.
MGNREGA, a holistic programme of employment generation, also suffers some of the weaknesses that had jeopardized the success of the programme.
If these shortcomings are removed, than the impact of MGNREGA would be more on the lives of millions of rural poor.