Status of NREGA in Modern Village Allah: A Case Study of District Jammu (J&K)

Abstract

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), presently known as ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act’ (MGNREGA), is an unprecedented intervention by the Government in reforming and reenergizing the (rural) labour market both by way of correcting the prevailing anomalies and in providing livelihood security to millions of rural poor. Most of the rural poor are largely dependent on the prospects of agriculture sector which is facing the problems of productivity in absolute and relative terms. The promised 100 days of guaranteed wage employment per household per annum at the stipulated minimum wages would not only reduce the rampant under and unemployment in rural areas, but also impact the stagnant wage structure for the rural unskilled workers. Although the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)-2005 was not applicable to J&K in toto, yet the State Government has been implementing the Act in the form of a Scheme, of course without the component of the Employ Guarantee related ‘unemployment allowance’. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has formulated a full-fledged scheme called the ‘Jammu and Kashmir Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme’ (REGS). The present paper is a generous attempt to study the status of NREGA in the modern village of Allah and an attempt has been made to assess ground realities of MGNREGA in the study area