Shift in MGNREGS from UPA to NDA

The approach of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance-II government towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme emphasises asset creation in a target-driven, if necessary, top-down fashion. NDA-II has done this without altering the basic features of the programme, as that needs an amendment in the act, a difficult political proposition given its lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha. Such a shift is in contradistinction to the pursuit of demand-driven job creation with a focus on participatory decentralised development under the United Progressive Alliance governments. While the emphasis on assets creation is not without its merits, the programme has been tilted in favour of agriculturists. Landless rural labour households, one-fourth of India’s rural population, have been excluded from the benefits of individual assets since they own no land. Asset fetishism may affect job creation and its target-driven pursuit may defeat objectives like promoting participatory decentralised development