Mahatma Gandhi NREGS Benefits to Disadvantaged Groups: Status and Trends Across Major States of India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25175/jrd/2024/v43/i2/173505Keywords:
MGNREGS, Social Inclusion, Good Governance.Abstract
This paper analyses the extent to which the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme provided benefits to households belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories across the major states in the country, with the help of secondary data on the scheme provided by the Ministry of Rural Development. In doing so, the paper focuses on social inclusion – an important aspect and component of good governance. The paper shows that Rajasthan, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana have been comparatively more successful states in reaching benefits for households belonging to SC and ST categories. The main contributing factor is good governance. On the other hand, in states where the population belonging to SC and ST categories is large, the success of the programme in delivering the benefits to these marginalised groups has not been significant due to poor governance. The paper offers a few suggestions on how to improve governance in the implementation of the scheme.
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