MGNREGA completes 10 years today, some facts to know

New Delhi :

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee right to work. The government scheme was started on February 2, 2006 by the Manmohan Singh government. The statute is hailed by the government as "the largest and most ambitious social security and public works programme in the world".

The act completes ten years today and the Modi led government hailed the scheme saying that the achievements across a decade are a "cause of national pride and celebration".

Though BJP has earlier been critical of UPA’s rural job scheme. Also Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will visit Bandlapalli village of Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh from where the scheme had taken off to mark the completion of 10 years.

Here are some of the facts about MNREGA

• This was UPA’s flagship rural job guarantee scheme, announced by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi in 2006 and within two years, it was available in all the districts by 2008.
• It was described as a landmark scheme in history that helped eliminating poverty from the nation.
• Over 1,980 crore person-days have been generated in the programme.
• According to the Rural Development Ministry, out of all the workers benefited under the scheme, the percentage of Scheduled Caste workers has consistently been about 20% and of Scheduled Tribe workers has been about 17%.
• "57% of all workers are women, well above the statutory requirement of 33% and the highest in three years.
• More than 65 percent of the works taken up under MGNREGA are linked to agriculture and allied activities.

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