As part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, States and Union Territories conducted an Entitlement Awareness Week for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers to make them aware of their rights and entitlements under the Scheme.

The week was observed between 27th August and 2nd September 2021.

Numerous initiatives were taken by the States and the UTs during the Week to make the entitlements accessible to the public. They coordinated various activities in their respective districts, block and gram panchayats.

To assist the workers, Gram Sabhas were conducted at Gram Panchayat Bhawans in various districts while some of the districts reached out to the workers at work sites. MGNREGA beneficiaries, functionaries and officials from the States and UTs actively participated with enthusiasm.

These entitlements awareness drives will enable beneficiaries to gain maximum benefit from the Scheme. The financial allocation for MGNREGA in 2021-22 is Rs 73,000 crore at the Budget Estimate stage. This is 18.69 per cent more than the Budget Estimate of the previous financial year 2020-21.

The Ministry has released Rs 46,705.24 crore during the current financial year 2021-22 (as of 6th August 2021) to the States and UTs for implementation of the Scheme. MGNREGA is a demand-driven scheme and the actual expenditure during a financial year is much more than the budgeted amount and is determined by the total demand.

The Government is implementing a multipronged strategy to reduce delays in payment of wages to the workers employed under the Scheme. The steps include timely release of funds by the Ministry, payment through the National Electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS) for direct payment of wages into the workers’ account, and guidelines for monitoring timely payment.

India @75 Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is a 75-week long celebration that was launched by the Prime Minister on 12th March 2021.

MGNREGA provides a number of legal entitlements to job seekers through a series of provisions in the Act.

The MGNREGA was enacted in 2005 to guarantee at least 100 days of employment per year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do manual unskilled work.

If an eligible applicant is not provided work as per the provisions of the Act, within the time limit, it will be obligatory on the part of the State government to pay him unemployment allowance at the prescribed rates.