In the recent response shared in the Lower House by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, MGNREGS, a wage-employment guarantee scheme for rural India has failed to provide the minimum guaranteed 100 days of wage-work to rural residents.

Despite MGNREGS being a demand-driven scheme, the allocation of funds has not been able to keep up with the increased demand for work. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21 and 2021-22, revised estimates for the scheme were 81 per cent and 31 per cent higher than budget estimates for the corresponding years. However, for the financial year 2023-24, the allocation for MGNREGS has decreased 33% from the previous year's revised estimates.

Launched a year ago to increase the participation of rural women in the national employment guarantee programme, the 'Mahila Mate' scheme in Uttar Pradesh has helped in providing better incomes to the rural women. In Sonbhadra district, half the labourforce is women.

Protesting against the insufficient allocation of funds for the rural employment guarantee scheme, as many as 500 daily wage workers from 15 states have gathered at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. The protesters also demand an increase in the number of working days in the wake of diminishing employment opportunities and rising inflation. Details here.

With an aim to construct 50,000 ponds for conserving water by August 15, 2023, Mission Amrit Sarovar not only seeks to boost water security in the country but millions of rural residents are also finding a livelihood opportunity in the construction of these ponds. Uttar Pradesh has a target of constructing 11,638 such ponds. Read on to know more.

A participatory national campaign called Napo Jal, Bachao Kal was launched in 2020 to map and measure wells across the villages of India and to enhance the collective understanding of groundwater as a shared, common resource. This year, the aim is to map at least 50,000 wells across the country.

A research report prepared by the Foundation of Agrarian Studies highlighted that while the share of central government expenditure was reduced, there was an increase in the share of state government expenditure. It also found that the government expenditure on agriculture as a share of gross value added in agriculture has declined considerably in the past decade. Details here.

A rural development initiative which maintains a 'labour bank' in four talukas of Karnataka's Haveri district has not only sorted the labour supply issues for the land-owning farmers in the area but also ensured livelihoods to landless labourers who now find it easier to access employment opportunities. Details here.

In his teenage years, Ram Baboo used to run 26 kms daily while he also did odd jobs to support his landless family in a village in Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh.

Gangakhedi village has recently won the Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar 2022 for the collective work done by its residents along with their panchayati raj institutions and community based organisations. Non-profit TRIF is training villagers, including rural women, in decentralised planning and execution of schemes.