Rs 10k crore advance approved for MGNREGS

The finance ministry has provided Rs 10,000 crore as advance for the rural employment guarantee scheme from Contingency Fund of India, over and above the budgetary allocation of Rs 60,000 crore, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

In reply to a question on the MGNREGS funds being exhausted, Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said the Union government has released Rs 66,629 crore to states for wage, material and administrative components under the scheme till November 29.

Financial allocation of Rs 60,000 crore was made for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for the financial year 2023-24 at budget estimate stage.

“Further, an amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been provided by the Ministry of Finance as an advance from Contingency Fund of India. The (rural development) ministry seeks additional funds from the Ministry of Finance as and when required for meeting the demand for work on the ground,” the minister said in her reply.

Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh, in an interview to PTI earlier, had said an additional allocation of Rs 28,000 crore has been sanctioned for MGNREGS, which will be cleared in the ongoing Winter session of Parliament.

According to a written reply by the minister to another question, pending liability for MGNREGS wages to states is around Rs 2020.59 crore, and the liability for material components is Rs 4,939.58 crore.

The MGNREGS is a flagship scheme aimed at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.