An empirical study of MNREGA in central districts of Gujarat state

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is the biggest poverty alleviation programme, with an objective of generating employment and productive assets in rural areas. In order to know employment generation and developmental works completed under the MNREGA programme in central districts of Gujarat in 2015-16, this study has been attempted. It also came to know, against the provision for women in MNREGA, it succeeded to provide employment to the women (43.21 per cent) more than the guideline of MNREGA. The study also revealed that during 2015-16 in Ahmedabad, Anand, Botad, Chota Udaipur, Dahod, Kheda, Mahisagar, Panchmahal and Vadodara districts, total 108, 447, 221, 537, 13082, 4433, 685, 915 and 318 number of works had been completed respectively. Out of all these completed works the major focus was given to works on Individuals Land (Category IV) in Ahmedabad (63.89 per cent), in Kheda (39.86 per cent), in Panchmahal (49.84 per cent) and in Vadodara (45.60 per cent) followed by Rural Sanitation in Botad (73.76 per cent) and in Dahod (32.73 per cent). The major works related to Rural Drinking Water (39.71 per cent) in Mahisagar, Renovation of traditional water body (29.98 per cent) in Anand and Rural connectivity (28.31 per cent) in Chota Udaipur had been completed.