Demand under rural jobs scheme seen 27% lower in FY25

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NEW DELHI: The Centre expects work demand under the rural job guarantee scheme to fall sharply in this financial year owing to improved economic activities and a normal monsoon season, said senior government officials...

The rural development ministry has pegged the 2024-25 person-day generation target (called labour budget) at 2.21 billion under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), down 27% from the actual level in the previous fiscal...

The target is usually based on the projections made by panchayats which are assessed by the relevant district and state authorities before being submitted to the ministry for final deliberations..

The estimates don't include demand from West Bengal, traditionally a key beneficiary of the MGNREGS, as work under the scheme effectively remains suspended there since 2022-23 following allegations of misappropriation of funds, said one of the officials..

Last fiscal, the government had budgeted Rs 60,000 crore but ended up spending about Rs 89,400 crore, as work demand pipped initial projections partly due to the monsoon failure which reduced the typical migration of labourers to farming..

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