Sonia Gandhi’s Accusation Of Systematically Undermining MGNREGA Justified

By Dr. Gyan Pathak

When Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi was accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha on March 18, 2025 of systematically undermining MGNREGA scheme, she was speaking an irrefutable truth. PM Modi, in fact, does not strengthen this only employment guarantee scheme in India, but has been weakening it and merely keeping it alive to show it as living monument of “Congress’s failure”.

Such a deplorable mindset of PM Modi can be seen in his own statement made in the Parliament on February 27, 2015, while he was replying to the discussion on motion of thanks to the President’s address. He had said, “I keep hearing talk that the government is planning to scrap MNREGA, or already has. I know that you doubt my experience in many areas but I am sure you will admit that I have political acumen. My political acumen tells me that MNREGA should not be shut down. I will not make such a mistake because MNREGA is a living monument of your failures,” adding that “60 years after independence you still have to send people to dig holes in the ground.”

Congress at that time heard our prime minister quietly till the end after which the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge accused Modi of taking such a swipe at the programme because it was for the poor.

Now the scheme, as PM Modi had indicated in 2015, has been just kept alive, and never strengthened. Sonia Gandhi’s accusation of systematically undermining the scheme is thus irrefutable.

MGNREGA scheme was the flagship poverty alleviation programme introduced ty the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by the late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on February 2, 2006, and the Act was passed in September 2005. MGNREGA budget allocation in 2006-07 was Rs11,300 crore which rose to Rs 33,000 crore in 2013-14. At current prices, the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006-07 was Rs37.9 lakh crore, and in 2013-14 it was Rs113.55 lakh crore. Therefore, percentage of allocation in the MGNREGA Scheme was around 0.29 for both the year.

The MGNREGA Scheme was allocated Rs 86,000 crore for 2024-25, which remains stagnant in at Rs 86,000 crore in 2025-26. The GDP for the year 2025-26 has been estimated on current price at Rs3,56,97,923 as against revised estimate for the year 2024-25 at Rs3,24,11,406 crore. Thus, MGNREGA Scheme allocation for 2024-25 as percentage of GDP was 0.26, and for 2025-26 it is 0.24.

One can thus see, how correct Sonia Gandhi was when she raised the issue in zero hour in the Rajya Sabha and said that the budget allocation remains stagnant at Rs86,000 crore – a 10 year low as percentage of GDP. The said that the programme that was a landmark legislation of the Manmohan Singh government has been a “crucial safety net for millions of rural poor” adding “it is deeply concerning that the present BJP government has systematically undermined the scheme.

When adjusted for inflation, the Union Budget allocation has effectively declined by Rs4000 crore for the year 2025-26, Sonia Gandhi pointed out adding “Moreover, estimates suggest that nearly 20 per cent of the allocated funds will be used to clear pending dues for previous years.

All these means that the MGNREGA Scheme will actually be getting very low amount in the financial year 2025-26, which may sabotage the interests of the MGNREGA workers, who demand job only when they don’t get job anywhere in the market, since MGNREGA pays very little to them invariable below the minimum wages for unskilled workers. They are legally entitled for only 100 days, but they the average workday per household under the scheme had come down to just 44.62 days in 2024-25. It is another matter that the Centre had issued a directive in January 2014, just before Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of the country, to provide 150 days of wage employment for STs in Forest Areas.

Only a few months ago in October 2024, Modi government had defended itself by telling the country a narrative through jugglery of data, that it performed better than Congress government. The government press release read, “It may be noted that the total person days generated between FY 2006-07 to FY 2013-14 were 1660 crore, whereas, the total person days between FY 2014-15 to FY 2024-25 has been 2923 crore.” Also “During the FY 2013-14, the Budget allocation was Rs.33,000 crore only at BE stage which is Rs 86,000 crore during the current FY 2024-25, which is the highest since inception. Further, it is stated that in FY 2024-25 the minimum average notified wage rate has increased by 7%.” Government’s press release also said that in FY 2013-14, the minimum average notified wage rate for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA was Rs155, while in FY 2024-25, the minimum average notified wage rate is Rs279.

Sonia Gandhi has rightly pointed out the evils that has been concealed in the boasting of the Modi government. As the things stand for MGNREGA worker in 2024-25, they got on an average 44.62 days of work with average notified rate of Rs279 per day. Can a worker’s household survive on this income for 365 days? The answer is in negative. For a household to survive at Rs 12,448 per year that is at Rs 1,037 per month is just an unimaginable suffering.

It was precisely for this reason the demand made by Sonia Gandhi to increase the minimum wage for MGNREGA workers to Rs400 per day and increasing the number for guaranteed work days to 150 days is justified.

PM Narendra Modi must not only accept this demand, but also consider the demand of the MGNREGA Scheme workers demand to raise the guaranteed work days to 200, and assure that MGNREGA workers get that much work that has been declined to an average of only 44.62 days. The other issues plaguing the MGNREGA workers are that they are not getting timely payments. In West Bengal, the scheme is not in operation since December 2022 due to Centre has stopped sending its share to the state on allegation of corruption, in which ultimate sufferers are workers not the political adversary of BJP and PM Narendra Modi. Centre should also resolve the issues with other states too.

PM Modi must rectify his attitude that he would merely keep the MGNREGA alive, rather he must strengthen it for the benefit of rural workers who are not getting works in the job market. The scheme and its workers must not suffer due to his petty politics only because it was started by the Congress. (IPA Service)