Beneficiary-workers of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme engaged in the widening of a supply channel in Melamangalam village panchayat, Kalayarkoil block in Sivaganga district.
| Photo Credit: Moorthy G
A comparison of employment generated under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from April to September 2025 with the corresponding periods in the previous two financial years, 2024-25 and 2023-24, points to a declining trend, according to the biannual tracker released by Lib Tech, a consortium of academics and activists.
Lib Tech analysed data from 20 States where significant MGNREGA work is undertaken. Of these, 11 reported a decline.
In the first half of the ongoing financial year, 132.5 crore persondays were generated. This reflects an 11.7% drop from the 150 crore persondays recorded in FY 2024-25, and a sharper 25.6% fall from FY 2023-24, when 178 crore persondays were generated. A personday is defined as the total number of workdays performed by a registered worker under the scheme in a financial year.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of MGNREGA. Over 26 crore workers are currently registered under the programme.
“The sustained decrease highlights a worrying trend of diminishing demand and provisioning for employment under the scheme, which has historically served as a safety net for distressed rural households,” the Lib Tech report noted. Among the States that saw significant dips, Uttarakhand (54.3% fall) and Telangana (47.6%) recorded the steepest declines in persondays generated. Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, emerged as outliers, registering a 56.4% and 30.5% rise, respectively, in employment days over the last fiscal year.
Published – November 19, 2025 08:52 pm IST
