Budget 2024: MGNREGS unlikely to see higher allocation
two officials said. Allocations to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are likely to be similar to estimates in the interim budget, one of the two officials said. "These allocations can be increased later as per the requirement and demand for jobs in the rural regions," the person said on the condition of anonymity.
Initial estimates for MGNREGS stand at ₹60,000 crore and ₹86,000 crore for FY24 and FY25, respectively. However, spending overshot estimates in FY24, indicating high demand for rural jobs. While the revised FY24 estimate for MGNREGS stood at ₹86,000 crore, the actual spending touched ₹1.06 trillion, according to data from the rural development ministry.
Approximately 34.25 million individuals sought work under the scheme in June, a 22.5% decrease from a year earlier. Around 27.19 million sought work in May, 14.3% lower than the corresponding period last year. Guaranteed rural jobs are finding takers given stagnant consumption and weakness in FMCG growth in rural areas, according to economists.
"One of the reasons for consumption being lower in rural areas than urban is that when we are looking at consumption, we are looking at it more from the point of view of what people are consuming, and 80 crore people getting free foodgrain leading to some disparity. There is a weakness when we look especially at rural consumption and FMCG growth in rural areas. As far as the budget is concerned, we have a conflicting signal.
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