Reacting to the latest statistics of the flagship rural employment guarantee scheme showing that demand for work is more than the pre-pandemic level and on a steady rise, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said it is a “living monument” to the Narendra Modi government’s many failures.
As per the statistics, a total of 305.2 person days (one person working a normal shift) were generated in financial year 2023-24, which is 12 crore more person days than in 2022-23 and 40 crore more than the first pandemic year in 2019-20. In many ways, 2022-23 is seen as the first year after the country came out of the pandemic shock and it took time for the economy to pick up.
In a detailed statement here, Mr. Ramesh pointed out that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was designed by the Congress government as a safety net for the rural poor. “It is demand-driven which means that employment is generated only when there is no alternative paying better wages,” Mr. Ramesh said.
