MGNREGA
The Law Being Replaced
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was enacted on 23 August 2005 and came into force in February 2006 under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA); "Mahatma Gandhi" was added as a prefix in 2009. It represented the world's largest employment guarantee programme, providing a statutory right — enforceable in law — to at least 100 days of unskilled wage work per financial year to any rural household whose adult members demanded it. The Act drew its constitutional legitimacy from Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (right to work) and Article 21 (right to life with dignity). It was demand-driven rather than supply-driven: the government was obligated to provide work within 15 days of a demand being made, failing which an unemployment allowance became payable.
- Enacted under Entry 23 (social security and insurance) of the Concurrent List (Seventh Schedule).
- Unemployment allowance liability rested on state governments, not the Centre.
- Funding was almost entirely borne by the Centre for wages and partially shared for materials.
- Employed over 100 million unique workers at peak; persondays crossed 3.4 billion in FY 2020-21 (COVID year).
- LibTech India's data for FY 2025-26 recorded steep deterioration: 6.7 million fewer workers gaining employment, persondays down by 577.1 million, and households completing 100 days of work down 40.5%.
● Tracked since February 01, 2026 · last seen July 01, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes