AGARTALA, December 16 (TIWN): The MGNREGA is likely to be restricted to tribal, backward districts of the country. The MGNREGA guaranteeing up to 100 days of unskilled work in a year to every rural household is not required in areas having higher growth. "MGNREGA is not required in areas where per capita income is high, higher growth rate and higher agricultural growth rate it is required only in tribal sector and (areas of) poor," said Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari recently about the government's view on MGNREGA launched by UPA.

Government has allocated around Rs 33,000 crore for the scheme in 2014-15.

Launched in 2005, MGNREGA has been an important source of income for millions of rural households on an average 25 percent of the rural households seek employment under the Act, annually the Rural Development Minister mentioned recently.

MGNREGA has contributed to increased rural wages across the country, empowerment of marginalised sections and improved natural resource management.

The central government has been focusing on implementing the scheme in 2,500 backward blocks under its Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise. These blocks have been identified based on percentage of population below poverty line (BPL), as per the Planning commission estimates of 2013, and a backwardness index prepared by the Planning Commission using the 2011 Census data that uses five parameters – percentage of households primarily dependent on agriculture, female literacy rate, households without access to electricity, households without access to drinking water and sanitation within the premises and households without access to banking facilities.

Going by these parameters, in Tripura, one of the best performing States in the MGNREGA currently, only 15 of 45 blocks can be identified as backward. Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise in 15 Blocks are going on Involving the community in planning process.

It is to be mentioned here that on November 26 last  CPI-M organized a protest in front of the Parliament house in New Delhi. Tripura Chief Minister and CPI-M politburo member Manik Sarkar leaded the ptotest. Addressing in the protest Manik Sarkar said that curtailing MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and its impact on the rural population is a "burning issue in the country now".   

He said although MGNREGA was implemented most successfully in Tripura, with 87 days of work per household in the 2013-14 fiscal against the national average of 45 days, the state's allocation had been sharply reduced for the current fiscal (2014-15).

"The unemployed and uneducated rural people, including tribals, minorities, scheduled caste, other backward communities and women, would be affected due to the reduction of funds under MGNREGA," Sarkar said.