*Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation Programs in India: A Focus

on MGNREGA**
**Introduction:**
Poverty is an unacceptable human condition that should not persist for a long
time. In order to develop a country, the first and foremost task is to eliminate
poverty and reduce social imbalances. Long term and sustainable economic
growth and right programmes and policies are keys to fighting poverty.
Reduction of poverty can help growth and enable the poor to participate in the
overall economic activities. Not only economic growth may improve the
condition poverty, all along development such as quality of life and
participation in decision making, need to be focused.
Unemployment brings poverty and hardships, it intensifies pressures on
women and children ad generally undermines the stability of the households.
It is an undeniable fact that unemployment is found in its naked form in rural
India. In India the main responsible factors for rural unemployment is lack of
capital or can be said improper utilization of capital, the poor use or misuse of
natural resources and inadequate employment opportunities.
The Indian economy is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. The
unorganized sector in this country is quite large. Most of mining,
manufacturing, construction, trade, transport and communications, social and
personal services fall in the unorganized sector. Organized sector
employment in 1999-2000 was 28.11 million that is about 7.08 percent of the
total employment of about 397 million. Interestingly, despite economic reforms
employment in the organized sector has been declining in percentage terms.
In strict sense, employment in the organized sector was 24.01 million in 1994
and further to 28.11 million in 1999-2000. This cannot be considered as a
satisfactory development, because kept declining since 1983. The organized
sector had accounted for 7.93 percent of the employment in 1983. Thereafter
its share in total employment steadily declined to 7.3 percent in 1994 further to
7.08 percent in 1999-2000.
One of the most significant initiatives in this regard is the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
**1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA):**
MGNREGA was launched in 2005 with the aim of providing a social safety net
to rural households by guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment per year
to at least one member of every eligible household. The program focuses on
providing manual labor-intensive work related to water conservation, land
development, and rural infrastructure.
**2. National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM):**
NRLM, launched in 2011, aims to reduce rural poverty by promoting self-
employment and wage labor opportunities for rural households. It focuses on
organizing rural poor households into self-help groups (SHGs) and providing
them with financial assistance, training, and capacity-building support.
**3. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY):**
Launched in 2015, PMKVY aims to provide skill development training to youth
and increase their employability. The program focuses on offering training
aligned with industry requirements and facilitating placement opportunities for
trained individuals.
**4. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY):**
DDU-GKY, launched in 2014, focuses on providing skill training and
placement to rural youth from poor families. The program aims to transform
rural poor youth into skilled workers, thus contributing to rural economic
development.
**5. National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM):**
Launched in 2013, DAY-NULM aims to reduce urban poverty by providing skill
training and facilitating access to credit for setting up self-employment
ventures. The program targets urban poor and vulnerable populations.
**6. Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY):**
DAY, launched in 2014, is a multi-dimensional poverty alleviation program that
focuses on uplifting the poorest households. It integrates various existing
programs and initiatives to provide support in areas such as livelihoods, skill
development, health, and education.
**7. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS):**
Prior to MGNREGA, NREGS was launched in 2005 to provide wage
employment to rural households. While it laid the foundation for MGNREGA,
the latter has a broader scope and offers more comprehensive benefits.
**Conclusion:**
The poverty alleviation and employment generation programs in India,
including MGNREGA, have played a vital role in addressing poverty and
unemployment challenges. MGNREGA, in particular, has emerged as a
game-changer by ensuring guaranteed employment opportunities for rural
households and contributing to rural development. While these initiatives have
made considerable progress, continued efforts, innovative strategies, and
proper implementation are crucial to achieving sustainable poverty reduction
and employment generation goals.