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India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as it is - Interpreting the Official Report

Author

Listed:
  • Raghbendra Jha
  • Raghav Gaiha

Abstract

Using official data this paper evaluates India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) according to four criteria a) average number of days of employment per household, b) percentage of households completing 100 days of employment under NREGS, c) percentage of expenditure against total available funds, and d) percentage of work completed. Performance across all four criteria has been disappointing and, except for percentage of households completing 100 days of employment, has actually deteriorated over time. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the NREGS has not performed well. The paper makes a number of policy suggestions to improve the performance of the NREGS.

Suggested Citation

  • Raghbendra Jha & Raghav Gaiha, 2012. "India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as it is - Interpreting the Official Report," ASARC Working Papers 2012-12, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:pas:asarcc:2012-12
    as

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    File URL: https://crawford.anu.edu.au/acde/asarc/pdf/papers/2012/WP2012_12.pdf?a
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jha, Raghbendra & Bhattacharyya, Sambit & Gaiha, Raghav & Shankar, Shylashri, 2009. ""Capture" of anti-poverty programs: An analysis of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Program in India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 456-464, September.
    2. Jha, Raghbendra & Bhattacharyya, Sambit & Gaiha, Raghav, 2011. "Social safety nets and nutrient deprivation: An analysis of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and the Public Distribution System in India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 189-201, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Program; employment; public expenditure; work completed;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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