Ranchi, Feb. 9 -- Senior Congress leaders, civil society groups, economists and grassroots activists met to discuss measures to safeguard the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and uphold its original mandate of providing every rural household the legal right to 100 days of employment on demand. The meeting emphasised protecting the rights-based nature of the scheme, amid proposed policy changes.
Participants unanimously agreed that MGNREGA has played a transformative role in rural India by generating employment, creating durable assets such as ponds and roads, empowering women and reducing distress migration. In Jharkhand, women hold 52 per cent of job cards, a fact highlighted as evidence of the programme's ...