Implementation of Mgnrega in Karnataka: Issues and Challenges

Abstract

India in general and Karnataka in particular have predominating number of workers in the unorganised sector. The workers in the unorganised sector are denied of basic social security measures such as health facility, income, employment etc. Against this backdrop, the MGNREGA is a refuge for employment source which is ploughed to make significant difference for providing livelihood security in rural areas especially rural poor. The MGNREGA was introduced in Karnataka since 2006 as an additional source of wage employment to eradicate poverty and unemployment. Rural areas of Karnataka have two-pronged issues i.e., poverty and unemployment, marred by low wages, seasonal agricultural employment and informal nature of work. However, it has been observed that the performance under MGNREGA in Karnataka is not inconsonance with the rate of poverty and unemployment in the State. The low performance in Karnataka in MGNREGA compared to many better performing States has been attributed to various programmatic and implementation issues. The paper explores on three objectives viz., (i) to analyse the status of rural poverty and unemployment in Karnataka (ii) to evaluate the performance of MGNREGA in Karnataka since inception and (iii) to examine the issues and challenges in the implementation of MGNREGA in Karnataka and way forward. Overall, the paper assesses the programme on the pre-requisites for an inclusive growth model warranting reductions in unemployment and poverty alleviation in rural areas of Karnataka.