What is MGNREGA?
MGNREGA full meaning is basically an Act that is applied to rural India and is controlled by the government of India. This act applies to all the rural areas in the Indian states. MGNREGA is labor law and also a social security measure applied in India. This law was introduced to guarantee the 'right to work' in the rural areas of India. MGNREGA is believed to be the ‘world's largest social project for the poor or unprivileged people.
In this section we will talk about - MGNREGA, MGNREGA full form, MGNREGA full meaning, and also MGNREGA scheme full form.
MGNREGA Full Form
The full form or the long-form of MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Formerly it was known as NREGA. (NREGA full form is National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). MGNREGS full form is Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
In this context, our discussion will fundamentally whirl on these full forms and their related aspects. After knowing NREGA full form and MGNREGS full form we will further know what each of them means and how MGNREGA is helping the rural section in our country.
Give the Full Form of NREGA
Before MGNREGA, the act was named NREGA. The full form of NREGA is the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the full form of NREGS is National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
MGNREGA - The Most Ambitious and Largest Social Security Program
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Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (or, the NREGA which is being later renamed as the "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act" or MGNREGA), is predominantly an Indian Labour Law and also a yard to measure social security. This act aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’. The act was passed in the year 2005, in September under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
MGNREGA aims to build livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a single financial year to every household where the adult members volunteer to do any type of unskilled manual work.
This prosperous act was first proposed in the year 1991 by P.V. Narasimha Rao was finally accepted in the parliament and then commenced its implementation in 625 districts of India. NREGA focused on covering all the districts of India from 1 April 2008. This statute is saluted by the government as "the largest and most ambitious social security and public works program in the world". While, in the World Development Report in the year 2014, the World Bank was termed as a "stellar example of the rural development".
Why was MGNREGA Formed? – Its Main Purpose
The MGNREGA originated with an objective of "enhancing the livelihood security of the rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a single financial year, to every household where the adult members volunteer to do any unskilled manual work".
Well, another aim of MGNREGA is to build durable assets (like roads, canals, ponds, and wells). Thereby, it was issued that employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant's residence, and also minimum wages are also to be paid. Further, if work is not provided within 15 days of applying in this scheme, applicants are then entitled to an unemployment allowance. This says, if the government fails to provide any employment, then it has to provide certain unemployment allowances to those people who are not employed. Thus, we see that employment under MGNREGA is moreover a legal entitlement. MGNREGA is to be implemented priorly by the gram panchayats. It also gives a strict ban on the involvement of contractors.
What Do MGNREGA Further Aim to Do?
Apart from providing economic security and creating rural assets, NREGA initiates protection of the environment, empowering the rural women, reducing the migration to urban areas from the rural areas, also fostering social equity among self. MGNREGA says that the locals are supposed to legally provide at least 100 days of wage employment to the people living in their rural section in order to enhance the earning and the living standard of people.
The law further provides many safeguards to promote its own effective management and its implementation. The act explicitly mentions that the principles and the agencies for its implementation, the list of allowed works, the financing pattern, the method of monitoring and measure are the most important and it is the detailed measures to ensure the transparency and also the basis of accountability.
Pivotal Objectives of MGNREGA
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The main objectives are discussed as below:
MGNREGA provides paid rural employment of a minimum of 100 days who voluntarily will work and are unskilled labor.
MGNREGA constructs durable assets in rural areas like ponds, roads, wells, and also canals.
This act also reduces the migration rate from rural areas to urban areas.
MGNREGA creates rural infrastructure through its untapped rural labor system.
To provide autonomy to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Am I Eligible for MGNREGA?
Well, the criteria for eligibility of MGNREGA is kept very simple so that the maximum rural population can benefit from this MGNREGA scheme. (MGNREGA scheme full form is Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme). The eligibility criteria are as follows:
The person applying for MGNREGA should be an Indian citizen.
The person should have completed the minimum age of 18 years at the time of application.
The applicant must be forming a local household or he should apply to the local Gram Panchayat.
The applicant should be ready for any unskilled labor work. (E.g.: Building of roads, bridges, etc.)
MGNREGA Job Card – The Main Document
MGNREGA Job card is the main document that will identify a person who is registered with the local Gram Panchayat under this act, MGNREGA. This job card contains the details of the registered users like the registration number, the name of the applicant, and other information which is related to the local Gram Panchayat.
This job card is also used by the rural population to apply for the paid work with their Gram Panchayat in their respective villages. This ensures transparency in employment and also reduces its chances of fraud or duplicity. Apart from this, MGNREGA JC is also used for various other purposes like to complete the KYC at a bank and at the post offices while opening their bank accounts.
How Can I Get this Job Card?
MGNREGA job card as said is the main document that will contain the record of the workers' entitlements under this MGNREGA scheme. The process of applying for this job card initiates with the filling of an MGNREGA job card application form. This can be availed from the local Gram Panchayat. This is issued within 15 days of the process of applying for this job card.
How to Register and Get an MGNREGA Card?
The registration process involves the following steps:
The applicants are required to download the Performa for the Job Card under this scheme from its website of their respective state. The particular form is also available with the local gram panchayat as well.
This form is then to be filled and to be submitted to the assigned offices or any other relevant office in that region. Also, plain paper can be used to make the application.
Then required details on the paper are to be filled in such as:
Photograph of the applicant.
Name, Age, Gender of the applicant.
Village Name, where the applicant resides.
Gram Panchayat Name of that specific village.
Name of Block where he resides.
To specify whether the applicant is beneficiary of any SC, ST, LR, etc.
The signature or any thumb impression of the applicant.
The form so submitted by the applicant is next to be verified by the Gram Panchayat by checking the details such as – whether the applicant is an adult or not, does he have a local domicile or not, etc. Even single women living alone are eligible for this card. After verifying these details, the job cards are issued to the respective applicants.
Wage Payment Process in MGNREGA
Wage payment to the workers is made by the employer by transferring his own wages earned directly into the bank or to the post office account of this applicant. In case the applicant does not have any bank account, he or she can open an account by using the job card known as the KYC document. While in rare cases, the payment can also be made in cash only with prior approval from the concerned authorities for this purpose.
FAQs on MGNREGA Full Form
1. What is Unskilled Manual Work?
Ans. An unskilled worker is such an employee who does not use his own reasoning power or his intellectual abilities in their line of work or in their own profession of work. These workers are typically involved in manual labor like being a packager, an assembler, or as an apprentice, or a farmworker.
Unskilled labor is the workforce with limited skills or any minimal economic value for the work they performed. Generally, unskilled laborers are used in the daily production tasks which never depends on technical abilities or in any mind skills.
2. What are Unemployment Allowances?
Ans. Unemployment Allowance is to provide the workers, those who are losing their jobs under no personal fault of their own (on account of the closure of workplace or factories, retrenchment, or for permanent invalidity of minimum 40% arising out of non-employment injury). These unemployment allowances are actually 50% of an insured worker's daily average earnings.
3. Define Gram Panchayats.
Ans. A Gram Panchayat is a local self-government organization in our country, India. This is the Panchayati Raj system, at the village or in small-town level, and is at the base level of the Panchayati Raj. A Gram Panchayat is being headed by a Sarpanch, who is the elected head of that village panchayat.
