Governance is the Weight Around MGNREGS’s Neck: Technology May Offer a Way Out

• by Lokesh Singh and Rridhee Malhotra
• Jul 19, 2016
• 1 min
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MicroSave’s experience of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme across various states has highlighted the inadequate administrative capacity of state governments that limits the potential of the programme.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) is the world’s largest public employment generation scheme with a budget of US$ 6 billion per annum. Despite its enormous potential and the safety net it provides, questions about the programme remain. However, MicroSave’s experience, gained through engagement with the deployment of MGNREGS across various states, highlights that lack of focus on governance and/or the inadequate administrative capacity of state governments, limits potential of the programme. They can achieve this by automating a few key processes. Given disproportionate impact, states should not miss the opportunities provided by relative simple applications of technology to optimise the administration of MGNREGS.