The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005 now known as Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was launched on 2nd February 2006. It envisages securing the livelihood of people in rural areas.
(A) Guarantees at least 100 days of wage employment per financial year to every rural household.
(B) Employment to be given within 15 days of the application for work.
(C) Employment within a 5 km radius, else extra wages to be paid.
(D) At least 50% of beneficiaries have to be women.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A), (B) and (C) only
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 gives rural households a legal right to work. It came into force in 200 districts on 2 February 2006 and was renamed after Mahatma Gandhi in 2009.
(A) Guarantees at least 100 days of wage employment per financial year to every rural household. Correct. Every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work is guaranteed at least 100 days of work in a financial year.
(B) Employment to be given within 15 days of the application for work. Correct. Work must be given within 15 days of the application; if it is not, the state must pay an unemployment allowance.
(C) Employment within a 5 km radius, else extra wages to be paid. Correct. Work is to be given within 5 km of the worker’s village; if it is farther, 10% extra wages are paid for travel and living costs.
(D) At least 50% of beneficiaries have to be women. Incorrect. The Act requires that at least one-third of the beneficiaries be women, not one-half.