Data compiled by the rural development ministry showed about 19.89 million people demanded work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in October, down 9.2% from a year before. These people represented 16.97 million households, down 7.6% year-on-year. The persistent fall indicates that the rural economy has been on “an upswing”, said a senior government official.
Between April and October, 182.45 million people belonging to 143.05 million households demanded work under the MGNREGS, down 14.9% and 15.3%, respectively, from a year earlier.
On a month-on-month basis, however, work demand from individuals and households went up in October by 5.1% and 5.9%, respectively, from the September levels.
These are preliminary numbers compiled by the ministry, which revises data once updated information flows in.
Erratic rains had kept up demand for MGNREGS work in the monsoon months of July-September 2023. But the situation has improved since November 2023, when the demand started to moderate.Amid plentiful monsoon rainfall this year, particularly since July, many non-skilled workers have shifted to farming, reducing MGNREGS work requirement, according to experts.
Rural recovery
In its monthly economic review for September, released this week, the finance ministry said rural demand continued to improve, as reflected in the increasing sales of fast-moving consumer goods, three-wheelers and tractors in volume terms, although it flagged a moderation in urban consumption.
The bi-monthly Rural Economic Conditions and Sentiments Survey released by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development showed that over the 12 months preceding the survey, 37.6% of rural households reported an increase in income and 80.1% reported an increase in consumption expenditure, “highlighting buoyant momentum in rural economic activity”, the finance ministry review said.
The International Monetary Fund has forecast India will remain the world’s fastest-growing major economy in this financial year as well as next, with 7% and 6.5% expansion, respectively, more than double the global averages.
