India allocates Rs 60,000 crore for MGNREGA in Interim Budget 2019

NEW DELHI: The government of India on Friday proposed to allocate Rs 60,000 crore for rural employment scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for the year 2019-20.nnThe amount allocated for 2019-20 is 11 per cent higher compared to Rs 55,000 crore allocated for the year 2018-19.nnThe revised estimate of the scheme for the year 2018-19 was Rs 61,084.09 crore, according to official data.nnPresenting the interim Union Budget in Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday announced an allocation of Rs 60,000 crores for MGNREGA for budget estimates 2019-20.nnAdditional allocations will be made, if required, he said.nnThe government has ensured that everybody gets food and nobody sleeps with an empty stomach. “We have worked to bridge urban-rural divide in the country. We are allocating Rs 60,000 crore for MGNREGA,” Goyal said.nnThe rural job guarantee scheme, introduced in 2005, now covers all the rural districts of the country. The objectives of the scheme involves providing up to 100 days of unskilled manual work in a financial year to every household in rural areas as per demand resulting in creation of productive assets, the government said in the budget document.nnSource: Press Trust of India