Economic Impact of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme on Rural Women Labourers of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

This study analyzed the economic impact of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP) on women labourers in rural Tamil Nadu. MGNREGP benefits the rural poor by providing equal wages to both men and women, guarantees 100 days of employment, and provides worksite facilities. This study was conducted in the newly established Tirupattur District of Tamil Nadu in 2018-2019. Tirupattur is one of the 20 blocks in the Vellore District. In Tamil Nadu, MGNREGP was implemented in three phases. In the Vellore district, MGNREGP was implemented under the third phase. A multistage random sampling technique was employed to collect the data from 99 sample households in Karupanur village panchayat. The findings revealed that all women labourers participated in the programme irrespective of their age groups, and the majority of them belonged to the economically weaker sections of society. The study showed that generally, the married women participated in the programme since their husbands could not manage the home with their little earnings. The majority of them, around 93.94 percent, were unaware of the worksite facilities like drinking water, rest shed, first aid box, and creche for their children. The sampled women labourers were unaware of compensation for injuries at the worksite and ex-gratia payment for death and disability. The majority of the scheduled caste women labourers spent their income on children's education. The Chi-square test revealed that women labourers found MGNREGP was very useful irrespective of their communities.