India's jobs guarantee scheme: A global model under threat?

India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), launched in 2005, provides rural households with a legal right to 100 days of paid manual work annually. The program, vital for a country where a majority lives in rural areas and relies on farming, has been credited with reducing poverty and improving school attendance. The Narendra Modi government, initially critical, expanded the scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic. Recently, the government introduced a new law, G RAM G, that increases the employment guarantee to 125 days per household. The new law also changes the funding structure, shifting from a 90:10 federal-state split to a 60:40 split, potentially increasing the financial burden on states. The federal government retains control over the scheme's implementation and funding allocations.

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