IMPACT OF MGNREGA ON LIVING STANDARD AND MIGRATION IN CHHATTISGARH: A CASE STUDY OF BILASPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

In development studies, livelihood is the social and cultural means of an individual, family or other social groups over an income or bundles of resources or both that can be used or exchanged to satisfy needs. Migration refers to the transfer of population from one place to another in search of livelihood. Government of India has initiated several programs and policies to uplift the conditions of livelihood sources of its citizens. MGNREGA which was legislated in 2005 by the Parliament of India is also such kind of initiatives. The Act ensures 100 days of employment to rural households under the employment guarantee scheme to uplift livelihood condition in rural India. The major objective of the programme is to provide livelihood to the poor people and to stop the migration. In Chhattisgarh also MGNREGA tries to uplift livelihood opportunities. But, how far the Act has uplifted the livelihood opportunities of the rural people of Chhattisgarh? This research will try to highlight the success and failure the program in Chhattisgarh by assessing its impact on the people. It will perceive implementation and outcomes of the program and will also investigate how the Act has contributed towards improvement of livelihood conditions in Chhattisgarh.