MGNREGA work in January lowest in FY22

Work generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) fell to its lowest in this financial year so far in January, suggesting improvement in the labour market conditions across India as economic activity picked up pace after the abatement of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Demand for work under the flagship rural jobs scheme also remained among the lowest in the fiscal, with only October and November witnessing demand lower than this. Demand for work under MGNREGA had shot up in December.

Rural development ministry's website showed that 16 million households benefited in January and 194 million person days of work was generated.