TN has spent most MGNREGA funds among all states and UTs: govt data

Tamil Nadu has spent ₹5,413.17 crore under MGNREGS, the maximum amount among all states and Union Territories, as per the data released in the Lok Sabha on March 30. In all, 4,67,112 works have been completed under MGNREGS in the state till March 24 this fiscal year.

Madhya Pradesh comes next after Tamil Nadu, with ₹2,806 crore being spent for 6,61,128 works.

Across the country, a total of ₹28,149.93 crore has been spent by various states, and a total of 82.85 lakh works have been completed. A majority of the states have spent the funds on providing connectivity among villages under the scheme.

As per Schedule 1 of the Act, MGNREGA works have been undertaken to provide all weather rural road connectivity to villages as well as to connect with verified rural production centres.

Also read: Here are 5 things that change from April 1

“Construction of pucca road network and construction of pucca internal roads or streets, including side drains and culverts within a village are also permissible,” said a Tamil Nadu Rural Development Department official.

The Schedule also permits the construction of crematoriums in villages as well as at the block level. Under MGNREGS, 44 crematoriums have been constructed in Tamil Nadu alone.

“Being one of the most urbanised states in the country, most of the crematoriums are being constructed by urban local bodies and the construction of crematorium is not the main work under the scheme in the state,” said the official.

Telangana and Madhya Pradesh have constructed 1,880 and 1,169 crematoriums respectively, with MGNREGS funds.

Rural road works

Bihar leads all the states in spending MGNREGS funds for constructing roads in rural areas. The state completed 40,035 works and another 91,497 works are under progress.

Similarly, in Uttar Pradesh, 35,097 rural road works have been completed and another 1.89 lakh works are under progress.

During the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, MGNREGS funds were used to generate employment in the rural areas.

“We provided jobs during most of the lockdown period and this helped many rural families to stay above the poverty line. There was a delay in disbursing wages, and ₹96.4 crore is still pending to be disbursed as on March 11,” said the Tamil Nadu official.

Also read: Modi regime got more FDI in 8 years than UPA in 10 years: FM

Among States, West Bengal has the maximum of ₹1,522.9 crore pending to be disbursed as wages to MGNREGS workers. Kerala comes second with ₹487.5 crore and Rajasthan third with ₹289.4 crore pending.

In the 2022-23 Union budget, MGNREGS got an allocation of ₹73,000 crore. This marked a decrease of 25.5 per cent over the revised estimate of 2021-22.