Economic Evaluation and Effectiveness of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Varanasi, India: A Case Study

Abstract

Varanasi is an oldest living city of world situated at the bank of holy river Ganga. As per 2011 census, 56.56% population of Varanasi districts lives in rural areas. The sustainable development of these villages is the prime factor towards the economic growth of the nation. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) is a landmark legislation of Government of India in this direction. The primary objective of the MNREGA is to strengthen the rural livelihood by creating durable assets and by providing employment of 100 days in a financial year to the villagers as an unskilled manual worker. The present paper is an attempt to evaluate the significance of MNREGA in improving rural sanitation status of Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh. Data collected from the web site of MNREGA. The trend analysis of database was performed on year to year basis with percentage increase or decrease in the completion of rural sanitation work in each block of Varanasi District. The study reveled that out of total 8390 sanitation works completed in Varanasi District during 2012-2017. The rate of works completion was found higher (66.41%) in financial year 2013-14. Two blocks of Varanasi district i.e. Harahua and Baragaon shown above 50% works completion. These sanitation works accelerated the sanitation coverage in rural areas through providing privacy and dignity particularly to women. Therefore it can be concluded that MNREGA can be an important step towards development of open defecation free rural India in addition to poverty alleviation.