MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT, 2005 — THE MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT, 2005

MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT, 2005 MASTER CIRCULAR -A GUIDE FOR PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION FY 2018 -2019 Department of Rural Development Ministry of Rural Development 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Act and Schedule 1.1. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was notified in 2005. As per an amendment to the Act the words 'Mahatma Gandhi' were prefixed to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The Act covers the entire country with the exception of districts that have hundred percent urban population. 1.2. States have notified their respective Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Schemes, as per the requirement of the Act. The Scheme formulated by the State Government, should provide for the minimum features specified in Schedule I. Persons employed under any State Scheme made under the Act shall be entitled to minimum facilities listed in Schedule II of the Act. These State Schemes have to be consistent with the amendments made, from time to time, to the Act and its Schedules . 1.3. States are required to amend/ modify their Mahatma Gandhi NREG Schemes as per amendments made in the Schedule I & II from time to time. 2. Entitlements under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA 2.1 Mahatma Gandhi NREGA provides a number of legal entitlements to rural workers through a series of provisions in the law. While the Act makes provision for a hundred days work per rural household in a year, it is the strong legal framework of rights and entitlements that come together to make the hundred days of work per year possible. It is therefore essential that the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is read, understood and implemented keeping the entitlements in view. 2.2 The Annual Master Circular for the FY 2018 -19, like the earlier versions, is organised around the major entitlements of the wor