Effectiveness of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP) to Check Migration among the Rural Households

Kundu, AMIT (2014): Effectiveness of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP) to Check Migration among the Rural Households. Published in: Journal of Rural Development , Vol. 34, No. April-June 2015 (30 June 2015): pp. 123-133.

Abstract

An important objective of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP) is to curb rural out-migration. This paper on the basis of a micro-level field investigation wants to investigate the effectiveness of this programme to reduce the intensity of migration of the rural poor households to urban areas. The survey area is a mono-cropping area but job in the private non-farm employment in the locality is available moderately. Besides that, the geographical distance between the surveyed villages and the nearby urban or semi-urban areas is small which indicates very low cost of migration of the daily migrant. Incidentally, all the migrants in our sample villages are daily migrants. The local farm, average private non-farm wage and the average wage rate in the nearby urban informal sector is more than MGNREGP piece-rate. Hence seeking employment here through MGNREGP is not exogenous but endogenous in nature. In this background, it is proved that ‘motivation’ is a factor which influences the local MGNREGP job card holders to secure more person-days of employment through MGNREGP and the households who could secure more person-days of employment through MGNREGP are less prone to migrate from their native village.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: MGNREGP, Migration, Probit Model, Endogenity
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C33 - Panel Data Models ; Spatio-temporal Models; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C36 - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J38 - Public Policy; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R2 - Household Analysis > R23 - Regional Migration ; Regional Labor Markets ; Population ; Neighborhood Characteristics

References

1. Kumar. R. and R. Prasanna (2010). ‘Role of NREGA in Providing Additional Employment for Tribal and Curtailing Migration’ in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: Design, Process and Impact’, New Delhi, Ministry of Rural Development.

2. Verma .S (2012) ‘Labour Markets Dynamics in Post-MGNREGS Rural India’ Unpublished note shared with the Ministry of Rural Development.