An Economic Evaluation of Mgnrega Programme in Chikaballapur District of Karnataka: A Comparative Study

India is one of the fastest developing economies in the world, ranking 7th largest country in the world, sharing 2.4 per cent of the worlds geographical area and 2nd largest country after China in population, which stands at 1.15 billion, growing at the rate of 2.2 per cent per annum, that accounts for 16.7 per cent of the worlds population, among which 74 per cent of households belong to rural India and account for 76 per cent of total population living in 5.5 lakh villages (62nd NSSO survey report 2005-06). The MGNREGA aims at enhancing the livelihood security of the people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household whose members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Providing employment to the rural poor enhances their livelihood security by increasing their earnings as well as the expenditure and thereby improves their standard of living. It also inculcates the habit of thrift in them. This helps the BPL families to cross the poverty line. Keeping the ambitious motive of the worlds largest poverty alleviation programme in mind, a modest attempt is made in this study to assess the impact of MGNREGS on livelihood security of its participants and to what extent the scheme has been successful in achieving its objectives, in Chickaballapur district of Karnataka India.