Attaining Sustainable Rural Infrastructure through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India

Main Article Content

Polly Datta

Abstract

The enactment of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005, with its rights-based approach through a time-bound employment guarantee and legal framework, has marked a paradigm shift not only from other wage-employment programmes hitherto pursued in India, but also from neo-liberal reforms undertaken since 1991. The Act came into force on 2 February 2006 and was implemented in a phased manner. In Phase I it was introduced in 200 of the most backward districts of the country; Phase II added another 130 districts in 2007-08; and in Phase III the scheme was further extended to the remaining 274 rural districts of India from 1 April 2008.

Article Details

How to Cite
Datta, P. (1). Attaining Sustainable Rural Infrastructure through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India. Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, (4), 143-152. https://doi.org/10.5130/cjlg.v0i4.1353
Section
Policy and Practice
Author Biography

Polly Datta, Independent Researcher

Presently Dr. Polly Datta is an independent researcher. Her current research focuses on exploring the guidelines depicting how the convergence model envisaged in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) (2005) India can work in particular to alleviate and ameliorate urban poverty. She pursued her postdoctoral research on financial empowerment of local governments of India in Centre for the Studies in Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Growth and Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Her Ph.D work (2004) on political economy of federal fiscal relations in India was completed from South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany.