MGNREGA: The Guaranteed Refuge for Returning Migrants During COVID-19 Lockdown in India

Abstract

This research note is prepared to present an insight into the efficacy of the government's decision to open up the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) activities in non-containment zones during the second phase of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions imposed in April 2020. Though the intention was to provide an impetus to the rural economy by creating job opportunities for rural workers as well as for the returning seasonal migrants amid the COVID-19 crisis, 'whether the decision helped the returning migrants in securing a part of their lost income' is the question of interest. Our study finds that nearly 7.5 million seasonal migrant workers took refuge under MGNREGA during the lockdown, found work for around 23 days and secured about 28% of the income they used to earn daily in the pre-COVID-19 period. JEL Codes: H53, I38, J38