Performance of Mgnrega in Madurai District with Special reference to Tamilnadu

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has given rise to the largestever employment in human history. The share of SC/ST families in the work provided under MGNREGA is over 47 per cent and around 49 per cent of workers are women. They not only provide employment opportunities during lean agricultural seasons but also in times of floods, droughts and other natural calamities. They create rural infrastructure, which support further economic activity. Apart from providing livelihood to millions of
household, these programmes have become a significant vehicle for strengthening grassroots level democratic
processes. Employment generation programmes in India continue to be one of the major interventions aimed
at alleviating rural poverty. Assured wage rate and employment opportunities are the important determinants of
rural poverty in India. By improving the purchasing power of the rural people living below poverty line, both assured wage rate and improved employment opportunities help them to cross the poverty barriers in a sustained manner. The present study is undertaken to highlight of the MGNREGA implemented to uplift the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes their impact for socio-economic development, in the study area of Madurai district in the state of Ta mil Nadu.