Constraints in Participation of Women in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) : A Literature Review

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was envisaged as a gender sensitive legislation to provide a fair opportunity to women from rural India to earn without any discrimination of gender. In terms of national averages the scheme under the act has achieved its target but there exist a wide variation among the state in the numbers for participation of women workers. This study is an attempt to identify the barriers that have restricted the participation of women. The paper identifies that lack of child care, nature of work, social norms, illegal presence of contractors, delay in payment and lack of involvement of women in the planning stage are the constraints that have limited the participation of women in the Scheme. The involvement of local initiatives likes Kudumbashree and Self Help Groups (SHGs), use of Information Communication Technology (ICT), involvement of NGOs have enabled some states to have a higher participation of women workers than others. The paper concludes with suggestions on policy and implementation measures that could be taken to enhance participation of women in the Scheme and thus, enable the benefits of the Scheme to reach many more rural women