Kerala Model in Employment Guarantee Scheme; 4.41 Crore Additional Workdays Created

Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the employment guarantee programme has seen sharp cutbacks in several states ruled by the BJP and the Congress, Kerala has emerged as a national example by generating work well beyond the limits fixed by the Centre. Over the past five and a half years, the state has created 4.41 crore additional workdays over and above the allocation approved by the Union government.

From the 2020–21 financial year onwards, the Centre sanctioned 51 crore workdays under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). During the same period, Kerala generated 53.5 crore workdays, surpassing the sanctioned allocation. Official figures show that wages amounting to 17,216.57 crore were paid to workers during this period. Alongside this, under the Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, the state generated 1.91 crore workdays over the last five and a half years, with municipalities spending 634.01 crore on implementation. Any move to dilute or dismantle the employment guarantee programme through amendments to the Act would have serious consequences, directly affecting 19.44 lakh families in Kerala.

Kerala’s expansion of employment has taken place despite sustained reductions in workday allocations and financial support by the Centre. The labour budget, which stood at 10 crore workdays in the 2020–21 financial year, was cut to 5 crore by 2025–26. At present, the Centre is sanctioning only about one-fourth of the funds required for the effective functioning of the scheme.

Even under these constraints, Kerala has managed to ensure a higher average number of workdays per household and enabled more families to complete the full 100 days of employment — a distinction unmatched by any other state. While the Centre restricts wage payments to 100 workdays per family, Kerala has gone further by allocating state funds to guarantee 200 workdays for all Scheduled Tribe families. The Kerala Tribal Plus scheme was introduced to provide an additional 100 workdays.

Employment Guarantee Protection Assemblies Today

Protests will be held across Kerala on Monday against systematic attempts by the Centre to weaken the employment guarantee scheme and erode rural livelihoods. Under the leadership of the NREG Workers’ Union, Employment Guarantee Protection Assemblies will be convened in panchayat wards across the state.

Earlier, the centrally sponsored scheme placed the entire financial responsibility on the Union government. However, a new legal framework introduced by the Modi government has shifted 40 per cent of the expenditure burden onto the states. Workers’ organisations said they would demand the withdrawal of this move, accusing the Centre of pushing ordinary people into economic insecurity.

Agricultural Workers’ Protest Tomorrow

Protests will intensify on Tuesday, with agricultural workers’ organisations staging demonstrations at all district headquarters in Kerala against the dilution of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the implementation of labour codes that undermine workers’ rights. The protests will be jointly organised by the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU) and the Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union (BKMU).

In a joint statement, the state general secretaries of both organisations said that the Centre’s decision to press ahead with the VBG Ramji Bill, despite widespread opposition, has disrupted the lives of the poorest sections of society. The organisations said strong and sustained protests would continue against the imposition of anti-people legislation on the country.