Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2024
Abstract
Job Guarantee policies make public sector jobs available for those who are able and willing to work. Job guarantee schemes must work in a democratic and inclusive manner to tackle both unemployment and precarious employment, with the goal of eliminating poverty-wages and poor labor standards. In India, a social welfare measure for job guarantee, MNREGA – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, was enacted in 2005 with the aim to guarantee the constitutional ‘right to work’. MNREGA scheme guarantees employment for 100 days to one individual in every rural household. In the context of climate-related events and disasters, this paper highlights the social, economic and ecological costs of climate change in India, and explores pathways to extend MNREGA projects to address the dual challenge of climate change and unemployment, by creating public sector jobs targeted to build climate change resilience in India. MNREGA adopts a decentralized approach to plan and implement job guarantee programs in India’s villages. This approach can be further strengthened by increasing the participation of local people in budgeting, planning and implementation for identifying the right job guarantee projects, with climate-friendly outcomes to generate local employment.
Is Part Of
Student Papers in Local and Global Regional Economies
Repository Citation
Mohan, S.
(2024). Extending MNREGA to Address the Social, Economic and Ecological Costs of Climate Change and Create Public Sector Climate Jobs. .
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/econ_student_papers_economies/32
