Karnataka creates 35% of annual MNREGA jobs in three months

BENGALURU: In the first quarter of this financial year, Karnataka has generated more than a third of the jobs it was targeted to create under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee act (MNREGA) for 2020-21, with women taking them up in overwhelming numbers.
Karnataka has achieved the feat as the impact of reverse migration has started hurting private businesses.The Centre has set a target of generating 13 crore mandays this year. According to data by the rural development and panchayat raj (RDPR) department, 4.6 crore mandays have been generated from April 1 to July 4.
"Around July ever year, we create just about 6 lakh mandays every day. This time, it has touched 9 lakh. This is the impact of Covid-19," said RDPR principal secretary LK Atheeq.
North Karnataka districts - Koppal, Ballari, Yadgir, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Haveri, Gadag, Dharwad, Vijayapura and parts of Uttara Kannada - comprise of 50% of the total jobs generated in the state under MNREGA.
Interestingly, women have taken no less than 50% of the jobs across the state. The government attributed this primarily to the excess number of women participation in the scheme since its inception. "We have always seen a high participation of women in MNREGA works as they generally are the ones who are left behind while the men leave seeking work in cities," said another official.