There is no clarity on what could be the reason behind this rising trend of entry level workforce among MGNREGA workers but experts say this could be a reflection of rural distress and lack of employment opportunities.
The steady decline in the proportion of young workers, those between 18 and 30, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has halted and has begun to rise in the wake of demonetisation and the rollout of GST.
There is no clarity on what could be the reason behind this rising trend of entry level workforce among MGNREGA workers but experts say this could be a reflection of rural distress and lack of employment opportunities.
An analysis of age-wise data of persons employed in MGNREGA indicates that the share of workforce in the 18-30 age bracket began moving up after financial year 2017-18. The total number of young workers (18-30 years) employed under the job guarantee scheme was more than 1 crore in 2013-14 which came down to 58.69 lakh in 2017-18. However, their number started rising again and reached 70.71 lakh in 2018-19.
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