RAS question
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act guarantees:
Correct answer: (C) 100 days of unskilled manual work per household per year.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act guarantees at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
Explanation
MGNREGA is not a general welfare label; its legal promise is specific. The official State Rural Employment Society page describes the Act's mandate as providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. That wording matters for RAS questions because the guarantee attaches to a rural household, not to each individual, and the work is unskilled manual wage employment, not a service such as education, healthcare, or housing. Therefore, option C captures all the operative parts of the guarantee: 100 days, per household, per year, and unskilled manual work.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Education is not the guarantee stated in MGNREGA; the Act's stated mandate is guaranteed wage employment for rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
- (B) Healthcare is outside the guarantee tested here, because the cited MGNREGA mandate concerns wage employment, not medical services.
- (D) Housing is not the guarantee under MGNREGA; the cited mandate is at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year for eligible rural households.
Concept
This tests social-sector and rural-development schemes in the Economy of Rajasthan syllabus, especially the exact entitlement created by a flagship employment guarantee law. It recurs in RAS because exam questions often turn on the precise beneficiary unit, duration, and nature of the guarantee.