Impact of employment generation programmes on livelihood security of the rural poor in Manipur

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to examine the effect of employment generation programmes implemented by the Government of India to secure livelihood of the rural poor. Among the various employment generation programmes, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) were opted for this study. Data were collected from 185 respondents from Imphal East and Churachandpur districts. A Livelihood Security Index (LSI) comprising of seven components was used to assess the impact. The findings revealed that statistically significant changes in livelihood security of the beneficiaries before and after MGNREGA and before and after SGSY were observed. Substantial variation between the four groups in relations of livelihood security was as well cited along with maximum mean score of 49.97 was also found by the beneficiaries of both the programmes. Thus, a positive impact on livelihood security was observed on the beneficiaries of employment generation programmes in comparison to non-beneficiaries.