With its several innovative features, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is considered to be a game changer for rural India. Assessing the first 15 years of its implementation, this article mainly presents collated key data on its performance in various Indian states and then seeks to explain why some indicators may look less successful in different states. Many factors contribute to variations in MGNREGS performance, but what effects were observed in economically backward states to protect impoverished rural Indians from sinking into distress scenarios? Based on the official figures, the article explores answers for the period of 2006–21.
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