Project

IN02 Climate-resilient and gender-inclusive MGNREGA based on Mission Water Conservation

At a Glance

Strategic Outcomes SO2 Creation of green jobs, SO5 Supply of ecosystem services ensured, SO6 Enhanced adaptation to climate change
Start Date Q1  Sept 1 2018
End Date q1 Dec 31 2019
Funding Source Core
Actual Budget (USD) 22,617
Budget Percentage 110%
Actual Expenditure (USD) 24,820
Status Complete
GGGI Share (USD) 22,617
Poverty and Gender Policy Markers gender
Name of Client (Lead/Prime implementer if GGGI is part of a consortium)
Participating Organization (Funding/donor)
Name of consortium members, if any Ministry of Rural Development
Thematic Area
  • Climate Resilient and Green Growth

Project context, objectives and description

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the world’s largest entitlement based rural wage guarantee program, aims at providing livelihood security by providing a maximum of 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household in 700,000 rural villages whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In 2017, MoRD, in collaboration with Ministry of Water Resourcesdeveloped a Mission Water Conservation guideline to place greater priority on water conservation works. It has identified 260 permissible works under MGNREGA, out of which 181 are related to water resource management under Mission Water Conservation including i.) Soil and Water Conservation ii.) Ground Water Recharge iii.) Irrigation and iv.) Drainage related works. 

Of the 5.5 million works undertaken, 56% were covered by Mission Water Conservation and focused on measures to improve water management.

However, MGNREGA presentstructures do not include the impact of Climate Change and resultant vulnerability faced by rural population enrolled in the program, neither do they measure outcomes and impacts of the various works. Apart from this, MGNREGA has not regionally mapped climate vulnerability to its shelves of works. Therefore, design elements which could improve climate resilience of MGNREGA structures are not incorporated in Perspective Plan. MGNREGA Division under Ministry of Rural DevelopmentGovernment of India, also realized these shortcomings and in consultation with GGGI decided to address them through mandate to devise appropriate strategies. 

The project objective is to strengthen and innovate MGNREGA / Mission Water Conservation policy and strategy to sustain transformative impacts to Indian rural livelihood. Climate and Outcome Monitoring are clearly missing components of MGNREGA. Once adopted at the national level, the Outcome Based Monitoring Framework will lead to substantive changes in the way Outcomes are incorporated at the planning stage and monitored, leading to further changes in project design. Similarly, advocacy for incorporating Climate Component into MGNREGA structures based on studies using geographic representative sampling, would be a direct contribution to climate resilience for most vulnerable rural population. The expected outcome of the project will be the development of outcome-based, genderresponsive, and climate-resilient monitoring and management frameworks

Type of services provided, and results achieved

Impact: 700,000 villages have improved water management, climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods. 

Outcome:  Strengthening MGNREGA / Mission Water Conservation accountability for its results and impacts with the adoption of outcomes based, gender responsive and climate resilient projects design and results reporting framework 

Project Outputs completed in 2019: 

i. Green Growth Policies:

Policy Assignments:  

  • A resultsbased management framework created for MGNREGA / Mission Water Conservation (i.e. water conservation, livelihoods and gender, climate resilience) 
  • Report on climate assessment and environmental gap analysis, recommendations in 2 states.  

Policies Adopted: 

  • MGNREGA outcomes results framework. 
  • Report on climate assessment and environmental gap analysisrecommendations in 2 states.

ii. Green Investments:N/A

iii. Capacity Building and Knowledge Products:  

  • 1 Capacity Building Activity: Reports presented to the management of the Ministry of Rural Development, manager of the MGNREGA program 
  • 2 Reports were published: i.) Integration of Climate resilience based on study in two states of Haryana and West Bengal was published by GGGI. ii.) Outcome based results framework.