India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is among the largest and most influential social programmes in the world, guaranteeing 100 days of paid work to 8% of the world’s population. The programme was designed as a vital lifeline to India’s poor, tasked with smoothing income in agricultural off seasons and providing “employment of last resort” in the face of unforeseen economic hardship.

At the same time, the NREGS has faced both practical challenges and more fundamental critiques. En savoir plus