India enacted the MGNREGS in 2005 as a proxy for genuine unemployment insurance. The concept of job guarantees dates back to the pre-colonial era through famine works. Maharashtra's Employment Guarantee Scheme paved the way for its national adoption.
Indian rulers long used public works as famine relief, preserving dignity while sustaining livelihoods, well before modern policy terms like rights or social protection emerged. A notable early instance was the construction of the Bara Imambara in Lucknow during the 1780s famine under Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula, employing thousands and even involving nightly dismantling to extend work. Colonial India saw similar efforts in canals and roads, often with mixed motives.
In independent India, this approach was codified first in Maharashtra. Vitthal Sakharam Page, a Gandhian freedom fighter and chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1960 to 1978, was its key architect. In 1949, he advocated for a legal right to employment in a Marathi article. Amid mid-1960s famine conditions in western Maharashtra, Page launched a pilot in Tasgaon taluka of Sangli district. In a pivotal letter to Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik, he asked: "If Rs 700 can support 15 people for 20 days, how many could Rs 100 crore support?"
The Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) rolled out statewide in July 1969, offering wages below market rates—Rs 3 per day for men, lower for women—to target the truly needy. Its motto: magela tyala kama (whoever asks, shall get work). It curbed distress migration, built local assets like wells and tanks, and proved feasible even in a drought-prone economy. Facing 1970s droughts, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi denied central aid citing fiscal strains post-Bangladesh war, Page proposed a dedicated profession tax on urban salaried workers to fund it. By 1978, Maharashtra enacted the Employment Guarantee Act, a pioneering law recognizing employment as a state obligation.
Extensive studies highlighted EGS's role in reducing landlord dependence and alleviating poverty, though critics like Ronald Herrings and Rex Edwards in 1983 argued it benefited dominant rural classes more than land reforms would. Most scholars, including V M Dandekar, affirmed its net positives. The 2005 MGNREGS nationalized this Maharashtra model, embodying Article 41's directive on the right to work. Today, debates rage over the proposed Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act potentially replacing it, underscoring the enduring relevance of these historical roots.
