MGNREGA bank accounts helping financial inclusion: PM

The government is banking on the bank accounts opened for the beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to transfer cash to beneficiaries under the various social sector schemes.

Addressing the anniversary function of MGNREGA in New Delhi today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the rural employment scheme has helped accelerate the pace of financial inclusion in rural areas.

There are already 40 million bank accounts under the MGNREGA across the country and many more are being opened at post offices for the convenience of the beneficiaries, the prime minister said.

"MNREGA has brought momentum in the financial inclusion of our rural population. Besides direct financial benefit, the scheme has given many indirect benefits to the people and brought down the migration graph," he said

MGNERGA, one of the biggest poverty alleviation schemes in the world, aims at enhancing the livelihood security of unskilled manual labourers in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year.

He said the use of information technology in MNREGA at various levels has helped improve governance and increase accountability and transparency in government work.