Contribution of NREGA: to the Reduction of Poverty in Bihar, India?

Poverty reduction is the key priority among the global development challenges. Policy makers around the world are working on different welfare programmes in developing countries to make an impact, especially in the rural area since the magnitude is acute. The question is what is working and how much? India adopted the biggest social protection scheme in the world in 2006, NREGA; and India is the country with the largest number of people in poverty in the globe. Hence, what is the rationale of this huge scheme? Furthermore, Orissa and Bihar form the epicentre of poverty in India. This paper investigates what is the contribution of NREGA to the reduction of poverty in Bihar. The research examines the justification of the Scheme through the academic and political framework mainly based on official data.