Among the following who are eligible to benefit from the “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act”?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Adult members of any household
MGNREGA is universal within rural areas. It covers every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It sets no caste, community or BPL condition, so adult members of any (rural) household can benefit. Option (d) is the closest match.
- ✗ (a) SC/ST households are not the only beneficiaries. The Act has no caste or tribe criterion, and any rural household can register.
- ✗ (b) The Act does not limit eligibility to BPL households. The only conditions are rural residence, adult age (18 years completed) and willingness to do unskilled manual work.
- ✗ (c) Eligibility is not tied to belonging to a backward community. The entitlement belongs to the household, whatever its social category.
- ✓ (d) The mandate is at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. Adult members (persons who have completed 18 years) register the household with the Gram Panchayat. No other eligibility test applies.
Remember · MGNREGA is a demand-driven, universal entitlement: every rural household, adults (18+) volunteering for unskilled manual work, 100 days a year. No BPL, caste or community test.
Sources
- MGNREGA FAQs, Ministry of Rural Development (PIB document, Nov 2021) ↗ “The mandate of the MGNREGA is to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2011, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
