Examining the Efficiency of MGNREGS in the North Eastern States of India Using the Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) operational in India since 2005-06 with the dual objective of providing employment to the rural households and creation of sustainable rural assets, is extremely important for the backward and less developed North Eastern region of India. The extent of the scheme among the 8 constituent states of the region is not uniform and though in aggregate the region has a greater share in the country’s total. The present paper attempts to examine the implementation efficiency of the scheme in terms of multi-output and multi-input indicators using the DEA approach. The efficiency scores of the DMUs (districts) are pooled to obtain the state average which indicates wide variation. For the secondary stage of analysis OLS regression has been used for explaining the efficiency scores. Literacy rate, used as a proxy for the empowerment of the people is found to be highly significant positive contributor to efficiency. Pro -active governance is visible in the states with better implementation efficiency.