Consider the following statements regarding Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme : (i) It guarantees per year 125 days’ employment for families residing in Urban Areas. (ii) After registration, the eligible candidate has to be provided employment in 30 days.

Correct — option (4), Only (i) is correct.

Statement (i) is correct for 2023-24. The Rajasthan Economic Review 2023-24, published after the exam, says the scheme began with 100 working days, and that this "has been increased to 125 working days in the financial year 2023-24." That makes 125 days the entitlement in the year of the exam.

The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023 (Bill No. 26 of 2023), sent to the Assembly with the Governor's recommendation on 17 July 2023, sets the same floor: at least 125 days of guaranteed employment a year for every adult in urban areas.

Statement (ii) is wrong. The same Bill sets the limit at fifteen days, not thirty: the Program Officer is to provide work "within the period not exceeding fifteen days from the date of application", failing which an unemployment allowance is payable.

The Assembly passed the Bill on 21 July 2023, and its list of Government Bills gives it Act No. 30 of 2023. Section 1(3) leaves commencement to a date the State Government notifies, so this card does not treat the provision as in force on 1 October 2023.

Its fifteen days matches MGNREGS, which the Economic Review 2023-24 lists as guaranteeing work within 15 days of application.

With (i) right and (ii) wrong, the code is option (4).

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Neither (i) nor (ii) is correct. — This rejects statement (i), which is correct. The scheme's entitlement was raised to 125 working days in 2023-24, according to the Economic Review 2023-24.

  The figure that would have made (i) wrong is the earlier one: the Economic Review 2022-23 describes 100 days of employment every year for urban families.

• (2)
  Both (i) and (ii) are correct. — Statement (i) holds, but statement (ii) does not. The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023 sets a limit of fifteen days from the date of application, after which an unemployment allowance becomes payable.

  Thirty days appears nowhere in that provision. MGNREGS, as the Economic Review 2023-24 lists it, also guarantees work within 15 days of application.

• (3)
  Only (ii) is correct. — This reverses the answer. It rejects the 125-day entitlement in statement (i), which the Economic Review 2023-24 confirms for 2023-24.

  It accepts the 30-day limit in statement (ii), where the 2023 Bill gives fifteen days from the date of application.

The scheme is Rajasthan's urban counterpart to rural employment guarantee. The Economic Review 2023-24 describes it as financial support to persons aged 18 to 60 years of needy families in urban areas, through employment.

Registration is free. News reports at the launch said a Jan Aadhaar card or its registration slip was needed, and registration could be done at e-Mitra centres.

In rural areas the same 125-day level comes from two layers: MGNREGS gives 100 days, and the Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme adds 25 more, per the Economic Review 2023-24.

The 2023 Bill names the Local Self Government Department as the nodal department for urban employment.

Key facts

• The Economic Review 2023-24 says the urban scheme began with 100 working days and was raised to 125 working days in 2023-24.
• The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023 provides for every adult in urban areas a right to at least 125 days' employment in a financial year.
• Under that Bill, work must be provided within a period not exceeding fifteen days from the date of application, or an unemployment allowance is payable.
• The Economic Review 2023-24 describes the scheme's beneficiaries as persons aged 18 to 60 years of needy urban families.
• Under MGNREGS in Rajasthan, the Economic Review 2023-24 lists a guarantee of employment within 15 days of application.

Common traps

• Using the launch figure: 100 days was the scheme's starting entitlement; the Economic Review 2023-24 records the rise to 125 days in 2023-24.
• Doubling the time limit: the 2023 Bill and MGNREGS both use fifteen days from the date of application, not thirty.
• Crediting MGNREGS alone with 125 rural days: MGNREGS gives 100 days, and the State's Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme adds 25, per the Economic Review 2023-24.

UnlockIAS compared this question with questions from other RAS Prelims papers and found none similar enough to link.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Rajasthan Economic Review 2023-24, the Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme provides

  • (a)25 additional days of employment on completion of 100 days under MGNREGS
  • (b)125 days of employment to families in urban areas
  • (c)a monthly unemployment allowance
  • (d)free food packets to NFSA families
  Answer(1) — The Review says that on completing 100 days under MGNREGS, an additional 25 days of employment is provided. Option (2) is the urban employment guarantee scheme; option (3) is the Mukhya Mantri Yuva Sambal Yojana; option (4) is the Annapurna Food Packet Scheme.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under MGNREGS, as listed in the Rajasthan Economic Review 2023-24, the State Government pays an unemployment allowance if employment is not provided within how many days of application?

  • (a)7 days
  • (b)15 days
  • (c)30 days
  • (d)45 days
  Answer(2) — The Review lists a guarantee of employment within 15 days of application, with an unemployment allowance if that is not met. Options (1), (3) and (4) are not the period it gives.