New Delhi, March 25 -- With less than a week left for fiscal 2026 to end, the number of people who sought work under the government's flagship rural job guarantee scheme in the year is set to mark the lowest level in at least six years, data from the ministry of rural development shows.

In the 11 months of April 2025 to February 2026, enrolments under the erstwhile Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme was 227.11 million. In the last month of the fiscal year, until 23 March, participation stood at 15.6 million persons.

That totals 242.71 million persons who sought work under the programme in fiscal 2026 until 23 March. Even if there's a sharp rise in enrolment in the last eight days of March, it is all ...