INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH X 123 Volume : 6 | Issue : 8 | August 2016 | ISSN - 2249-555X | IF : 3.919 | IC Value : 74.50 ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER A Study on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mgnregs) in Perundurai Block Erode District in Tamilnadu A.AMUTHA NANDHINI Dr. R.SHANMUGHAN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN COMMERCE , P.K.R. ARTS COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, 127, PARIYUR ROAD, GOBICHETTIPALAYAM, TAMIL NADU- 638476 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN COMMERCE,(AIDED), GOBI ARTS AND SCIENCE COLLEGE, KARATTADIPALAYAM POST,GOBICHETTIPALAYAM, TAMILNADU-638453 COMMERCE ABSTRACT National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005 and it was renamed as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on 2nd October, 2009. The Act aims at eradication of extreme poverty and at making villages self-sustaining through produc- tive asset creation. In this paper, an attempt is made to focus some lights on the measures of performance of MGN- REGS in the Erode district located in the Tamil Nadu KEYWORDS National rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGA), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Poverty, self-sustaining INTRODUCTION Unemployment breeds poverty, poverty is one of the most critical issues in the country. It is conventionally measured by the income and expenditure level that can sustain a bare minimum standard of living. But measuring standard of living is a tricky issue. Income or consumption levels and access to minimum level of social amenities are the important aspects of living standards. The factors giving supplementary information of poverty are life expectantly, infant mortality rate, nutrition literacy, access to primary schools, health clinic and drinking water etc., Absolute poverty views the poverty line as the expenditure required to purchase subsistence bundle of items by the individuals. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In the rural areas the major economic activities are irregu- lar and intermittent and seasonal fuctuations. This leads to periodic with drawl of labour force, especially on the part of marginal labours, often women, who shift back and forth between what is reported as domestic and gainful work. The poor economic status of rural people has forced them to use their children for some work. Such with drawl of children from school is another dimension of problem per- sisting in the rural areas. All these facts articulate for pro- tection and sympathy from the government to safeguard the rural population in our county. As a result, many em- ployment generation programmes have been attempted in the state. OBJECTIVES • To study the socio economic profle of sample benef- ciaries under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employ- ment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). • To know the awareness level of MGNREGS in the study area. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The data base for this research study consists of both pri- mary and secondary data. Perundurai block in Erode Dis- trict is purposively selected for the present research work. There are two villages were purposively chosen for this study under Perundurai block (Singanallore and Thingalore) under Simple Random Sampling. The sample villages were chosen because the MGNREG Scheme has been im- plemented for a long time. Then 100 sample benefciaries were chosen randomly consisting of 50 in Singanallore, 50 in Thingalore. The sample benefciaries were contacted with a specially prepared and pre tested questionnaire. The secondary data has been taken from the various off- cial websites of MGNREGS. STATISTICAL TOOLS: • Frequency Distribution • Henry Garrett Ranking Techniques ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Frequency Distribution Table.1 showing Description of Socio Economic Profile of sample beneficiaries under MGNREGS following fre- quency distribution is constructed. Profle Groups Frequency Percent- age Gender Male 33 33 Female 67 67 Age 29-39 years 11 11 40-50 years 26 26 Above 50 years 63 63 Social category ST 2 2 SC 30 30 BC 68 68 Religion Hindu 84 84 Muslim 12 12 Christian 4 4 Marital status Married 76 76 Widow / Widower 20 20 Divorced 3 4 Educational Status Illiterate 55 55 Primary 33 33 SSLC 7 7 HSC 5 5 Landholding Land Less 76 76 Marginal(<1acre) 10 10 Small(1 to 2 acres) 6 6 Medium (2 to 5 acres) 8 8