Socio-economic Impact of MGNREGA on Sustainable Rural Livelihood - A Village Level Case Study of Tripura State

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is one of the world’s largest social protection programs, aimed at enhancing rural livelihoods by creating durable assets that support economic and environmental sustainability. The present research evaluates the contribution of MGNREGA to sustainable rural livelihood in Uttar Nalicharra Gram Panchayat under Ambassa Block in Dhalai District of Tripura state. A total of 610 geotagged assets were used in this study. The Kernel Density Estimation maps of SDG-2 and SDG-13 were prepared to depict the spatial distribution of different asset categories. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Normalized Difference Water Index showed improvements in vegetation health and Land Cover/Land Use maps were made to show the changes for the years of 2013-14 and 2023-24 which were generated from LISS-IV sensor. The quantitative and qualitative data from 40 beneficiaries through socio-economic survey have been analyzed using 5 point Likert scale and the One-Way ANOVA test was used. Results revealed a significant correlation between MGNREGA asset and income. The supporting evidence drawn from remote sensing, geospatial analysis and socioeconomic data depicted that MGNREGA have enhanced rural livelihoods in the study area, facilitating to sustainable development goals linked to food security and local climate preparedness.