India has initiated a sweeping overhaul of one of the world's largest social safety nets, a rural employment scheme that has been a lifeline for over a hundred million people. The move, which includes renaming the programme and altering its core structure, is sparking intense debate on its future and offers crucial insights for Kenyan policymakers managing similar initiatives.

For Kenya, this is more than a foreign headline. With programmes like Kazi Mtaani—recently revived as 'Climate Worx' to engage over 110,000 youth—forming a key part of the national strategy to tackle unemployment, India's two-decade experiment with its jobs guarantee offers a powerful playbook of successes and cautionary tales.

A Global Model Undergoes Transformation

Launched in 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a landmark legislation that guarantees every rural household at least 100 days of paid unskilled manual work annually. The scheme has been credited with significantly reducing poverty, increasing rural wages, and empowering marginalized groups, particularly women, who constitute over half of the workforce.

However, the Indian government recently passed a new law, dubbed G RAM G, which repeals the original act. While the government notes it increases the guaranteed workdays to 125, critics, including former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, have warned the changes dismantle the demand-driven, rights-based nature of the scheme, replacing it with a discretionary programme. Opponents argue this could erode the bargaining power of rural laborers and weaken a crucial economic buffer that proved vital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lessons for Nairobi's Social Programmes

The evolution of India's scheme holds direct relevance for Kenya. While MGNREGA is a rural programme and Kazi Mtaani is largely urban, both are designed to provide a crucial income floor for vulnerable populations through public works. Key takeaways from India's experience include:

• Implementation is Everything: Studies on MGNREGA show its success varies dramatically between states, depending on local government capacity, political commitment, and efforts to curb corruption. This highlights the need for robust monitoring and transparent payment systems, a challenge Kenya has also faced.
• Economic Ripple Effects: The Indian scheme has been shown to boost overall rural consumption and, in some regions, has pushed up private-sector wages for unskilled labor. This demonstrates how such programmes can stimulate local economies beyond the daily wage paid to workers.
• Political Volatility: The rebranding and restructuring of the Indian scheme underscore how flagship social programmes can become political battlegrounds. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of initiatives like Climate Worx requires building broad-based support that can withstand political transitions.

As Kenya expands its social protection footprint, the developments in India are a critical reminder. The challenge is not just in launching such programmes, but in sustaining their integrity and impact over the long term. Analysts suggest that for these safety nets to truly work, they must be shielded from political whims and consistently funded, ensuring they remain a right for citizens, not a tool of patronage.