The two decades since the passage of the act have seen tremendous changes The year 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The programme design, resulting from a unique collaboration between bureaucrats and civil society, reflects a rights-based approach where 100 days of manual labour are to be provided to any rural household. It is the largest government programme with its budget reflecting 17% of the total budget for centrally sponsored schemes.

Of the four key areas that define women’s empowerment, personal efficacy, power in intra-household negotiations, societal engagement, and access to income-generating activities, we see improvements in the first three domains. In contrast, the fourth — access to employment — has stagnated.

If south India wants a larger population, it needs to focus on family-friendly policies or encourage migration from more populous states.

Instead of focussing excessively on rankings with well-recognised shortcomings, recognising achievements and refining goals consistent with national priorities will be a more fruitful approach.

India proved that development is the best contraceptive. Now, we need to focus on adapting to the demographic destiny through careful planning. We’ve made the right choices, the next step is fixing the pieces of the population puzzle.