time, however, NREGA budget saw a sharp cut, and in the name of 'focusing' on a few blocks the programme has been limited to those blocks. Save MGNREGA In September 2014 'Save MGNREGA' is a set of demands proposed during the joint meeting of the national leadership of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) and All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) in New Delhi. The agenda was to discuss the dilution of MGNREGA scheme by the new government. Following demands were proposed: Government of India should increase the Central allocation for the scheme so that number of workdays can be increased to 200 and per day wage can be increased to Rs. 300. Job card to be issued for everyone who demands job, failing which, after 15 days employment benefits should be given. Minimum 150 days of work should be ensured to all card holders Minimum wage act should be strictly implemented. Delay in wage payment should be resolved. MGNREGA should be extended to urban areas. Gram Sabhas should be strengthened to monitor proper implementation of the scheme and also to check corruption. New amendments proposed in 2017 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced Rs. 48,000 crore to be allocated to the MGNREGA as a part of 2017 Union budget of India. Criticism A major criticism of the MGNREGA is that a lot of money disbursed by the government gets siphoned off by middlemen, thus leaving a number of MGNREGA workers either with unpaid wages or less than standard wages. In Mahuadand, Jharkhand, most of the people who had worked under the MGNREGA did not get paid, while some either got paid less than stipulated or were given 5 kg of rice by private contractors instead. Following allegations of corruption in the scheme, the NDA government ordered a re-evaluation of MNREGA in 2015. Between 2017 and 2021 about 1000 crore of funds were stolen in the form of bribes, ghost accounts and fake material rates. However there are proponents that claim NREGA is relatively successful in reducing corruption. Another criticism of NREGA is that it is making agriculture less profitable. Landholders often oppose it on these grounds. The big farmer's point of view can be summed up as follows: landless labourers are lazy and they don't want to work on farms as they can get money without doing anything at