By setting the wage above the local casual labour rate, the MGNREGA public works programme in India encouraged people to withdraw from exploitative casual labour such as bonded labour (McCord, 2012). In addition, by paying men and women equal wages, the programme narrowed the gender wage gap, wages for female casual labourers increased by 8 percent in participating districts compared with non-participating districts (Azam, 2012). The MGNREGA programme has actually eased seasonal fluctuations in labour demand and thus stabilized wage rates (Shariff, 2009, Creti, 2010).