The Lift Line
“Based on the concept that work is a fundamental right, a government resolution for EGS was issued in March 1972.”
Why This Editorial Matters for Your Exam
With El Nino cutting rainfall and Maharashtra’s leaders warning of a drought “worse than 1972”, this column by Shubhangi Khapre, Senior Editor at The Indian Express, is a compact history of how a disaster created a policy. It links GS1 (history of post-Independence Maharashtra, famines), GS2 (welfare schemes, the right to work) and GS3 (drought, irrigation, disaster management). Read it with yesterday’s column on wheat exports and El Nino.
GS Paper 3: Disaster management (drought); irrigation and water management; food security. GS Paper 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; rural employment. GS Paper 1: Post-Independence consolidation; effects of natural hazards on society.
| Concept | Meaning | Why it is testable |
|---|---|---|
| Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) | Maharashtra’s programme guaranteeing unskilled manual work to rural adults | Precursor of the national guarantee |
| Self-targeting | Only those who need work take up hard manual work at a basic wage | Why guarantees need no means test |
| Rain-shadow region | Leeward area receiving little rain, such as Marathwada and much of Vidarbha | Explains why these regions are drought-prone |
| Drought declaration | An administrative declaration by a State that triggers relief measures | Guided by the Centre’s Manual for Drought Management |
| El Nino | Warming of the central and eastern Pacific, often linked to weak Indian monsoons | The trigger cited for this year’s deficit |
Background and Context
This year (background). The State has declared 265 of its 358 talukas drought-affected, and relief includes relaxed norms under the Employment Guarantee Scheme. Rainfall deficits are sharply regional: according to an Indian Express explainer of 27 September, Marathwada is about 38 per cent below normal and Vidarbha about 27 per cent, while Nashik has a surplus.
The 1972 drought. Maharashtra was formed on 1 May 1960. After the south-west monsoon failed for three years from 1970, 21 of the State’s 26 districts were drought-affected in 1972. Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik (1963-1975), the State’s longest-serving Chief Minister, led the response.
From resolution to statute.
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 1972 | Government resolution launches the Employment Guarantee Scheme, on the idea of V.S. Page, first Chairman of the Legislative Council |
| 1977 | Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act enacted (in force from 26 January 1979) |
| 2005 | National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (renamed MGNREGA in 2009): 100 days of work per rural household |
| 2026 | The VB-G RAM G Act, enacted in 2025, has replaced MGNREGA since 1 July 2026, with a 125-day guarantee |
The Analysis
1. A disaster became an institution. The EGS turned drought relief from a dole into work: soil and water conservation, wells, tanks, canals and roads. The State spent over Rs 200 crore on it during the crisis; about 15 lakh people enrolled at first, and estimates suggest it absorbed around one crore workers over the course of the drought.
2. Food policy did the rest. Sukdi, a calorie-dense mix of wheat flour, jaggery and oil or ghee, reached hungry villages, and the public distribution system became central to relief. Starvation deaths were avoided, though malnutrition persisted.
3. Migration was the warning sign. For the first time, rural Maharashtra moved en masse to urban slums; Bombay’s population rose by about 3.5 lakh in the drought year.
4. The comparison with today. In 1972, 21 of 26 districts were drought-hit; today 21 of 36 report rainfall deficits. The Chief Minister and Sharad Pawar both say this drought could be worse than 1972, and the All India Kisan Sabha agrees.
5. The unfinished reform is water. Water expert Pradeep Purandare says the State “failed miserably” in water conservation and is “still stuck in a 19th-century irrigation system”. Fifty-four years after 1972, the guarantee exists; the drought-proofing it was meant to build is incomplete.
The precision that earns marks. The column says the EGS Act was adopted in 1978: the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act was enacted in 1977 and came into force on 26 January 1979. It also puts the State’s 1972 population at 5.4 crore; the 1971 Census counted about 5.04 crore. The national law of 2005 was the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act; “Mahatma Gandhi” was added to its name in 2009.
Data and Institutions Vault
Prelims-grade facts:
The history:
- Maharashtra was formed on 1 May 1960; Vasantrao Naik was Chief Minister from 1963 to 1975.
- The Employment Guarantee Scheme began by government resolution in 1972; the idea is credited to V.S. Page.
- The Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, 1977 came into force on 26 January 1979.
The national guarantee:
- NREGA, 2005, renamed MGNREGA in 2009, guaranteed 100 days of work per rural household.
- The VB-G RAM G Act, enacted in 2025, has been in force since 1 July 2026, with a 125-day guarantee.
This year (as reported):
- 265 of 358 talukas declared drought-affected; Marathwada about 38 per cent and Vidarbha about 27 per cent below normal rainfall.
Prelims, the traps:
- Marathwada and Vidarbha lie in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats; the Konkan coast is on the windward side.
- Drought is declared by States; the Centre supplements relief through the National Disaster Response Fund when a severe drought is assessed.
⚠️ Watch the trap: Maharashtra’s own EGS predates the national guarantee by more than three decades, and the State continues to run it under its 1977 Act.
The Debate
For the author’s view. The 1972 response shows that bold institutional design in a crisis can outlast the crisis. But the real lesson, water management, has not been learnt, so each El Nino year brings the same fear.
The complication. Maharashtra in 2026 has far more irrigation, storage, grain stocks and social protection than in 1972. Farm incomes may be hit hard, but comparisons with a famine can overstate the risk of hunger and distort the response.
The balanced verdict. Treat 1972 as a lesson in institutions, not a forecast of famine: start employment works early and point them at water conservation, protect fodder and drinking water, and use the crisis to push irrigation and watershed reform.
How to Think About This
Ask what a crisis leaves behind. Many disasters produce relief; a few produce institutions. When you study any crisis (the 1943 famine, the 1966 drought, the 1991 payment crisis, the pandemic), note the permanent policy it created. That is often the examinable legacy.
Diagram-in-Words
Takeaway Box
- 1972: three failed monsoons; 21 of 26 districts hit; mass migration to Bombay.
- Response: the Employment Guarantee Scheme (1972 resolution), sukdi and the PDS.
- Law: Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, 1977 (in force 1979), model for NREGA, 2005.
- Today: 265 of 358 talukas drought-affected; leaders compare it to 1972.
- Lesson: the guarantee endures; water management reform does not.
Sources: The Indian Express, India Code, Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, 1977, Ministry of Rural Development
Source: The Drought That Invented a Right to Work: What Maharashtra's 1972 Famine Teaches a State Bracing for Another — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Editorial Analysis
