Agrarian distress and rural unemployment have always been concerns in India. After the 1991 reforms, the government made inclusive growth the theme of development and undertook policy initiatives to boost rural employment. One such initiative, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, aims to provide landless labourers and marginal farmers work in the lean season and, thus, income. It seems to have succeeded, although it has not created new jobs in general.