Evidence from Longitudinal Village Studies M J Bhende T S Walker S S Lieberman J V Venkataram The Employment Guarantee Scheme (ECS) in Maharashtra is one of the most acclaimed poverty alleviation schemes providing 100 million person-days of employment in a typical year. This paper attempts to analyse the role of EGS in augmenting'the wage income of rural households, its performance in terms of targeting the poor from the non-poor and also its relationship with farm employment.