“India lives in its villages”, as almost 70 percent population of India is rural. The nation’s economy has been largely agrarian since centuries and the upliftment of those in agriculture is critical for overall national development. Rural development is therefore a key feature of India’s development effort because without the upliftment of vast proportion of the rural population, the objective of overall development of the country cannot be achieved. Almost all the economic activities are directly or indirectly, affected by the rural sector as it provides employment to the largest numbers of people. To tackle the employment and poverty problems, especially in rural areas, the Government of India introduced several wage employment programmes like National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) (1980), Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) (1983), Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) (1988), Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) (1993), Jawahar Gram SamridhiYojana (JGSY) (1999), Sampooran Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) (2001), Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS), Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) and MGNREGA (2005). The book provides background material to performance of MGNREGA in India with special reference to Himachal Pradesh. Its survey deals with the pattern of household employment in different activities. Pattern and extent of inequalities in the distribution of household’s consumption expenditure and extent of absolute poverty among the sample households is documented. The book brings out the realities of respondent’s participation in MGNREGA activities. It concludes with discussion and debate about problems and suggestions regarding MGNREGA in India. The book not only provides text material for students; it is also a response to the needs of employment and poverty conscious executives. The book can also serve as supplementary material for employment/poverty policy and strategy courses.