Demand for work under MGNREGS seen highest in Tamil Nadu during October

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu led the pack of states that placed demand for work under the central government's flagship rural employment programme in October, showed the rural development ministry data. Tamil Nadu, an industrialised state, alone accounted for about 22% of the total demand under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in October, with 2.88 million people seeking work.This was followed by Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, where 1.16 million people sought work, or 9% of the all-India total. Other key states included Odisha (7.6%), Madhya Pradesh (6.9%) and Maharashtra (6.8%).Demand for work from individuals across India under MGNREGS eased by more than a third in October from a year before, the data showed. This reflects buoyant economic activity in hinterlands that typically creates scope for better-paying employment opportunities in various sectors, experts said. About 12.82 million people across the country sought unskilled work under the MGNREGS during the month, down 35.5% from 19.89 million a year ago.