Twelve years since its inception, this law has shown extraordinary promise. It has brought the right to work to the front stage of the discussion on social protection. MGNREGA represents, a significant innovation in relation to the short-term and emergency based public work tradition. Among its innovation key ones include {a} self-targeting- this means that the programme does not target people living below the poverty line. It is the nature of the work provided manual and unskilled – that determine the demand for work. {b} any household can demand up to 100 days of work that should be provided within 15 days under the penalty of the state having to pay unemployment benefits. {c} the inclusion of social audits and social accountability mechanism to increase accountability and enhance social participation. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) – offering up to 100 days work each year to rural Indians – is the largest social protection programme in the world, in terms of the number of households covered. There is a lively debate around whether MGNREGA provides a vital social safety net for the poor or merely burdens the economy. Since 2006, it has expanded to cover all districts in India, providing work to 50 million rural households in 2012/13 at a cost of US$8.9 billion. But no one has satisfactorily explained why, despite similar implementation mechanisms, there is such unevenness in outcomes. Major constraints faced by beneficiaries in MGNREGA were: employment of hundred days (per household per year) is too less in the present situation. The major suggestion was given by beneficiaries that temporary suspension of MGNREGA works during peak Agricultural season (93.33%).