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The Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004 is based on the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act (MEGA), 1977. Maharashtra is the only Indian state to have an employment guarantee act. MEGA promises every adult person in Maharashtra's rural areas the right to paid unskilled manual work through the year. But then it goes on to state that act it will only be applicable in areas, 'where there is a recognised need for work'. Besides this ambiguity, non-utilisation of funds is MEGA's greatest problem. According to a study by Anuradha Joshi of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK, the Employment Guarantee Fund in Maharashtra had a surplus of more than Rs 1,000 crore in 2004

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