The research on the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act across India has bypassed Kashmir and what little analysis there is, is limited to official statistics. This article looks at how the official figures correlate with the impact of the policy on the socio-economic vulnerabilities in the state. The outcomes in the sample area are primarily rooted in the weak contextual design and a venal institutional apparatus, which are not captured by official figures. A comprehensive understanding of the outcomes of such schemes thus depends on analysis of ground-level data rather than offi cial figures alone.
