A total of 5.49 crore households across the country have been provided employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) during 2010-11. This led to the generation of 257.15 crore persondays. Giving this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today,the Minister for Rural Development,Mr Jairam Ramesh said, there has been steady increase in the total number of households provided employment and persondays generated during 2006-07 to 2009-2010. He said though the total number of households provided employment increased in 2010-11 compared to 2009-10, there was a decline in persondays generated in 2010-11. The Minister said, the decline was substantial in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. The major reasons for the decline are good monsoon, higher wage rate in open market and other employment opportunities.