India's rapid economic growth rate since 1991 is one of the main reasons for a record decline in poverty. Another reason proposed is India's launch of social welfare programs such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the Midday Meal Scheme in government schools. In a 2012 study, Klonner and Oldiges, concluded that MGNREGA helps reduce rural poverty gap (intensity of rural poverty) and seasonal poverty, but not overall poverty. However, there is a disturbing side, as deprivation has tended to increase, and that too among the most deprived sections. According to the latest statistics published by the Census of India, among scheduled tribes, 44.7% of people were farmers working on their own land in 2001; however, this number came down to 34.5% in 2011. Among scheduled castes, this number declined from 20% to 14.8% during the same period. This data is corroborated by other data from the census, which also says that the number of people who were working on others' land (landless laborers), increased from 36.9% in 2001 to 44.4% among scheduled castes SC and from 45.6% to 45.9% among scheduled tribes.