Flagging low wages under MGNREGS, a parliamentary panel has questioned why wages under the flagship scheme are not linked to the inflation index.
It has asked the Union Ministry of Rural Development to devise a mechanism to increase wages under the scheme.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, chaired by Congress MP Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka, criticized the ministry in its report submitted to the Lok Sabha on Thursday and said that there has been no significant change in its stand.
It has been sending “stereotyped responses” regarding wage revisions, the report said.
“Rising inflation and the cost of living, urban or rural, have multiplied and are evident to all. Even at this moment, as per the notified wage rates of MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), the wage rate in many states is around Rs 200 per day defies any logic when the labor rate in the same state is very high,” the panel said in its report.
“It is not understood why the wages under MGNREGA cannot be linked to an appropriate index to match the present inflation. Aware of the demand for wage hike under MGNREGA from various sectors, the committee requested the DoRD (Department of Rural Development) to re-examine its stand and devise a mechanism for wage hike under MGNREGA. does,” the panel said.
It claimed that disparity in wages across states was another matter of concern.
In sub-section (d) of Article 39 of the Constitution, the policy principle to be followed by the state is provision of equal remuneration for both men and women for equal work.
“Therefore, under the directive, there cannot be differential wages for different states under MGNERGA. In view of Article 39 of the Constitution and for equality in wages, the Committee strongly recommends that wages should be paid to MGNERGA beneficiaries without any disparity so that immediately in all states/UTs Wage parity can be brought under MGNREGA,” the report said. .
The committee also recommended to strengthen the financial management of the scheme and tighten its grip at the ground level to eliminate the flaws in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at the earliest. Pendencies on wages and material components.
The committee recommended increasing the number of working days under MGNREGS from 100 to 150 days.
The scheme – often referred to as MGNREGA or NREGA – is aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of rural families by providing guaranteed wage employment of at least 100 days in a financial year to every family whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
Wages under MGNREGS were last revised in April, with an increase of between four and 10 per cent for various states.
According to the government notification, the highest wage for unskilled workers under the scheme in Haryana is Rs 374, while the lowest is Rs 234 in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
An expert committee chaired by Anoop Satpathy in its report issued in 2019 recommended a wage of Rs 375 under MGNREGA.
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