MGNREGA wages revised.

What is the news :

THE CENTRE has notified fresh wage rates under rural job guarantee programme NREGS for financial year 2022-23, with 21 out of 34 states and Union Territories getting less than 5 per cent increase and 10 states getting more than 5 per cent hike.
There is no change in the wage rates of three states – Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
The wage rates, notified by Ministry of Rural Development under sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, will be effective from April 1. A notification of this effect was issued by the Ministry.About the revision :

Of the 31 states and UTs, which saw a hike in wages, the maximum 7.14 per cent has been recorded in Goa — from Rs 294 per day in 2021-22 to Rs 315 per day in 2022-23.
The lowest increase of 1.77 per cent is in Meghalaya where the new wage rate has been fixed at Rs 230 per day from the existing Rs 226 per day.
Apart from Meghalaya, two other states — Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland — have also witnessed an increase of less than 2 per cent in NREGS wages.
The NEREGS wages have been increased 2-3 per cent in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. In Maharashtra, Odisha, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, the wages have been increased 3-4 per cent, while in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the hike is 4-5 per cent.
Only 10 states — Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Karnataka and Goa — have seen an increase of more than 5 per cent.

In absolute terms, the NREGS wages have been increased in the range of Rs 4 to Rs 21 per day across 31 states and UTs for 2022-23.
Under sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the MGNREGA, 2005, the Union government fixes state-wise wage rates for unskilled manual workers, who work under the rural job guarantee scheme.
The MGNREGA wage rates are fixed according to changes in the CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index-Agriculture Labour), which reflects the increase in the inflation in rural areas.
According to the new wage rates, five states and UTs with the highest NREGS wages are Haryana (Rs 331 per day); Goa (315); Kerala (311); Karnataka (309); and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (308). Five states with lowest NREGS wages are Tripura (212); Bihar (210); Jharkhand (210); Chhattisgarh (204); and Madhya Pradesh (204).
The NREGS wage rates stands at Rs 213 per day for both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Rs 216 for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, Rs 222 for Odisha and Sikkim, Rs 223 for West Bengal and Rs 227 for Jammu and Kashmir.

What is MGNREGA :

The National Rural Employment Act (NREGA), later renamed as Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA), is regarded as the Indian labour law and social security measure that targets to guarantee people of India the ‘right to work.’ MGNREGA was enacted in September 2005.
The above Act was presented by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Minister of Rural Development and was enacted by Parliament of India. According to MGNREGA, the Act “ aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work”.

Objectives of NREGA

To enrich livelihood security in rural areas by giving at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to all the households whose members aged above 18 years volunteer to do unskilled manual work
To flourish durable assets like roads, canals, ponds and wells
It is required to provide employment within 5 km of an applicant’s home and to pay minimum wage. If the applicant does not get any work within 15 days of applying, an unemployment allowance will be given to them.
Moreover, if Govt fails to provide employment, it is bound to give certain unemployment allowances to the people. Hence, it is a legal entitlement to be employed under MGNREGA.

Implementation of MGNREGA

Generally Gram Panchayats (GPs) implement the programmes under MGNREGA. The engagement of contractors/middlemen is strictly prohibited in the programme. NREGA not only provides economic security and rural assets but also helps in protecting the environment, empowering rural women, reducing rural-urban migration, fostering social equity etc.
The principles and agencies for execution, list of allowed works, financing pattern, monitoring and evaluation and quintessentially the detailed measures to ensure transparency and accountability are elaborately described in the act.
Women empowerment is one of the greatest aspects in MGNREGA programme. In the programme, one-third of all employment is reserved for the women and there is a provision of equal wage between the men and women.
It is also a very good opportunity for the youths of our country. Another merit of MGNREGA is that it develops the bargaining power of labour who often suffers due to exploitative market conditions.
Despite several controversies, MGNREGA can be termed as the best scheme for rural people of India.
Thousands of rural people survive their day to day life because of this scheme.
One of the major impacts of this scheme is the reduction of migration from rural sector to the urban sector for causal work. MGNREGA not only creates job opportunity but also sustains it.

3 years ago