Parliament panel raises concern about low MGNREGA wages
The standing committee recommended increasing the number of workdays under the scheme from 100 days to 150 days per household.
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The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has raised concerns about low wages being paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and questioned why the remuneration is not linked to an inflation index, PTI reported on Friday.
The panel urged the Union Ministry of Rural Development to create a mechanism for increasing wages under the scheme, the news agency reported.
MGNREGA is a national social security scheme meant to guarantee at least 100 days of unskilled manual work in a year for every rural household.
In a report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the panel criticised the ministry, saying that there had been no noticeable change in its stance on raising wages of workers under the scheme.
The ministry has been sending “stereotype responses” on the matter of the revision of wages, the report said.
“Rising inflation and cost of living, be it urban or rural setting, has risen manifold and is evident to all,” the panel was quoted as having said in its report. “Even at this moment, going by the notified wage rates of MGNREGA, per day wage rate of around Rs 200 in many states defies any logic when the same state has much higher labour rates.”
The panel questioned why the wages...
