Nrega Wages See Highest Jump in Meghalaya, Nil in Kerala, Lakshadweep

Meghalaya has registered the highest increase in MGNREGS wages — a jump of Rs 23 from Rs 203 in 2020-21 to Rs 226 — for 2021-2022, while there has been no increase in Kerala and Lakshadweep, according to the “state-wise wage rate for unskilled manual workers” notified by the Ministry of Rural Development.

Wage trend:

• According to the notification issued on March 15, Rajasthan saw a hike of Rs 1, while Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand registered an increase of Rs 3.
• All states and Union territories, except Meghalaya, have registered a lower hike in MGNREGS wages for 2021-2022 as compared to the increase announced for 2020-2021. The new rates will be effective from April 1.
• Meghalaya is followed by poll-bound Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, which have seen a hike of Rs 17 — from Rs 256 in 2020-21 to Rs 273. The rate has been increased by Rs 9 — from Rs 204 to Rs 213 — in West Bengal.
• The lower hike in wage rates comes at a time when the rural job guarantee scheme has emerged as a safety net for migrant workers, who returned to their villages in view of the pandemic.
• As on March 16, 7.42 crore households (10.92 crore individuals) have already availed the job guarantee scheme. So far, over 367 crore person-days have been generated under the scheme in the current financial year.

MNREGA:

• Under sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, the Centre fixes state-wise wage rates for unskilled manual workers, who work under the rural job guarantee scheme — the rates are are fixed according to changes in the CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index- Agriculture Labor) reflecting inflation in rural areas.
• In all, 22 States and UTs have seen an increase of less than Rs 10, whereas 12 states and UTs have registered a hike of over Rs 10 this time.
• The wage rate for Jharkhand and Bihar has been hiked by Rs 4 from Rs 194 in 2020-21 to Rs 198 in 2021-22.
• Gujarat has seen a hike of Rs 5 from Rs 224 to Rs 229 for the next financial year.
• Three states have seen a hike of Rs 6 —Haryana (from Rs 309 to Rs 315), Himachal Pradesh (from Rs 248 to Rs 254) and Punjab (from Rs 263 to Rs 269).
• Four Northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura — have seen an increase of Rs 7, whereas Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha and Telangana have registered a hike of Rs 8.

SOURCE: THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT