The Election Commission (EC) is likely to approve a Rural Development Ministry request to revise the wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from April 1. The development could benefit crores of beneficiaries across India. The new wage rates for the MGNREGA are linked with the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labourers (CPI-AL).
The ministry had approached the EC for approval as the model code is in force. The government would be specifically asked against publicising the hike, if the request is approved. Different states have different wage rates so the increase in wages will also be different. The wages may remain flat in some states, while the increase could be up to 5 percent over and above the current wage in others. In interim budget, the government had proposed to allocate Rs 60,000 crore for rural employment scheme under the MGNREGA for the year 2019-20. The amount allocated for 2019-20 is 11 percent higher compared to Rs 55,000 crore for 2018-19. The revised estimate for the year 2018-19 was Rs 61,084.09 crore.
MGNREGA, a rural job guarantee scheme introduced in 2005, now covers all the rural districts of the country. The main objective of the scheme involves providing up to 100 days of unskilled manual work in a financial year to every household in rural areas as per demand, resulting in creation of productive assets.