EC clears revised MNREGA wage rates

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday said it has approved a request of the Rural Development Ministry to revise the wages under the MGNREGA scheme from April 1.

The wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) are linked with the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labourers (CPI-AL) and new wage rates are notified on April 1, the beginning of the new financial year.

The ministry had approached the EC for approval as the model code for the coming Lok Sabha polls is in force.

"We have given conditional nod," said Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena.

According to sources, the Government has been specifically asked against publicising the hike.

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 per cent over and above the current wage in others.

The government in this year's Interim Budget had proposed to allocate Rs 60,000 crore for rural employment scheme under the MGNREGA for 2019-20.

The amount allocated for the said period is 11 per cent higher compared to Rs 55,000 crore in 2018-19.

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.