NEW DELHI: A paltry annual hike in daily wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for unskilled workers was jeered at by the Opposition, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promising to jack it up to Rs 400 a day.
The Centre on Wednesday revised wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), with hikes ranging between four and 10 per cent for different states.
The wage revision was notified by the Union rural development ministry on March 27 after clearance from the Election Commission as the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force for the Lok Sabha polls.
Each state has a different daily wage rate under the scheme. Haryana was at the top of the pecking order at Rs 374 after the revision this year while in Uttar Pradesh it was just Rs 237. In gross terms, states like UP and Assam witnessed an increase of just Rs 7 as compared to last year while the wage rise in Goa was Rs 28.
The wage rate in West Bengal has been increased to Rs 250 (increase of Rs 13), in Tamil Nadu to Rs 319 (increase of Rs 25), in Telangana to Rs 300 (increase of Rs 28) and in Bihar to Rs 228 (increase of Rs 17).
Though Haryana tops in terms of wage rate, the increase is only around four per cent, news agency PTI reported.
The annual revision by the Centre is meant to mitigate inflation. A government official termed the revision a routine exercise.
Former bureaucrat EAS Sarma, according to The Wire, had written to the Election Commission soon after the poll panel gave permission to the Narendra Modi government to hike wage levels, noting that it is necessary for the commission to impose restrictions on the government regarding efforts to publicise it.
Meanwhile, taking a dig, Rahul sarcastically said, “Congratulations to MNREGA workers! The PM has increased your salary by Rs 7. Now he might ask you, ‘What will you do with such a huge amount of money?’”
Trinamool leader Saket Gokhale sharply criticised the inadequate increase of wages, especially in West Bengal. “Shameful & shocking that in today’s wage revision announced for MGNREGA, Modi Govt has increased wages for workers in Bengal by only 5%,” Gokhale posted on X.
Goa topped the chart with a hike of 10.56%, while in Karnataka it was 10.4%, MP and Chhattisgarh 9.9%, Gujarat 9.3% and Bihar 7.4%.
(With inputs from Online Desk)