MGNREGS wages hiked in Uttarakhand

Nearly 50 per cent of the workforce under the rural job guarantee scheme in the hill state comprises of women.
Image of MGNREGS workers used for representational purposes.
Image of MGNREGS workers used for representational purposes.

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government has increased payment for workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from Rs 209 to Rs 213. “The hike will be effective from April 1, 2022 and will benefit more around 12.49 job card holders,” said S Murugeshan, Executive director, MGNREGA, in Uttarakhand.

Nearly 50 per cent of the workforce under the rural job guarantee scheme in the hill state comprises of women. Last year, the state government had increased the number of working days guaranteed per year to the poor under MGNREGS from 100 to 150.

This newspaper had earlier reported that in an attempt to provide jobs to people of Uttarakhand, including migrants who had returned to their home state, the state government had sent a proposal to the Centre seeking approval to provide 200 days of work under the MGNREGS. State government officials said that the latest decision on hiking the rate is another effort to provide more work opportunities to the people of the state.

More than 28.63 lakh people have registered for jobs in the unorganised sectors in Uttarakhand. Shockingly, even engineering graduates and diploma and Masters degree holders have applied for manual jobs under the MGNREGS, pointing to the alarming state of unemployment.

Unemployment is the biggest factor behind the large-scale migration from the hill state. The number of jobless people registered with the state labor department stood at 7.78 lakh in 2019-20.

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