62.42% MNREGA wages get delayed: Govt

Over 60 per cent of the total wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme got delayed due to implementation issues and lack of banking infrastructure among others, Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

As per the programme (MNREGA) management information system, 62.42 per cent of the total wages paid under the employment guarantee scheme got delayed, said MoS for Rural Development Ram Kripal Yadav.

As much as 99.23 per cent of the total wage payments were late in case of Meghalaya, followed by Chhattisgarh with 92.26 per cent and Andaman and Nicobar with 90.80 per cent, the minister added in his written reply.

According to the MNREGA, the wage payments have to be made within 15 days of the completion of work.

The wage payments have been delayed mainly due to implementation issues and poor spread of banking infrastructure among others, Yadav said.

"All cases of delayed payments attract compensation of 0.05 per cent per day of delay, which is automatically calculated and paid by the state governments," he said.

Till July 21, the delay compensation of Rs 3.34 crore has been paid under the MNREGA, the minister added.