'Highest average man days under MNREGA only 49 days'

Man days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), supposed to offer a minimum of 100 days' employment per rural household per year, have been between 23 and 40 in the past eight years.

And, the highest annual average recorded in the past few years has been 49 days, Birender Singh, Union minister for of rural development, panchayati raj, drinking water and sanitation, told Business Standard. States are finding it tough to engage local labour as they refuse to work at a wage rate lower than that prevailing in the market.

"In some states, the wage rate offered in the market is higher than the MNREGS wages. So, the local labour does not accept employment under MNREGS."