Despite record allocation, 57% MGNREGS wage dues remained unpaid in April

For the financial year 2018-19, the central government's fund allocation for MGNREGS increased 14.5% over the previous year to Rs 55,000 crore, the highest ever

Ramsajeevan Prajapati, 42, started working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in 2005 to support his family of nine. He was promised he would get paid every eight days. However, he said, he has not received wages in six months, or the Rs 2,000 due to him from the preceding year.

Prajapati, who previously worked as a labourer at the local market in Mavai village in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district, has been taking loans to get by. When he complains to officials about delayed wages, he is asked to continue working so that his pending wages