The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, is to be amended to empower the Union government to fix a lower figure for payment to those employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
The decision comes in the wake of the high court in Karnataka agreeing (last September) with a public interest suit which had challenged the payment of Rs 82 a day to those hired under the scheme, when the state government had fixed Rs 119.42 a day as the minimum legal wage for the category in question.
The central government is challenging the high court verdict at the Supreme Court. The NREG Act says payment would follow the Minimum Wages Act unless the Centre notified a different rate (which is not to be less than Rs 60 a day).
| PAY CHECK | ||
| States’ minimum wage (Rs) | Wages under MGNREGA (Rs) | |
| Karnataka | 133 | 125 |
| Rajasthan | 135 | 119 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 169-112 | 121 |
| Punjab | 154.4 | 153 |
| Jharkhand | 127 | 120 |
| Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) | ||
In many states, wages under MGNREGS are lower than the legal minimum wage, which is always fixed by the state government. Rajasthan, for instance, has a daily rate of Rs 119 a day, when the state legal minimum is Rs 135 a day for agricultural labour.
The Supreme Court appeal aside, it has been decided to amend the minimum wage law, too, to avoid similar legal trouble in future.
A clause would be inserted in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act exempting applicability to the latter’s schemes. The amendment is to be finalised by the ministry of rural development and then sent for Cabinet approval, after which it will go to Parliament.
Officials in the ministry of rural development said there was disagreement over the issue.
They said the decision to file an appeal against the high court order was also disputed, with the rural development secretary in favour of the appeal and minister Jairam Ramesh against it.
The decision was finally taken on the insistence of the Prime Minister’s Office.
