Page 3 - Mgnrega Wages

Will issue funds to West Bengal if satisfied with transparency: Centre

The pending MGNREGA funds for West Bengal will be issued when the Centre is satisfied with the "transparency" in the implementation of the scheme, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh said on Friday amid an ongoing tussle between the state and the Centre on the issue. At a press conference on the achievements of the Rural Development Ministry here, the minister was asked about the West Bengal government's allegation that funds for the rural development scheme have not been released to the state for almost two years. "Payments will be made to West Bengal when the Centre is satisfied over transparency in implementation of the scheme... Have we not given money to Bengal, we are giving them money under other schemes," Singh said. Top leaders of the Trinamool Congress held protests in the national capital on October 2 and 3, demanding that the Centre release the dues. The Centre has alleged that there is corruption in the implementation of the scheme in the Trinamool ...

No constraint of funds for rural job scheme MGNREGA, says Centre

The Union Rural Development Ministry on Thursday said there was no constraint of funds for the rural job scheme MGNREGA and reiterated that funds for West Bengal were not released due to non-compliance of central directives. In a statement, the ministry said, "Funds of State of West Bengal have been stopped from March 9, 2022 as per provision of Section 27 of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 due to non-compliance of directives of Central Government." The statement came on a day West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress conducted a march to the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata to protest against the Centre over MGNREGA dues. The TMC had also staged protests in Delhi on October 3 and 4 demanding release of funds by the Centre. In its statement, the ministry said that by October 4, Rs 56,105.69 crore out of the Rs 60,000 crore budget for the scheme has been released. "Availability of funds is not a constraint for the implementation of the programme," it said. The mini

Deadline for mandatory use of Aadhaar-based payment for MGNREGS is Aug 31

The deadline for implementing Aadhaar-based payment system as the only mode of payment to workers under national rural job guarantee scheme MGNREGS will not be extended beyond August 31, government sources said. The Union government in January this year made the use of Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS) mandatory for paying wages to those enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The initial deadline for the mandatory adoption of ABPS mode was February 1, which was later extended to March 31, then till June 30, and eventually till August 31. However, officials in the rural development ministry said the deadline will not be extended any further as over 90 per cent of active workers' accounts have already been linked with Aadhaar. According to a statement issued by the ministry in June, out of the total 14.28 crore active beneficiaries, Aadhaar number has been seeded with 13.75 crore. A total of 12.17 crore Aadhaar numbers have been ..

Centre hikes MGNREGA wages, new rates to be applicable from April 1

In a notification released on March 24, the Union Ministry of Rural Development declared revisions to the rural job guarantee programme for the financial year 2023-24

Centre notifies revised MGNREGA FY24 wage rates; highest for Haryana

The Centre has notified a hike in wage rates under the rural job guarantee programme for the 2023-24 financial year with Haryana having the highest daily wage at Rs 357 per day and Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh the lowest at Rs 221. The Union Ministry of Rural Development issued a notification on the change in wage rates under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme on March 24. The notification was issued under Section 6 (1) of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, that says the Centre may, by notification, specify the wage rate for its beneficiaries. The wage hikes, which range from Rs 7 to Rs 26, will come into effect from April 1. Compared to last year's rates, Rajasthan registered the highest percentage increase in wages. The revised wage for Rajasthan is Rs 255 per day, up from Rs 231 in 2022-23. Bihar and Jharkhand have registered a percentage increase of around eight from last year. Last year, the daily wage for

Plug leakages

Malpractices under MGNREGA must be addressed

States' MGNREGA under probe for potential financial misappropriation

Some states have been using more than permitted MGNREGA funds to build rural infrastructure instead of generating livelihood opportunities for rural needy, says Central government

Increasing work on individual land under MGNREGA a boon to rural income?

In total, around 6.41 million works under individual land has been undertaken in 2021-22 financial year, of which Bihar leads the pack.

Are revival signs of rural economy for real or is it too early to call?

Many non-official parameters do indicate a rebound, but high inflation seems to hitting hard, eroding all gains

Legal backing a must to make urban employment schemes effective: Activists

Other features of an ideal scheme include adequate funding to boost Urban Local Bodies, minimum wages for workers, and exclusion of contractors from projects, among other things

71% MGNREGA wages not paid on time, 14% delayed beyond 30 days, study shows

The study done on 1.8 mn transactions between April and September, by LibTech India and the People's Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG)

Workers seek timely payments, more workdays under rural jobs scheme

The demand for work under MGNREGS was the highest ever in 2020 after migrants returned to villages following the national lockdown

MGNREGA sees negligible increase in minimum wages in the time of Covid-19

The 4% rise in average all-India minimum wages is almost the same as CPI inflation rate between 2015-16 and 2019-20, meaning that in real terms, the increase has been insignificant

Uttarakhand increases number of working days from 100 to 150 under MGNREGA

The move aims to encourage employment opportunities

Delayed payments to rejection: MGNREGS workers spend money to collect wages

Nearly 13% of surveyed workers reported rejected payments and most were unaware of the reason for rejection

Person-days of work under MGNREGA amid Covid-19 crisis: A reality check

There are questions as to whether the support provided so far is adequate and if the government further needs to augment its budgetary allocation

Railways planning to scale up MGNREGA employment for migrant workers

The Railways has asked Zones to prepare a list of labourers against the kind of work they can be involved in

MNREGA jobs are short-term, only lasting solution is projects: L&T chief

In a Q&A, S N Subrahmanyan, MD and CEO of the engineering group says he expects govt and public sector capex to be lower by Rs 3-4 trillion this year

Demand v reality: A sorry state of affairs under MGNREGA in a Covid-19 year

Instead of the promised 100 days of work, average work provided stood just shy of one-fifth of it in this financial year till June 9

MGNREGA stares at a tough challenge ahead as labourers return to villages

Significantly expanding the budget for the rural employment guarantee scheme is vital, but so is exploring other forms of job creation