Centre to link MNREGA wages to CPI-Rural for better hike

Expected to add an additional burden of Rs 4,500 crore on the exchequer.

To ensure that wages under MGNREGA reflect a more realistic ground situation, the Central government seems to be in favour of linking them to Consumer Price Index-Rural (CPI-R) rather than the current practice of the wages being aligned to CPI-Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL).

CPI-R has a higher weightage of food items in them particularly cereals, which after the nationwide implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) has remained stagnant at Rs 3 per kg for rice and Rs 1 per kg for coarse cereals sold through ration shops. 

Officials said that because of this stagnancy, CPI-AL has hardly moved in