In yet another indication of growing proximity between Congress and JD(U), the government today offered to "sympathetically" consider Bihar's demand for bringing parity between MNREGA wage and minimum wage rates in the state.
"I can perfectly understand Nitish Kumar's sentiments and concerns. I sympathise with Nitish Kumar, because under the minimum wage act in Bihar, the minimum wage is Rs 162 and the MNREGA wage is Rs 138," Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said here reacting to Bihar chief minister's demand.
Kumar had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week requesting him to advise the Rural Development Ministry to take appropriate measures for ensuring MNREGA wages as per the wage rate notified by the state government under section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and allocate resources to meet the total expenditure on wages.
Noting that MNREGA wage is lower than the minimum wage rate in many states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, Ramesh said amending Section 6 (1) of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is the only permanent solution to address this issue.
The formulation suggested by Ramesh to amend the Section 6 (1) of MNREGA underlines a five-year baseline for fixing wage rate under rural job guarantee scheme and the minimum wage for unskilled agricultural workers prevailing in the respective states.
"Amendments are ready, government has to agree. This proposal is under the active consideration," a Rural Development Ministry official said.
At present, the government has linked the MNREGA wage to the consumer price index and revises it on April 1 of every year. But even after revision in some states, MNRGEA wage rate is lower than minimum wage.
Citing that the issue cannot be addressed if the Section 6 (1) of the MNREGA Act is not amended, sources said the worry in the central government is that the state governments will arbitrarily increase the minimum wage and "every time minimum wage is increased, MNREGA wage also has to increase".
The Bihar government is the only state government which has decided to pay Rs 162 for MNREGA wage on par with minimum wage in the state.
