Over the past few years, wage growth has consistently trailed both general and food inflation rates, with the exceptions of FY21 and FY24
More than 35 lakh MGNREGS job cards were deleted in the current fiscal while over 38 lakh were issued, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Job cards cannot be deleted due to non-linkage with Aadhaar, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan further said in his written response. "Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS), Aadhar Payment Bridge System is only a mode of payment and job cards cannot be deleted due to reason of non-linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts," he added. Paswan said updation and deletion of job cards was a regular exercise undertaken by states and Union territories. "In the current financial year 2024-25 (as on 16.12.2024), a total number of 35.57 lakh job cards have been deleted," he said. The cards were deleted due to being fake or incorrect, duplicate, households not willing to work, family permanently shifting from gram panchayat and "single person in job card and that per
A Parliamentary Panel has recommended that the Rural Development Ministry's Aadhaar Based Payment Bridge System (ABPS) for making payments under MGNREGS should not be made compulsory. In a report tabled in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj also said alternative mechanism should always operate to ensure that the primary goal of the scheme to provide wages does not get defeated due to lack of proper implementation of technology. The Committee pulled up the government on low wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and recommended a better inflation linked index for payment of wages to the workers. The Committee noted that the APBS has been made mandatory since January 1, 2024. "While accepting the gains of APBS, the Committee is of the view that it is too early to make it mandatory as the problems relating to Aadhar seeding still have not been resolved leading to exclusion of lakhs of workers
Flagging low wages under MGNREGS, a Parliamentary panel has questioned why the remuneration under the flagship scheme was not linked to an inflation index. It has also urged the Union rural development ministry for devising a mechanism for raising wages under the scheme. Headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, in a report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, rapped the ministry and said there had been no noticeable change in its stance. It has been sending "stereotype responses" regarding revision of wages, the report said. "Rising inflation and cost of living, be it urban or rural setting, has risen manifold and is evident to all. Even at this moment, going by the notified wage rates of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), per day wage rate of around Rs 200 in many states defies any logic when the same state has much higher labour rates," the panel said in its report.
Countering the Union rural development ministry's claims of MGNREGS wages being paid on time, the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha on Wednesday alleged the payments to workers' accounts were being delayed by "weeks or months". The organisation -- a national platform of workers' collectives, unions, organisations and individuals working on the flagship rural employment scheme -- also announced a two-day protest at Jantar Mantar, starting Thursday. In a statement, the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha said economist Jean Dreze had pointed out that it was only Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) that were generated on time, even as crediting of workers' accounts was delayed by weeks or months. The statement said Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers debunked the government's claims that the budget for the scheme had been hiked. They also demanded that wages under the scheme be increased to Rs 800 per day. According to the statement, Jharkhand NREGA Watch's Afsana Khatun said
While 8.4 million workers were removed from the initiative, over 4.5 million new workers were added during this period, a report by Lib Tech, a consortium of academics and activists, claimed
July and August are usually considered lean months for the scheme in terms of demand for work as agricultural activities are in full swing in the rural parts of the country
In the worst case scenario where the NDA is unable to secure a majority (seats less than 272), analysts at Bernstein expect 'heavy profit booking' in the markets with low or negligible returns
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said loans of farmers will be waived and the daily allowance under the MGNREGA scheme will be raised from Rs 250 to Rs 400 soon after the party government is formed at the Centre post elections. Addressing a campaign rally at Segaon under Khargone Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made up his mind to alter the Constitution and eventually scrap it. "Soon after coming to power at the Centre, the Congress government will waive loans of farmers and raise the MGNREGA allowance from Rs 250 to Rs 400 per day," he said. Congress has fielded Porlal Kharte and Narendra Patel from Khargone (ST) and Khandwa Lok Sabha constituencies, respectively. "This election is being fought for saving the Constitution, reservations, and also the Jal, Jungle, and Jameen of tribal people, and public sector," Gandhi said. PM Modi wants to give all these things to 22-25 billionaires including Adani, he alleged. He s
Wage rates in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are set to experience the lowest increase at 3% for FY25 compared to FY24, while Goa will see the highest increase at 10.6%
The West Bengal government has started paying dues of around 30 lakh MGNREGA workers in the state, a senior minister said. The state government started transferring dues amounting to Rs 2,700 crore to the bank accounts of MGNREGA workers on Monday. These dues have been pending from the Centre since March 2022, he said. "A large number of transfers were successfully done yesterday but some were unsuccessful due to technical issues from the bank-end. We hope that the remaining transfers will be completed by today," state Panchayat Minister Pradip Majumdar told PTI. He said around 30 lakh MGNREGA workers will receive the due amounts, with the maximum hailing from South 24 Parganas district. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier this month staged a 48-hour dharna in Kolkata demanding that the Centre release the unpaid dues to the state. She had then announced that her government would transfer the dues to the bank accounts of the MGNREGA workers.
The paper also noted that the gap in rural wages between formal salaried workers and casual workers also decreased due to the employment guarantee scheme
The daily wages paid under the flagship rural employment scheme - Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - are inadequate and not in consonance with the rising cost of living, a parliamentary panel told government on Thursday. It said this may be one of the reasons for dearth of workers under the scheme. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, in a report tabled in Lok Sabha, pointed out the high range of variations in MGNREGA wages across the states. "The committee finds the range of wages vary from as little as Rs 221 in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Rs 224 in Arunachal Pradesh, Rs 228 in Bihar and Jharkhand to Rs 354 in the three gram panchayats of Sikkim (Gnathang, Lachung and Lachen), Rs 328 in Nicobar and Rs 311 in Andaman," it said. "Observing the quantum of wages since 2008, the committee finds the wages inadequate and not in consonance with the rising cost of living. At this juncture, the agricultural labourers an
The second tranche of supplementary grants by various departments and ministries includes Rs 10,798 crore expenditure towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
Accusing the TMC of misusing central funds allocated for West Bengal, the BJP on Monday said the state's ruling party should not stage protests demanding dues from the Union government in February as it will inconvenience lakhs of students appearing for class 10 and 12 board exams. Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on January 26 gave the Centre a seven-day ultimatum to clear all dues failing which the party would launch a massive protest. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari told reporters that if the TMC goes ahead with the programme, the BJP will hold counter-sit-ins demanding that the state come up with figures for utilisation of central allocations under various schemes. "Please think about lakhs of children who will appear for their class 10 and 12 board exams in February. You don't have the right. If you still go ahead with the dharna, BJP will launch counter-agitations," Adhikari said. Cass 10 and 12 exams of various boards including those of West Bengal wi
Rs 35,000-40,000 crore of MGNREGS wages have already gone towards the construction of houses under PMAY-Gramin since it was revamped in November 2016
Almost 80 per cent states have negative balance; all India deficit stands at over 9619 crore
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 ...
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
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 ..