Login With Google
MGNREGA wages
Why is it in the news?
- The government planning to link Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) wages to an updated inflation index.
- It will be revised annually.
More in the news
- Given a slump in rural demand and a slowdown in the rural economy, the Centre plans to inject more money into MGNREGA.
- The national average wage of an MGNREGA worker is Rs. 178.44 per day.
- It is less than half of the ₹375 per day minimum wage recommended by a Labour Ministry panel earlier this year.
- The consumption basket of CPI-AL [which determines MGNREGA wage revisions] has not been updated for more than three decades, and rural consumption patterns have changed drastically in that time.
- Wage Mismatches:
- Market wages for men were higher than MGNREGA wages by 74% in 2017-18, while for women, it was a 21% gap.
- Even with existing wages, the scheme is running out of funds due to increased demand for work.
- MGNREGA received a budgetary allocation of Rs. 60,000 crore, of which more than 75% has already been released by the Centre even before the halfway point of the year.
Source
The Hindu.