The Government has revised wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for unskilled workers, with hikes ranging from four to ten percent across different states. Though Haryana tops in terms of wage rate at Rs 374 per day, the increase is only around four per cent. Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have the lowest at Rs 234 per day, according to the notification.
However, the Opposition Congress has criticised the dismal wage rate increase, with party’s leader Rahul Gandhi taking to social media to express his discontent. He sarcastically congratulated MGNREGA workers on what he termed as a meager increase of Rs 7 in their daily wages. Gandhi also slammed the government, suggesting that instead of significantly improving the livelihoods of the workers, they might allocate a substantial amount towards a campaign thanking Modi for the negligible raise.
The wage rate in three panchayats of Sikkim — Gnathang, Lachung and Lachen — is Rs 374 a day. The wage revision under the scheme was notified by the Union Rural Development Ministry on March 27 after clearance from the Election Commission as the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force for the Lok Sabha polls.
The increases have been made on the 2023 wage rates under a scheme that is aimed at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
