Choking a lifeline
The HinduSujatha has spent the better part of day for the past two months digging the hard, sun-baked earth to create recharge pits in what once used to be the largest lake in Beerumanahalli village in Kolar district of Karnataka. We don’t have the capacity to work and wait for months to be paid, or to spend entire days protesting, first demanding work and then our rightful wage.” Many workers admit that they have handed over their job cards to corrupt work contractors and work longer hours for half the wage they would be entitled to under the scheme. In the last two years, the wage has increased by approximately 5.5 per cent, falling well below the stipulated minimum wage for agricultural workers in the State and the prevailing wages for unskilled agricultural work reported by the Wage Rates in Rural India data. Wages for women remain lower than the MGNREGS wage by 40-60 per cent; however, potential bargaining power is dulled by the arbitrary nature of the scheme’s implementation. The government’s reluctance to reconcile scheme wages with State minimum wages dates to UPA II, which sought to give statutory validation to the MGNREGS wage rate.
History of this topic
Spike in NREGS payment delays, technical glitches, say workers
Hindustan Times
Karnataka seeks pending dues from Centre under MGNREGA to help mitigate drought condition
The Hindu
Laboured wages: On MGNREGS payments to States
The Hindu
Supreme Court Agrees To Urgently Hear Plea To Clear Wage Arrears Of MGNREGA Workers
Live Law
Plea on non-payment of MGNREGS wages in Supreme Court
The HinduThe long road to timely MGNREGA payments
The HinduTensions rise over caste split of MGNREGA wages
The HinduCentre tells States to split rural jobs scheme wages into separate categories for SCs, STs, others
The Hindu)
Govt preparing ground for decline of MGNREGS by keeping wages constant year after year, says economist Jean Dreze
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