In pursuance of its commitment towards the welfare of the rural poor , the Government has enhanced the wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). This will result in 17-30% enhancement of wages under the premier flagship program of the Government across the country. The move is likely to benefit more than 5 crore beneficiaries under MGNREGA across the country. The wage rates have been hiked on the basis of Consumer Price Index for the agricultural labour calculated on the basis of Rs. 100 or the actual wage rate, whichever is higher as on April 1st, 2009. As per the amended notification issued by the Ministry Of Rural Development the new MGNREGA wage rates will come into effect from January 1, 2011 or the date of actual payment of the revised rate, whichever is later.
In fact the new wage rates are higher than the prevailing wages rates under MGNREGA at present in many states as follows :
S.N.
Name of State
Present wage rate in Rs. Per day
Revised wage rate in Rs. Per day
1
Assam
Rs. 100.00
Rs. 130.00
2
Andhra Pradesh
Rs. 100.00
Rs. 121.00
3
Arunachal Pradesh
Rs.80.00 Rs.80.00
Area-1 (Rs. 118.00)
Area-1I (Rs. 118.00)
4
Bihar
Rs.100.00
Rs. 120.00
5
Gujarat
Rs.100.00
Rs. 124.00
6
Haryana
Rs.141.02
Rs. 179.00
7
Himachal Pradesh
Non-scheduled Areas-Rs.100.00
Scheduled Areas- Rs.125.00
Non-scheduled Areas- Rs. 120.00
Scheduled Areas- Rs. 150.00
8
Jammu & Kashmir
Rs.100.00
Rs. 121.00
9
Karnataka
Rs.100.00
Rs. 125.00
10
Kerala
Rs.125.00
Rs. 150.00
11
Madhya Pradesh
Rs.100.00
Rs. 122.00
12
Maharashtra
Rs.100
Rs. 127.00
13
Manipur
Rs.81.40
Rs. 126.00
14
Meghalaya
Rs.100.00
Rs. 117.00
15
Mizoram
Rs.110.00
Rs. 129.00
16
Nagaland
Rs.100.00
Rs. 118.00
17
Orissa
Rs.90.00
Rs. 125.00
18
Punjab
18 (a)
Hoshiarpur
Rs.100.00
Rs. 124.00
18 (b)
Jalandhar
Rs.100.00
Rs. 124.00
18 (c)
Nawanshar
Rs.100.00
Rs. 124.00
18 (d)
Amritsar
Rs.105.00
Rs. 130.00
19
Rajasthan
Rs.100.00
Rs. 119.00
20
Sikkim
Rs.100.00
Rs. 118.00
21
Tamil Nadu
Rs.100.00
Rs. 119.00
22
Tripura
Rs.100.00
Rs. 118.00
23
Uttar Pradesh
Rs.100.00
Rs. 120.00
24
West Bengal
Rs.100.00
Rs. 130.00
25
Chhatisgarh
Rs.100.00
Rs. 122.00
26
Jharkhand
Rs.99.00
Rs. 120.00
27
Uttarkhand
Rs.100.00
Rs. 120.00
28
Goa
Rs.110.00
Rs. 138.00
29
Andaman & Nicobar
Andaman District
Nicobar District
Rs.130.00
Rs.139.00
Rs. 170.00
Rs. 181.00
30
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
Rs.108.20
Rs. 138.00
31
Daman & Diu
Rs.102.00
Rs. 126.00
32
Lakshadweep
Rs.115.00
Rs. 138.00
33
Puducherry
Rs.100.00
Rs. 119.00
34
Chandigarh
Rs.140.00
Rs. 174.00
The decision to hike wages under MGNREGA comes in the wake of recommendations of National Advisory Council and consultations with the different Ministries. Linking the wages to Consumer Price Index for the agricultural labour will result in annual revision of the wage rates. Meanwhile, the Government is also waiting for the report of the Pranob Sen Committee constituted to deliberate upon a separate index for MGNREGA. The recommendations once submitted by this Committee will also be considered by the Government. Under MGNREGA in the financial year 2010-11, upto December, 4.10 crore households have been provided employment and 145 crore persondays have been generated. The average wage earned has risen from Rs 65 per person day in 2006 to Rs 100 by 2011. Women constitute 50% while Scheduled Castes account for 23 %, and Scheduled tribes comprise 17% of those working in Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in 2010-11. Over 10 crore accounts of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries were opened in post offices/banks contributing to financial inclusion. Among the works taken up under MGNREGA, water conservation, irrigation and land development account for over 75% of work taken up in 2010-11 till Dec.2010.
The decision to hike wages under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is a reflection of the Government’s commitment to provide adequate livelihood security to the poor, down trodden, and members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This hike will go a long way towards meeting the requirements of the needy in the rural areas en route to achieve the goal of inclusive growth and development across the country.
Monitoring Mahatma Gandhi NREGA
A total of 1327 complaints up to 31.3.2010 and 492 complaints during the current year, (up to 11.2.2011) regarding irregularities of all types in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA have been received in the Ministry of Rural Development. Since the act is implemented by the State Governments in accordance with the Schemes formulated by them as per the provisions of the Act, all complaints received in the Ministry are forwarded to the concerned States for taking appropriate action as per law. In complaints of serious nature, the Ministry deputes National Level Monitors to investigate the complaints. Reports of the NLMs are shared with the concerned State Governments for taking corrective action. Following measures have been undertaken to monitor the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA :
(i) ICT based MIS has been made operational to make data available to public scrutiny including Job cards, Muster rolls, Employment demanded and allocated, number of days worked, shelf of works, Funds available/spent and funds released to various implementing agencies, Social Audit findings, registering grievances and generating alerts for corrective action.
(ii) Payment of wages to MGNREGA workers has been made mandatory through their accounts in Banks/Post Office to infuse transparency in wage disbursement.
(iii) Rolling out Biometric based ICT enabled real time transactions of MGNREGA workers to eliminate fake attendance and false payments.
(iv) Periodic reviews in the Performance Review Committee meetings held on quarterly basis. State specific reviews are also undertaken
(v) Independent Monitoring and verification by National Level Monitors and Eminent Citizens.
(vi) Visit by members of Central Employment Guarantee Council.
(vii) State and district level Vigilance and Monitoring Committees have been set up.
No comments:
Post a Comment