Centre hikes wages under MGNREGA, labourers to earn Rs 13-34 more across India

The central government has approved double-digit hike in wages from Rs 13 to Rs 34 in FY20-21, for manual workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), said a report by Indian Express.

The average hike for FY21 compared to FY20 will by Rs 20 to Rs 201 per day, a Finance Ministry official said as per the report.

The new wage rate will be effective from April 1, 2020 for all states and union territories (UTs). Allocation under the MGNREGA has jumped from Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 71,001 crore in the current financial year at the revised estimate stage. For FY 21-22 the government has allocated Rs 61,500 crore.

The jump in allocation this fiscal comes amid the economic slowdown and consequent slump in demand for work under the scheme, said the report. The finance ministry official also said that the increase in CPI for agriculture labourers was also a factor.

Among states, the worst affected Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Maharashtra see highest hikes of Rs 34 (from Rs 224 earlier to Rs 258 now) and Rs 32 (Rs 206 to Rs 238), respectively. While West Bengal (Rs 191 to Rs 204), Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 192 to Rs 205) have the lowest hike of Rs 13.

Here is how the hikes pan out across the states & UTs:

Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh – Rs 13

Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram – Rs 14

Himachal Pradesh – Rs 15

Meghalaya – Rs 16

Jammu & Kashmir – Rs 17

Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Manipur – Rs 19

Assam, Kerala – Rs 20

Rajasthan – Rs 21

Punjab – Rs 22

Bihar, Jharkhand – Rs 23

Haryana, Daman and Diu, Gujarat – Rs 25

Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana – Rs 26

Tamil Nadu, Puducherry – Rs 27

Maharashtra – Rs 32

Dadra and Nagar Haveli – Rs 34