States may set it higher, not lower; planned link to cost of living. The Minimum Wages Act will be amended to enact a new centrally set minimum, in the wake of the National Advisory Council's suggestion on asymmetries in this regard between states on payments for work done on schemes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The Union labour ministry has begun consultations on the proposed change and on making...
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Gehlot writes to Manmohan for higher wages under rural jobs scheme
Rajasthan wiling to pay enhanced wages to workers ‘Demand justified as CPI has risen to 924 points' Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accepted in principle the demand for enhancement of the wages of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as per the recently revised minimum wage rates in the State. However, the catch is that the Centre holds the key to any hike in the job scheme...
More »No stay against minimum wages for MNREGS workers: CP Joshi by Vidya Subrahmaniam
The Union Rural Development Ministry appears to have painted itself into a corner on the issue of paying minimum wages to workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The ministry has so far insisted that it is not obliged to pay minimum wages to MNREGS workers. This despite an Andhra Pradesh High Court order requiring the government to pay them statutory minimum wages. In a further...
More »India's social audit of schemes draws world attention by Seema Chisti
IF Brazil has its Bolsa Familia, and Mexico its Progresa — schemes for alleviating poverty that have caught the fancy of international organisations — something that India has done recently is making news internationally. India’s system of social audits, that is, independent but local auditing of social programmes to fight poverty, like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), is attracting world attention. A 42-member delegation from 33 countries...
More »Row over the minimum wage under NREGS by Rupashree Nanda
It is the latest face off between Sonia Gandhi led National Advisory Council and Manmohan Singh led UPA government. The Council and the Rural Development Ministry have come to blows over what should be the minimum wage under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The NAC's resolution that endorses the urgent need for increasing wages is in direct conflict with the position taken by the Rural Developemnt Ministry. At the heart...
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