-The Hindu The study noted that wages in the scheme are 25-30% lower than the minimum wages for agricultural workers in most States. One-third of the way through the financial year, government data shows that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme has used up almost half its allocated funds, spending more than ₹48,500 crore out of the expanded ₹1 lakh crore allocation announced following the COVID-19 outbreak. A new...
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Time to act on MGNREGA -Ankita Aggarwal and Anmol Somanchi
-The Indian Express Covid-related crisis offers NDA government opportunity to increase work days, entitlements under the employment guarantee scheme. In a recent article (‘Credit where it isn’t due’, IE, June 10), Union Minister for Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar described the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as a “failing scheme” before 2014. MGNREGA under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was by no means perfect, but when the National...
More »Can raising the approved labour budget from 280.76 crore person-days to 306.6 crore person-days help the unskilled returnee migrants who prefer MGNREGA to Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan?
Although social activists and concerned economists demanded at least Rs. 1 lakh crore to be earmarked in favour of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Finance Minister in her budget speech on 1st February allocated only Rs.61,500 crore to it for the financial year 2020-21. As compared to the fund spent on MGNREGA in 2019-20 (i.e. revised estimate of Rs.71,001.81 crore), the amount set aside for the...
More »MGNREGA workers demand Rs. 600 as minimum daily wage rate, besides 200 days of employment and strict implementation of locally planned works
-Press release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated June 29th, 2020 Today, workers in over sixty districts across eleven states of the country observed “NREGA Adhikar Diwas” by submitting a memorandum to the Prime Minister to demand an increase in the annual guarantee of work to 200 days per person, revision of the daily wage rate to Rs. 600 and strict implementation of schemes planned by the gram/ward sabha. The widespread disruptions to...
More »Govt’s rural focus could hit urban economy -Aunindyo Chakravarty
-The Tribune This is a crucial moment for Modinomics. Till now, government schemes have been used to help the poorest of the poor survive, even when they do not have any regular source of income. The middle class has continued to back the PM, hoping his policies will yield dividends. The industrial recession has shaken that belief. It could well be the beginning of their disenchantment with the PM. IN 2014, journalist...
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