The Centre is likely to pay minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in compliance with the recent Karnataka High Court ruling upholding the supremacy of the Minimum Wages Act (MWA) over the MGNREGA. Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has taken a decision favouring payment of minimum wages for agricultural workers as notified by the States as MGNREGA wages. He told The...

-The Business Standard Yes, it will help combat the acute shortage of farm labour, but it goes against the Act’s core principles. Devinder Sharma  Food and agricultural policy analyst The crisis in agriculture has worsened and it is directly proportionate to the spread of MNREGA Isn’t it strange? The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), which was primarily designed as a radical and novel response to combat rural poverty, is actually hitting the very...

-The Hindu Business Line   Labour shortage, wage bill, loss of orders hit industry, says survey Labour shortage, wage increases and loss of confirmed orders are hitting industry hard, says a survey by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce of India (FICCI). If this were not enough, the UPA Government's flagship rural job scheme, MGNREGA, is adding to industry's labour woes by luring away casual workers, it adds. The survey, which found the impact of...

When activists of the Right to Food campaign attacked Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia over the Rs 32 per capita per day cut-off for poverty line, Vijay Jawandhia — a farm activist from Vidarbha — asked a counter question: “Why are you happy with a minimum wage of Rs 100 per labourer per day under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), when salaries have been revised several...

-The Economic Times   Government's flagship rural job guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, has led to labour shortages for the industry resulting in increased wage costs and hampering production, Ficci said today. The chamber, which has done a survey on the impact of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on the industry and the farm sector, has suggested that the scheme should be stopped during the peak agricultural season. Besides, "the...