In the recent week, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has dealt three major, concerted blows to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA): (1) The Budget allocation for NREGA was reduced to just Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24 (less than Rs 50,000 crore if we deduct wage arrears from 2022-23). This makes this year’s allocation the lowest as a proportion of GDP (0.2%) in the history of the programme. (2) The...
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Mandatory digital attendance for MGNREGA will destroy scheme -Himanshu Nitnaware
-Down to Earth The central government has mandated digitally capturing the attendance of all workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGnregs). Labourers and activist groups have opposed this and pointed out several loopholes in the move. The National Mobile Monitoring System, which came into effect on January 1, 2023, was launched with claims of bringing transparency and eliminating corruption at the ground level. Pilot tests began in May 2021 at...
More »3-day MGNREGA dharna concludes today after highlighting the demands of the workers to the media & policymakers
-Press note by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated August 4, 2022 On the final day of the 3-day dharna, despite heavy rains, hundreds of mazdoors from 15 states stayed on at Jantar Mantar to continue raising their voices. Currently, 14 states are running a negative balance on NREGA funds, and 64 percent of the budget for this financial has already been spent. More than Rs. 6800 crores are due in wages to...
More »Over 500 MGNREGA Workers Protest Against Delay in Wage Payments at Jantar Mantar
-TheWire.in The workers spoke about the persistent delays in wage payments, how they did not get work when they demanded it, and how no compensation was provided when they were injured or even killed at the workplace. New Delhi: More than 500 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers from across 15 states gathered at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on Wednesday, August 3, to protest against the delayed...
More »Forget minimum wages, MGNREGA workers not even receiving notified wages in many states
Every year in the month of either February or March, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) announces the notified MGNREGA wage rates (i.e., notified daily wage rates for MGNREGA workers) for various states and Union Territories (UTs) for the upcoming financial year. The MGNREGA rates are notified every year based on the increase in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL). Like the previous years, in 2021 too, experts and civil...
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