Lok Sabha Question No. 5480 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-05
Subject: Revision of Wages under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Bhartruhari Mahtab

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5480

ANSWERED ON 05/04/2022

## REVISION OF WAGES UNDER MGNREGS

## 5480.   SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the total amount of wages paid under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) during the last five years ending March 2021, State/UTwise;
- (b) whether the Government is aware of the fact that the remuneration paid under this scheme is much lower than the minimum wages fixed for agriculture labourers in many States;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with a State-wise comparative Statement of the rate of MGNREGS wages and the minimum wages fixed for agricultural labourers;
- (d) whether the Government has taken note of the fact that there is a great demand for increase of the present wages of MGNREGS workers and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government proposes to revise the wages and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

- (a): State/UT-wise  details  of  fund  releases  on  wage  component  under  Mahatma  Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS)  during the last five financial years 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 is given at Annexure-I.

(b) to (e):   Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand driven wage employment programme which provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every  household  whose  adult  members  volunteer  to  do  unskilled  manual  work. It  provides livelihood  security,  i.e.  fall  back  options  for  livelihood  for  the  rural  households,  when  no better employment opportunity is available.

As per Section 6 (1) of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), 2005, the Central Government may by notification specify the wage rate for unskilled  work  for  its  beneficiaries.  Accordingly,  the  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  notifies Mahatma Gandhi NREGA wage rate for every financial year for States/UTs. To compensate the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers against inflation, the Ministry of Rural Development revises the wage rate every year based on change in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPIAL).  If  the  calculated  wage  rate  of  any  State  is  coming  lower  than  the  wage  rate  of  previous financial  year,  it  is  being  protected  by  maintaining  the  previous  financial  year  wage  rate.  The revised  wage  rate  is  made  applicable  from  1 st April  of  each  financial  year.  However,  State Governments can provide wage over and above the wage rate notified by the Central Government under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.

State/UT-wise  details  of  notified  wage  rates  for  unskilled  workers  under  Mahatma  Gandhi NREGS for the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23 is given at Annexure-II.

******

## Annexure-I  referred  in  reply  to  part  (a)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  5480 dated 05.04.2022.

State/UT-wise  details  of  fund  release  on  wage  component  under  the  Mahatma  Gandhi NREGS during the last five financial years 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 202021. (Rs. in crore)

| SI. No.   | State/UT                             | 2016-17   | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   |
|-----------|--------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                       | 188.40    | 3222.62   | 4429.91   | 4510.63   | 6273.13   |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh                    | 92.10     | 134.98    | 127.37    | 84.81     | 224.89    |
| 3         | Assam                                | 930.21    | 801.38    | 926.18    | 1222.02   | 2154.95   |
| 4         | Bihar                                | 1169.88   | 1941.04   | 2100.94   | 2305.56   | 4756.87   |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh                         | 264.21    | 1630.23   | 2412.78   | 2033.52   | 3362.94   |
| 6         | Gujarat                              | 69.83     | 602.88    | 736.03    | 565.32    | 1066.02   |
| 7         | Haryana                              | 213.04    | 254.54    | 216.75    | 242.58    | 600.89    |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh                     | 104.12    | 434.80    | 529.15    | 423.71    | 736.75    |
| 9         | Jammu Kashmir                        | 381.83    | 620.28    | 521.11    | 691.02    | 810.49    |
| 10        | Jharkhand                            | 288.69    | 1014.49   | 970.75    | 945.79    | 2399.42   |
| 11        | Karnataka                            | 1305.32   | 2112.39   | 1807.27   | 2690.96   | 4251.44   |
| 12        | Kerala                               | 1386.71   | 1652.04   | 2037.31   | 3173.83   | 3356.22   |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh                       | 617.51    | 2667.50   | 2997.72   | 3495.46   | 6419.71   |
| 14        | Maharashtra                          | 162.60    | 1265.07   | 1455.58   | 1098.01   | 1351.62   |
| 15        | Manipur                              | 233.13    | 114.56    | 178.34    | 252.08    | 596.26    |
| 16        | Meghalaya                            | 511.79    | 314.55    | 568.27    | 602.69    | 974.97    |
| 17        | Mizoram                              | 125.44    | 27.11     | 345.49    | 469.54    | 501.75    |
| 18        | Nagaland                             | 429.95    | 583.71    | 150.16    | 414.50    | 263.61    |
| 19        | Odisha                               | 1328.55   | 1583.85   | 1569.93   | 1604.74   | 4219.20   |
| 20        | Punjab                               | 403.01    | 478.16    | 460.47    | 603.02    | 1021.25   |
| 21        | Rajasthan                            | 3171.54   | 3189.65   | 3787.24   | 5158.53   | 8097.76   |
| 22        | Sikkim                               | 82.96     | 14.55     | 69.41     | 56.56     | 80.75     |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu                           | 1346.33   | 5248.20   | 3746.82   | 4503.88   | 6958.79   |
| 24        | Telangana                            | 200.94    | 1859.56   | 1832.59   | 1693.05   | 2634.34   |
| 25        | Tripura                              | 660.14    | 277.94    | 394.17    | 579.41    | 904.40    |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh                        | 3123.18   | 2708.30   | 4093.08   | 4337.60   | 7817.58   |
| 27        | Uttarakhand                          | 370.33    | 508.47    | 414.40    | 306.85    | 713.17    |
| 28        | West Bengal                          | 1331.94   | 4346.87   | 5477.14   | 6215.73   | 9397.68   |
| 29        | Andaman and Nicobar                  | 0.90      | 4.46      | 4.34      | 3.09      | 5.81      |
| 30        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli Daman and Diu | 0.00      | 0.00      | 0.00      | 0.00      | 0.00      |
| 31        | Lakshadweep                          | 0.00      | 0.14      | 0.22      | 0.90      | 0.50      |
| 32        | Puducherry                           | 0.27      | 12.69     | 13.91     | 13.55     | 24.44     |
| 33        | Ladakh*                              | *         | *         | *         | *         | 22.49     |
| 34        | Goa                                  | 0.29      | 0.23      | 0.26      | 0.85      | 2.34      |
|           | Total                                | 20,495.14 | 39,627.26 | 44,375.10 | 50,299.81 | 82,002.45 |

## Annexure-II referred in reply to parts (b)to(e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5480 dated 05.04.2022.

| State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS for   | State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS for   | State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS for   | State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS for   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| the financial S. No.                                                                     | years 2021-22 and 2022-23. State/UT                                                      | FY 2021-22                                                                               | FY 2022-23                                                                               |
| 1                                                                                        | ANDHRA PRADESH                                                                           | 245                                                                                      | 257                                                                                      |
| 2                                                                                        | ARUNACHAL PRADESH                                                                        | 212                                                                                      | 216                                                                                      |
| 3                                                                                        | ASSAM                                                                                    | 224                                                                                      | 229                                                                                      |
| 4                                                                                        | BIHAR                                                                                    | 198                                                                                      | 210                                                                                      |
| 5                                                                                        | CHHATTISGARH                                                                             | 193                                                                                      | 204                                                                                      |
| 6                                                                                        | GUJARAT                                                                                  | 229                                                                                      | 239                                                                                      |
| 7                                                                                        | HARYANA                                                                                  | 315                                                                                      | 331                                                                                      |
| 8                                                                                        | HIMACHAL PRADESH - NON SCHEDULED AREA                                                    | 203                                                                                      | 212                                                                                      |
| 8a                                                                                       | HIMACHAL PRADESH - SCHEDULED AREA                                                        | 254                                                                                      | 266                                                                                      |
| 9                                                                                        | JAMMU &KASHMIR                                                                           | 214                                                                                      | 227                                                                                      |
| 10                                                                                       | LADAKH                                                                                   | 214                                                                                      | 227                                                                                      |
| 11                                                                                       | JHARKHAND                                                                                | 198                                                                                      | 210                                                                                      |
| 12                                                                                       | KARNATAKA                                                                                | 289                                                                                      | 309                                                                                      |
| 13                                                                                       | KERALA                                                                                   | 291                                                                                      | 311                                                                                      |
| 14                                                                                       | MADHYA PRADESH                                                                           | 193                                                                                      | 204                                                                                      |
| 15                                                                                       | MAHARASHTRA                                                                              | 248                                                                                      | 256                                                                                      |
| 16                                                                                       | MANIPUR                                                                                  | 251                                                                                      | 251                                                                                      |
| 17                                                                                       | MEGHALAYA                                                                                | 226                                                                                      | 230                                                                                      |
| 18                                                                                       | MIZORAM                                                                                  | 233                                                                                      | 233                                                                                      |
| 19                                                                                       | NAGALAND                                                                                 | 212                                                                                      | 216                                                                                      |
| 20                                                                                       | ODISHA                                                                                   | 215                                                                                      | 222                                                                                      |
| 21                                                                                       | PUNJAB                                                                                   | 269                                                                                      | 282                                                                                      |
| 22                                                                                       | RAJASTHAN                                                                                | 221                                                                                      | 231                                                                                      |
| 23                                                                                       | SIKKIM                                                                                   | 212                                                                                      | 222                                                                                      |
| 23a                                                                                      | SIKKIM(3 Gram Panchayat namely Gnathang, Lachung, Lachen)                                | 318                                                                                      | 333                                                                                      |
| 24                                                                                       | TAMILNADU                                                                                | 273                                                                                      | 281                                                                                      |
| 25                                                                                       | TRIPURA                                                                                  | 212                                                                                      | 212                                                                                      |
| 26                                                                                       | UTTAR PRADESH                                                                            | 204                                                                                      | 213                                                                                      |
| 27                                                                                       | UTTARAKHAND                                                                              | 204                                                                                      | 213                                                                                      |
| 28                                                                                       | WEST BENGAL                                                                              | 213                                                                                      | 223                                                                                      |
| 29                                                                                       | GOA                                                                                      | 294                                                                                      | 315                                                                                      |
| 30                                                                                       | ANDAMAN &NICOBAR                                                                         |                                                                                          |                                                                                          |
| 30a                                                                                      | ANDAMAN                                                                                  | 279                                                                                      | 292                                                                                      |
| 30b                                                                                      | NICOBAR                                                                                  | 294                                                                                      | 308                                                                                      |
| 31                                                                                       | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu                                                 | 269                                                                                      | 278                                                                                      |
| 32                                                                                       | LAKSHADWEEP                                                                              | 266                                                                                      | 284                                                                                      |
| 33                                                                                       | PUDUCHERRY                                                                               | 273                                                                                      | 281                                                                                      |
| 34                                                                                       | TELANGANA                                                                                | 245                                                                                      | 257                                                                                      |