Lok Sabha Question No. 467 (STARRED), answered on 2022-04-05
Subject: Payment of Less Wages under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Anubhav Mohanty

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 467

ANSWERED ON 05/04/2022

## PAYMENT OF LESS WAGES UNDER MGNREGS

## *467.   SHRI ANUBHAV MOHANTY:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that the labour were paid less than the minimum wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaranteed Scheme (MGNREGS) Projects due to which the Government saved more than Rs.42,000 crores during the last two years;
- (b) if so, the reasons to pay less than the minimum wages to the labour working for the MGNREGS projects during the pandemic; and
- (c) whether the Government is aware that such data are available on the MGNREGS website for employment generated, V V Giri National Labour Institute and State Notifications for Minimum Wages and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI GIRIRAJ SINGH)

- (a) to (c):       A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## Statement in reply to Parts (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 467 for 05.04.2022

(a)to(c):    Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (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.

Under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, States submit fund release proposals to Government of India. Fund release to the States is a continuous process and Central Government is committed to making funds available to States for the implementation of the Scheme. The Ministry releases funds  periodically  in  two  tranches  with  each  tranche  consisting  of  one  or  more  installments, keeping  in  view  the  'agreed  to'  Labour  Budget,  demand  for  work,  opening  balance,  pace  of utilization  of  funds,  pending  liabilities,  overall  performance  and  subject  to   submission  of relevant documents by the State.

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 (CPI-AL). 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 notified wage rates for unskilled worker under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for the financial years 2019-20, 2020-21 is given at Annexure .

The  data  related  to  employment  generation  and  notified  wage  rate  under  Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is available on the website of the Scheme (www.nrega.nic.in.)

As per the Para 17 of Schedule-I of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 'The State Government shall link the wages, without any gender bias, with the quantity of work done and it shall be paid according to the rural schedule of rates fixed after time and motion studies for different types of work and different seasons and revised periodically'.

******

Annexure  referred  in  reply  to  parts  (a)to(c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Starred  Question  No.  467  dated 05.04.2022.

| State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled worker under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for the   | State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled worker under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for the   | State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled worker under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for the   | State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled worker under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA for the   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| financial SI. No.                                                                           | years 2019-20, 2020-21. State                                                               | 2019-20                                                                                     | 2020-21                                                                                     |
| 1                                                                                           | ANDHRA PRADESH                                                                              | 211                                                                                         | 237                                                                                         |
| 2                                                                                           | ARUNACHAL PRADESH                                                                           | 192                                                                                         | 205                                                                                         |
| 3                                                                                           | ASSAM                                                                                       | 193                                                                                         | 213                                                                                         |
| 4                                                                                           | BIHAR                                                                                       | 171                                                                                         | 194                                                                                         |
| 5                                                                                           | CHHATTISGARH                                                                                | 176                                                                                         | 190                                                                                         |
| 6                                                                                           | GUJARAT                                                                                     | 199                                                                                         | 224                                                                                         |
| 7                                                                                           | HARYANA                                                                                     | 284                                                                                         | 309                                                                                         |
| 8                                                                                           | HIMACHAL PRADESH - Non Scheduled Area                                                       | 185                                                                                         | 198                                                                                         |
| 8a                                                                                          | HIMACHAL PRADESH - Scheduled Area                                                           | 231                                                                                         | 248                                                                                         |
| 9                                                                                           | JAMMU AND KASHMIR                                                                           | 189                                                                                         | 204                                                                                         |
| 10                                                                                          | LADAKH                                                                                      |                                                                                             | 204                                                                                         |
| 11                                                                                          | JHARKHAND                                                                                   | 171                                                                                         | 194                                                                                         |
| 12                                                                                          | KARNATAKA                                                                                   | 249                                                                                         | 275                                                                                         |
| 13                                                                                          | KERALA                                                                                      | 271                                                                                         | 291                                                                                         |
| 14                                                                                          | MADHYAPRADESH                                                                               | 176                                                                                         | 190                                                                                         |
| 15                                                                                          | MAHARASHTRA                                                                                 | 206                                                                                         | 238                                                                                         |
| 16                                                                                          | MANIPUR                                                                                     | 219                                                                                         | 238                                                                                         |
| 17                                                                                          | MEGHALAYA                                                                                   | 187                                                                                         | 203                                                                                         |
| 18                                                                                          | MIZORAM                                                                                     | 211                                                                                         | 225                                                                                         |
| 19                                                                                          | NAGALAND                                                                                    | 192                                                                                         | 205                                                                                         |
| 20                                                                                          | ODISHA                                                                                      | 188                                                                                         | 207                                                                                         |
| 21                                                                                          | PUNJAB                                                                                      | 241                                                                                         | 263                                                                                         |
| 22                                                                                          | RAJASTHAN                                                                                   | 199                                                                                         | 220                                                                                         |
| 23                                                                                          | SIKKIM                                                                                      | 192                                                                                         | 205                                                                                         |
| 23a                                                                                         | SIKKIM (3 Gram Panchayats named Gnathang, Lachung and Lachen                                |                                                                                             | 308                                                                                         |
| 24                                                                                          | TAMIL NADU                                                                                  | 229                                                                                         | 256                                                                                         |
| 25                                                                                          | TRIPURA                                                                                     | 192                                                                                         | 205                                                                                         |
| 26                                                                                          | UTTAR PRADESH                                                                               | 182                                                                                         | 201                                                                                         |
| 27                                                                                          | UTTARAKHAND                                                                                 | 182                                                                                         | 201                                                                                         |
| 28                                                                                          | WEST BENGAL                                                                                 | 191                                                                                         | 204                                                                                         |
| 29                                                                                          | GOA                                                                                         | 254                                                                                         | 280                                                                                         |
| 30                                                                                          | ANDAMAN&NICOBAR                                                                             |                                                                                             |                                                                                             |
| 30a                                                                                         | ANDAMAN                                                                                     | 250                                                                                         | 267                                                                                         |
| 30b                                                                                         | NICOBAR                                                                                     | 264                                                                                         | 282                                                                                         |
| 31                                                                                          | Dadra &Nagar Haveli                                                                         | 224                                                                                         | 258                                                                                         |
| 32                                                                                          | Daman &Diu                                                                                  | 202                                                                                         | 227                                                                                         |
| 33                                                                                          | LAKSHADWEEP                                                                                 | 248                                                                                         | 266                                                                                         |
| 34                                                                                          | PUDUCHERRY                                                                                  | 229                                                                                         | 256                                                                                         |
| 35                                                                                          | TELANGANA                                                                                   | 211                                                                                         | 237                                                                                         |