MGNREGA WAGES REVISED

Context

The national government has announced new compensation rates for 2022-23 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Key Points

• Twenty-one of the 34 Union Territories and states have received less than 5% rise.
• Ten states have received a 5% increase.
• There have been no hikes in Mizoram, Manipur, or Tripura.
• The Ministry of Rural Development has been notified of the adjustment in wage rates.
• These new rates were announced under Section 6 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, sub-section (1).
• The adjustments will take effect on April 1st.
• MGNREGA salaries are set following changes in the Consumer Price Index-Agriculture Labor, which measures the rate of inflation in rural areas.

Changes in Rate

• The most significant increase was in Goa, with a 7.14 per cent increase from Rs 294 per day in 2021-22 to Rs 315 per day in 2022-23.
• Meghalaya has witnessed the smallest increase, with a 1.77 per cent increase from Rs 226 to Rs 230 per day.
• In Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, the increase was less than 2%.
• The boost was between 2 and 3 per cent in Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Puducherry.
• There is a 3 to 4% growth in Odisha, Maharashtra, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
• Wages have been raised by 4 to 5% in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Telangana.
• Wages have increased by more than 5% in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Goa, and Karnataka.

Highest MGNREGA wages

• Haryana has the highest wages, at Rs 331 per day, followed by Goa at Rs 315, Kerala at Rs 311, Karnataka at Rs 309, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at Rs 308.

Lower MGNREGA wages

• Tripura (Rs 212), Bihar (Rs 210), Jharkhand (Rs 210), Chhattisgarh (Rs 204), and Madhya Pradesh (Rs 204) are the five lowest UTs and states.