Govt raises Minimum Wage Limit in MGNREGA to Rs 135

Central Government has raised the Minimum wage limit in MGNREGA to Rs 135 while the Maximum has been fixed to Rs 214, effective from April 2013. Earlier the minimum wage was Rs 120.

Wages under MGNREGA is fixed for every state. While for North Eastern States, it is Rs 135  making it lowest in the country, for Harayana it is Rs 214, the highest in the country.

This was announced in Parliament by Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh.

MGNREGA wage rates are revised every year based on inflation and is implemented from April 1st every year.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an India Government’s  scheme  to provide a legal guarantee for at least one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage. If Government  fails  do so it has to pay the salary at their homes.

MNREGA was launched on February 2, 2006 from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh and initially covered 200 of the “poorest” districts of the country. The Act was implemented in phased manner; 130 districts were added from 2007 to 2008.

With its spread to over 625 districts across the country, the flagship program of the UPA Government has the potential to increase the purchasing power of rural poor, reduce distress migration and to create useful assets in rural India. Also, it can foster social and gender equality as 23% workers under the scheme are Scheduled Castes, 17% Scheduled Tribes and 50% women. In 2010–11, 41 million households were employed on NREGA worksites.