Hundreds of MGNREGA workers on Thursday held a protest demanding that their wages should be increased to ₹600 and the work days should be increased to 365 days.
Amid heavy police deployment, the protesters, including women, tried to gherao the CM residence in Prem Nagar in Karnal but police managed to stop them and the staged a dhrana. They raised slogans against the state government to press their demands.
Ram Avtar Singh, state convener of MGNREGA workers’ organisation, said that there are around 2.82 lakh MGNREGA workers, but the government is exploiting the workers by paying them a meagre wage of ₹331.
He alleged that the workers were not getting 100 days’ work as per the act.
They also demanded other benefits, including BPL card, medical insurance under Ayushman Bharat scheme and ₹25 lakh assistance to kin of workers who die on job.
They threatened to intensify the protest if their demands were not met at earliest.