E-Paper
MP Arora urges Centre to increase wages for MGNREGA workers
In a statement, he said he had taken up this issue in the ongoing budget session of Rajya Sabha, mentioning that the current wage rate under MGNREGA in Punjab is ₹303 per day which is less than the neighbouring state Haryana, where the wage rate is ₹357 per day
Member Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Sanjeev Arora has expressed his dissatisfaction with the wages being given to the workers of Punjab under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) compared to the neighbouring state Haryana.
In a statement, he said he had taken up this issue in the ongoing budget session of Rajya Sabha, mentioning that the current wage rate under MGNREGA in Punjab is ₹303 per day which is less than the neighbouring state Haryana, where the wage rate is ₹357 per day.
He pointed out that the Punjab State Labour Department has notified unskilled agricultural labour wage rate of ₹412.95 per day, which is much higher than the wage rate offered under MGNREGA.
Arora said that such discrimination creates inequality among workers and weakens the dignity of labour and the intention of the MGNREGA programme.
He urged the Centre to intervene in the matter and revise the current wage rate for Punjab. He said, “It is imperative that the wage rate is increased to bring it on par with either Haryana or the wage rates set by the labour department.”
Arora lamented that the annual amount released under MNREGA has reduced in 2022-23, compared to previous years. This amount should have increased over the years, keeping the inflation in mind, he added.
He said this issue was raised earlier also by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann. Punjab is getting more work done under the MGNREGA scheme, but the Centre is discriminating against workers of the state, he alleged. He said that in comparison to the year 2020-21 ( ₹77 crore), three times more work of repair of canals and reservoirs ( ₹228 crore) is being done under MGNREGA in 2023-24.
Arora opined that the MGNREGA workers play a key role in the development of the state with their hard labour, therefore, their interests could never be ignored.
