Odisha hikes MGNREGA workers' wage, announces ₹532 cr package

The MGNREGS package for daily wage workers in Odisha comes on the heels of a ₹1,690 crore package announced for landless farmers, construction workers, particularly vulnerable tribal groups, SC/ST students and physically handicapped students last month.

Published on: Jul 10, 2021, 07:24:32 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced a Covid assistance package of ₹532 crore for 32 lakh Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers in the state who have worked in the last 3 months of this year.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has announced the additional package under Covid-19 relief. (HT Photo/Arabinda Mahapatra)

A release from panchayati raj department said each of the 32 lakh workers will receive an additional ₹50 for each day of work done during the months in addition to the daily wage of ₹207 that National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) workers get in the state. The state panchayati raj department officials said 50.3 million persondays were created in 2020-21 (till July 1, 2020) against 75.9 million by the same time in the financial year 2021-22.

NREGA is the largest wage employment programme in the world and aims to enhance the livelihood security of households in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed work a year to every household whose adult members volunteer to work.

The latest package comes on the heels of a ₹1,690 crore package announced for landless farmers, construction workers, particularly vulnerable tribal groups, SC/ST students and physically handicapped students last month. A ₹29 crore package for street vendors too was announced last month.

Recently, Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) Khadya Adhikar Abhiyan demanded that blocks should ensure enough work under Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was sanctioned to cover as many habitations as possible. “Gram panchayats should be allowed to add works to the shelf of up to ₹10 lakhs without having to use the SECURE (Software for Estimate Calculation Using Rural Rates for Employment which is adjusted to take account of state specific workflow and rates) application. In each village, there should be 4-5 works operational so that the workers can be distributed among them,” the NGO had demanded.

Last year, tribal-dominated Keonjhar district increased the wage rate for all NREGA workers from District Mineral Foundation from ₹207 to ₹298.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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