MGNREGS received additional ₹3,400 crore, raising total allocation to ₹89,400 crore. Person-days exceeded targets. 10% wage hike during 8.4% growth. Below normal 2023 monsoon affected work demand projections.
The standing committee on rural development & panchayati raj has called for an upward revision of the base wage rate under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. At the same time, it has suggested that the base year used for computing wage growth be updated from the current 2009-10 to reflect today s reality.
Nearly 23.91 million individuals sought work under the scheme in January, down 1.7% from a year earlier, showed preliminary data compiled by the rural development ministry.
The individuals who sought work under MNREGS in December represented 19.97 million households, down 5.7% from 21.18 million households a year earlier. Demand for work under the MGNREGS moderated for a second straight month in December from a year before. Most of the demand came from Tamil Nadu (3.35 million), Rajasthan (2.60 million), Madhya Pradesh (2.38 million), Uttar Pradesh (2.34 million) and Bihar (1.59 million).
The demand for work under the government s rural job scheme, MGNREGS, has seen an unusual trend this fiscal year. While demand usually peaks in the summer months, it has grown rapidly during the monsoon season. Experts believe that erratic seasonal rains have prevented rural workers from migrating to farming, leading them to rely on the MGNREGS for employment.