Centre Raises Daily Wage Rates Under MNREGA Scheme By Up To 10.4 Per Cent For FY24

The government has increased daily wage rates by up to 10.4 per cent for FY24 under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREGA) Scheme.

The rise in MGNREGA daily wage rates gains significance as they set the standard for rural wages and impact industrial wages as well.

The hikes are related to the changes in the CPI (Agriculture Labour), which reflects inflationary pressure in rural areas.

According to a notification by the Rural Development Ministry, the daily wages have increased by Rs 7 to Rs 26.

Revised wages in different states and Union territories range from Rs 221 (Chhattisgarh/Madhya Pradesh) to Rs 357 (Haryana) for FY24.

Nine states and Union territories, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, have wage rate hikes below 5 per cent for FY24, reports Economic Times.

MNREGA scheme guarantees 100 days of unskilled manual labor employment annually to adult members of any rural household who desire to work for public purposes.

Spending on MNREGA is estimated to increase from the budgeted Rs 73,000 crore to Rs 89,400 crore this fiscal year, as per the government's revised estimates.

The MNREGA spending is expected to increase to Rs 89,400 crore from Rs 73,000 crore, according to the government's revised estimate for this fiscal year.

For FY24, the government has budgeted Rs 60,000 crore, but Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has indicated that additional funds may be allocated if needed.