MGNREGA wages likely to be hiked soon

The wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), Asha and Anganwadi schemes are likely to be hiked, according to a report in The Economic Times. The government is planning to overhaul the Consumer Price Index for agricultural (CPI-AL) and rural workers (CPI-RL). The CPI-AL and CPI-RL will be overhauled keeping 2019 as the base year and consumption basket instead of 1986-87.

This move will likely lead to a hike in wages of workers under the schemes of  MGNREGA, Asha, and Anganwadi workers. The new index with the revised base year and the basket is likely to be launched in September.

Base year revision

The indices CPI-AL and CPI-RL are used to revise the minimum wages of workers who work in the agricultural sector across states in India. A survey by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) for the proposed base year revision of CPI-AL and CPI-RL, currently underway, will be instrumental in the construction of a new series with a new base year.

The base price collection will continue across the country in 787 villages until the new series is finalised.  After that, the labour bureau will take into account the results of the consumer expenditure survey, NSS 68th Round results that were done in the year 2011-12 in order to compile the basket for the new series.

Govt plans individual indices for states

The wages of MGNREGA were hiked to Rs 202 in April 2020 from the previous value of Rs 182. Apart from increasing the wages, the government is also looking at decreasing the disparities between states. The government is planning to provide individual indices to all the Indian states. As of now, 20 states have their own index and the rest use the index of their neighbouring state to determine wages. This often leads to disputes related to underpayment of wages.