Parliament Budget Session: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday strongly pitched for an increase in minimum wages and the number of guaranteed workdays under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Raising the matter during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, she accused the BJP-led central government of "systematically undermining" the flagship welfare programme by keeping its budget allocation stagnant.
"Despite MGNREGA being a lifeline for millions of rural families, its potential is being deliberately weakened," Gandhi stated, urging the government to take immediate steps to revive and strengthen the scheme for the benefit of rural workers. The Budget allocation remains stagnant at Rs 86,000 crores," the Congress leader said during her address.
Also, minimum wage should be increased by Rs 400 per day along with timely disbursement of wages, the Congress leader said, adding that the number of guaranteed workdays should be increased from 100 to 150 per year. "These measures are essential to ensure that MGNREGA provides dignified employment and financial security," Gandhi added.
She further underlined the multiple challenges the scheme is facing, including Aadhar-based payments, delay in disbursing wages and also inadequate payments. "The scheme faces multiple challenges, including an exclusionary Aadhaar-based payment system and National mobile monitoring system, persistent delays in wage payments and inadequate payments," Gandhi said.
The Opposition party has further demanded that the minimum wage of the scheme to be increased to Rs 400 per day and ensure a timely disbursement of wages. Since the introduction of the Union Budget on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Congress party has accused the union government of "throttling MGNREGA." Earlier on February 2, speaking on the scheme, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari expressed concerns over reduced funding for crucial sectors such as education, rural development, and MGNREGA in the budget and questioned the government's commitment to its "Viksit Bharat" vision.
What is MGNREGA?
It should be mentioned here that MGNREGA was passed in 2005, under the then United Progressive Alliance government. The scheme guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to at least one member of rural household to any adult who is looking to do unskilled manual work. Women are also guaranteed one-third of the jobs under the scheme.
(With inputs from agencies)
