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Published: October 10, 2010 02:23 IST | Updated: October 10, 2010 02:23 IST

Centre to step in Rajasthan MNREGS wage row

K. Balchand
The Centre has decided to direct the Rajasthan government to pay the admissible wage rate under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MNREGS) to those workers of Tonk district who were paid a mere pittance of Re. 1 as wages.
Union Rural Development Ministry Secretary B.K. Sinha has sought a report from Rajasthan and upon receiving it would direct the State government to make
amends and pay the wages as prescribed under the Act.
Mr. Sinha told The Hindu that section 6 of Schedule I of the Act stated very clearly that under no circumstances the labourers should be paid less than the wage
rate. Rajasthan will have to pay the applicable wage rate.
Despite the hue and cry the government has not yielded to the demand for corrective measures, saying that enquiries have not revealed any fault in the process
adopted for making the payment.
Union Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi said that the workers had not put in any work and did not deserve wages.
Mr. Sinha clarified that once the workers had been given job it was the responsibility of the authorities to pay proper wages, as paying just Re. 1 did not appeal to
common sense and is totally unacceptable.
The angry workers staged a ‘satyagraha' and returned the money to the State government in Jaipur on October 2.
The Ministry is considering the possibility of paying bonus to workers engaged under MNREGS, besides extending the facility of provident fund (PF) to them.
Mr. Sinha said that the department was working out the methodology to make bonus payment to those who had put in a certain number of days under the scheme
which guarantees 100 days work to below poverty line households.
Similarly, provident fund deductions will be made from the wages of those with an average number of working days to their credit. T he government would also
make a contribution to their PF accounts, he maintained.
Keywords: MNREGS scheme

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