Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday demanded the Narendra Modi government increase the minimum wages under the rural job guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, to Rs 400 and up the maximum work days to 150 from the present 100.
Accusing the Modi government of undermining the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act programme launched by the UPA government led by the late prime minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia said the present BJP government has systematically undermined the scheme.
“The Budget allocation remains stagnant at Rs. 86,000 crore. The allocated budget has actually declined by Rs 4,000 crore. Moreover, estimates suggest that nearly 20 per cent of the allocated funds will be used to clear pending dues from previous years,” Sonia said in her speech in the Rajya Sabha.
Apart from an increase in the minimum daily wages from the existing Rs 374 to Rs. 400, the Congress has also demanded sufficient funding in the Budget to sustain and expand the scheme, timely wage disbursement, removal of mandatory Aadhaar-based payment system and National Mobile Monitoring scheme requirements and an increase in guaranteed work days from 100 to 150 per year.
“Additionally, the scheme faces multiple challenges, including the exclusionary Aadhaar-based payment system and the National Mobile Monitoring system, persistent delays in wage payments, and wage rates inadequate to compensate for inflation,” Sonia said.
The Trinamool Congress and the BJP have been sparring for years over the alleged non-release of MNREGA dues to the state of Bengal.
Last year, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced from a dharna that the state government will pay 21 lakh MGNREGA workers from its own coffers as the Centre had not released funds. The BJP has alleged that the Trinamool government was diverting funds and had not been able to provide utilisation certificates.