Increase in NREGA wages once again extremely paltry

March 18th, 2021

Awake Goy

The increase in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) wage rates for 2021-22 is extremely paltry (see the table). There is no increase in Kerala’s NREGA wage rate. Rajasthan’s wage rate has increased by just Re 1. In fact, for 24 states, the increase in the NREGA wage rate is less than 5 per cent.

The country’s economy has still not fully recovered from the disruptions caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the various lockdowns imposed by the government last year. Even though working conditions continue to remain precarious in urban areas, many workers who returned to their village last year are once again forced to migrate in search of work. Some of them had to go back to their village empty handed. The negligible increase in NREGA wages for the coming financial year will only reinforce this trend. A well-functioning NREGA with adequate wages can provide a lifeline for rural workers and play an important role in reducing distress migration.

It is shocking that while, even during an economic downturn, the government helps businesses by giving them loan write-offs and tax concessions, it doesn’t have the will to provide a living wage for the poorest workers. Like the passage of the labor codes last year, the negligible increase in NREGA wages demonstrates the government’s willingness to sacrifice workers’ basic rights for the sake of corporate profits.

NREGA Sangharsh Morcha demands that the central government increases NREGA wage rate at least to the level of the statutory minimum wage rate for agriculture. Over time, the government must also align the wage rates as per the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. It must also increase the guarantee of work to 200 days. This will require a significant increase in the budget allocated for the programme. The central government has only allocated Rs 73,000 crore for NREGA for 2021-22; Rs 38,500 crore less than the amount allocated for 2020-21.

Table: State-wise comparison of NREGA wage rates for 2021-22 and 2020-21

State	NREGA Wage Rate for 2021-22 (Rs)	NREGA Wage Rate for 2020-21 (Rs)	Increase in the NREGA Wage Rate (Rs)^a
Andhra Pradesh	245	237	8 (3.4)
Arunachal Pradesh	212	205	7 (3.4)
Assam	224	213	11 (5.2)
Bihar	198	194	4 (2.1)
Chhattisgarh	193	190	3 (1.6)
Goa	294	280	14 (5.0)
Gujarat	229	224	5 (2.2)
Haryana	315	309	6 (1.9)
Himachal Pradesh^b	254	248	6 (2.4)
Jammu and Kashmir	214	204	10 (4.9)
Ladakh	214	204	10 (4.9)
Jharkhand	198	194	4 (2.1)
Karnataka	289	275	14 (5.1)
Kerala	291	291	0 (0)
Madhya Pradesh	193	190	3 (1.6)
Maharashtra	248	238	10 (4.2)
Manipur	251	238	13 (5.5)
Meghalaya	226	203	23 (11.3)
Mizoram	233	225	8 (3.6)
Nagaland	212	205	7 (3.4)
Odisha	215	207	8 (3.9)
Punjab	269	263	6 (2.3)
Rajasthan	221	220	1 (0.5)
Sikkim^c	212	205	7 (3.4)
Tamil Nadu	273	256	17 (6.6)
Telangana	245	237	8 (3.4)
Tripura	212	205	7 (3.4)
Uttar Pradesh	204	201	3 (1.5)
Uttarakhand	204	201	3 (1.5)
West Bengal	213	204	9 (4.4)