Wages under NREGA must conform with minimum wages: Raghuvansh

New Delhi, June 11 (UNI) Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh today called for creating widespread awareness for the successful implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and said that wages paid under NREGA must be in conformity with the minimum wages fixed under the law.

Speaking at a Review Meeting of State Rural Development Secretaries held here today, the Minister said that State Governments cannot have different sets of wages for NREGA and other developmental programmes. The minimum wages should be similar to the wages paid to agricultural labourers for unskilled work and must be at par with payment made for developmental works carried out by other government agencies, he added.

He said there should be no discrimination on gender basis over the payment amount and the amount to be paid was on the basis of work actually done. The Minister stressed upon the judicious use of Central Grants and said that payment under NREGA was made only for 100 days of work. He clarified that the wages being paid under NREGA must be in conformity with minimum wages fixed under the Minimum Wages Act and there could not be a different wage structure for NREGA works alone.

He said a four-point strategy inclusive of strict vigilant monitoring, people's participation, transparency and accountability in implementing the NREGA in different States should be adopted and involvement of local representatives, including Member of Parliament of the area concerned, be ensured while carrying out the social audit of the schemes. Dr Singh asked for the timely revision of wages and verification of muster rolls on a regular basis.

Earlier, Rural Development Secretary Subas Pani apprised the participants of the agenda of meeting and asked for adoption of a transparent approach while implementing NREGA in their respective States. The meeting discussed various issues like deployment and training of personnel, muster roll verification campaign, social audit and the status of setting up of State Employment Guarantee Council etc.

UNI