In the light of Covid-19 outbreak, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of financial aid, which included an increase in the minimum MNREGA wage rate to Rs 202 from Rs 182. However, she was misleading the public.
The increase in regular annual wage was announced three days ago, on March 23, by the Rural Development Ministry. The ministry announces this increase annually and even without the outbreak of Covid-19, there would have been this increase in wages. "The Rural Development Ministry had announced it three days ago. It is the adjustment against inflation, so it is simply an indexation. This is to ensure the people can buy the same amount of grains, pulses and other food items in the light of inflation," explained Nikhil Dey, a social activist, who works with Mazdoor Kishan ShaktiSangthan (MKSS).
The Finance Ministry has even got the announcement wrong. The ministry has erroneously calculated Rs 182 as the average minimum wage, when they should be looking at the notified minimum wage. "Her figure is wrong completely. Wages are given based on the cubic feet of work done in a day. Suppose a full day's wage in a state is Rs 200 for 10 cubic feet of work, if I do only 8 cubic ft of work, then I'll get only 80% of the wages. So, the actual amount paid to these workers varies from states to state and person to person as it depends on the volume of work. So, instead of stating that the notified wages will be increased, she opted to announce an increase in average wage, which depends on the volume of work done. So, her premise itself is wrong," underscored RajendranNarayanan, an assistant professor at AzimPremji University and researcher on accountability of government programmes like MNREGA, Public Distribution Systems and pensions.
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