As per a report by Down to Earth, the Central Government has failed to pay the wages of the workers under the MGNREGA Scheme. As per the data given on that article the Government owes around Rs.2,800 crore to the workers for this financial year and around Rs.1,984 crore for the previous financial year.
What is MGNREGA?
The MGNREGA Scheme of the Government guarantees 100 days employment in a financial year to at least one member of every household of rural areas whose adult members perform unskilled manual work. This scheme ensures that employment is provided to the applicants with in 5 km distance from their residence. If the Government fails to provide them employment within 15 days, they are eligible to get a compensation.
The article indicates that the workers registered under the scheme are facing issues regarding their payment. The workers claimed that they have not been given their wages since several months.
Workers across 13 Indian states have held protests to raise their issues and demand their unpaid wages. They have been protesting in Delhi since 2nd August, 2022. The report says that these workers are willing to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise their issues. Another article on the Down to Earth reported that that protestors have also claimed that over Rs.21,850 crore of wages since April 2020 is still unpaid.
The inadequate funding is the one of the prominent reason for delayed payments of the workers in different parts of the country. This has led them to protest in order to get money to feed their families. Various groups that work with the NREGA laborers across India such as the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM) have called the National Action Days to help the laborers to raise their issues.
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