Govt may freeze NREGA wage rate at Rs 100 per day

NEW DELHI: In a bid to limit the fiscal burden of Congress���s ���aam aadmi��� poll promise, Centre is likely to ensure that NREGA wage rate is frozen at Rs 100 for future.

The move comes couched as Congress redeeming its poll promise of giving a real wage rate of Rs 100 under job scheme. The poll pledge was meant to hike the wages in states where they were stuck at lower levels.

The rural development ministry���s proposal, to be discussed with Central Employment Guarantee Council, an apex body of experts on NREGA, appears a deft attempt to outsmart states which are increasing their minimum wages to force higher remuneration under the job scheme. The NREG Act sets minimum wages of states as the wage to be paid under NREGA.

Ninety per cent of NREGA funds are shouldered by Centre. What seems to have triggered a flat Rs 100 wage is the decision of many states to hike their minimum wages even beyond Rs 100. Karnataka, Punjab, Bengal, MP, HP, AP, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh hiked their minimum wages recently and asked RD ministry to notify the same under NREGA.

According to the proposal, states could ask the Centre for a NREGA wage hike ���subject to a limit of upto Rs 100 per personday���. At the same time, Centre will give Rs 100-plus wages in states where the high rates were prevalent on January 1, 2009. If the move finds favour with CEGC, experts said, future proposals from the states demanding Rs 100-plus NREGA rates in conformity with hiked minimum wages would automatically become redundant.