Pointing out the problems facing millions of MGNREGA workers, NREGA Sangharsh Morcha called on the Union government to notify a rate of pay of Rs 600 per day for NREGA workers and the allocation of work during 150 days a year for each person’s work card holder in a letter to the Prime Minister and Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.

In the letter, NREGA Sangharsh Morcha stressed that the demand for an increase in wages to Rs 600 is in line with the recommendations of the 7th Wages Commission, which will allow a life of dignity to 15 million households registered under NREGA. The huge inflation over the past two years also means that in real terms salaries at MGNREGA remain paltry and insufficient, he said.

This is in particular due to the fact that the COVID 19 pandemic continues to be a serious public health problem with a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of workers, especially in the informal sector, and paid workers. daytime. A respectable increase in the wages of MGNREGA workers has become urgent given the huge inflation in the prices of food and all consumer goods, he said.

With an ever-increasing unemployment rate – according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy report, in August 2021, it was 8.32% – and a 34% drop in the fiscal budget of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA ) for the year 2021-22 compared to the revised estimate of the year 2020-21 adds to the woes of rural populations for survival and employment, NREGA Sangharsh Morcha said in the letter.

He suggested that the Union government notify the allowance of 150 days of salaried work per year for each person holding a work card and, in accordance with this request, the government should allocate the necessary budget for employment. of 29 crores of workers registered on the work card.