1/6/2011 PM rejects NAC's recommendation on …

Printed from

PM rejects NAC's recommendation on minimum pay

Rukmini Shrinivasan, TNN, Jan 6, 2011, 02.47am IST

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has shot down the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council's recommendation that the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) workers be paid the minimum wages set by states.

The prime minister, in his December 31 letter to the UPA chairperson, clarified that the wage rate fixed by the central government would be
indexed to inflation but not linked to the Minimum Wage Act.

The PM's letter says that the consensual view that emerged after discussions with the ministries involved was that while NREGS wages should
remain delinked from the Minimum Wage Act, the government will protect a real wage of Rs 100 per day by indexing the wage rate to the
Consumer Price Index for agricultural labourers, from January 1, 2011 onwards.

The base will be reset every five years. A committee under the chairmanship of chief statistician Pronab Sen is working on an index for fixing
NREGS wages in the future, the letter adds.

Members of the Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan whose pioneering efforts contributed to the passage of the Employment
Guarantee Act termed the PM's decision as a violation of a Constitutional right. ''This represents a threat to the minimum wage structure which is
the only buffer that the vulnerable have against inflation and arbitrary changes,'' Nikhil Dey of the MKSS told TOI. Inflation indexing, which is
part of the Minimum Wage Act, will not by itself raise the wages of all NREGS workers to the minimum wage, he added.

In January 2009, the Centre froze wages to be paid under NREGS at Rs 100 as it was felt that some states tended to increase the minimum wage
arbitrarily. High inflation has led several states to revise their minimum wages and as a result, the minimum wages of 19 states including
Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala are higher than Rs 100 as of now, but not payable to NREGS
workers.

Labour groups in Andhra Pradesh went to the high court which expressed its displeasure and suspended the ministry's notification in AP. The MKSS
led by Magsaysay awardee Aruna Roy sat in dharna in Jaipur for 45 days over the issue. The matter was also raised by Roy, economist Jean Dreze
and Right To Food campaigner Harsh Mander in the meetings of the NAC chaired by Sonia.

On November 11, Sonia wrote to the PM attaching an NAC note saying that workers under NREGS are being paid less than the statutory
minimum wage. ''This is a totally unacceptable situation and needs to be corrected at once.'' Sonia had also attached a legal opinion given by
additional solicitor general Indira Jaising saying: ''The payment of wage below minimum wage would amount to forced labour.''

THE TIMES OF INDIA About us Advertise w ith us Terms of use Privacy policy Feedback

Pow ered by INDIATIMES RSS New sletter TOI Mobile ePaper Sitemap Archives

Other Times Group news sites Living and entertainment Hot on the Web
Times Crest | The Economic Times Timescity | iDiva | Bollyw ood | Zoom Hotklix
|
Mumbai Mirror | Times Now Network Services
Indiatimes | itimes | Dating & Chat | Email Book print ads | Online shopping | Business solutions | Book domains | Web hosting
| Go Green Business email | Free SMS | Free email | Website design | CRM | Tenders | Remit
Cheap air tickets | Matrimonial | Ringtones | Astrology | Jobs | Property | Buy car
eGreetings

Copyright © 2011 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service

…indiatimes.com/…/7225963.cms?prtpa… 1/1