Maharashtra among worst in paying MNREGA wages; Andhra, Telangana best

Maharashtra is among the worst states when it comes to paying wages to MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers. More than one-third unskilled labourers in Maharashtra, UP and West Bengal don't get their dues within the stipulated period of 15 days, reveals latest statistics.

On the other hand, neighboring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana excel along with some north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir with almost cent per cent payment on time, figures on the MNREGA portal show. As per the portal, Goa is among states where not a single worker got his/her dues on time.

The poor record of Maharashtra is saddening, especially since the state has been facing severe drought for the past couple of years. Situation has worsened this year with alarming rise in the number of farmer suicides due to debts.

Callous approach of the rural development department in releasing funds, bureaucratic red tape and lack of accountability are cited as major reasons disrupting timely payment, which results in distress among labourers.

In an earlier report on June 1 (Demand-supply gap in NREGA fuelling distress migration), dna had highlighted how there was 4-60% gap between demand for and supply of MNREGA works in drought-hit districts of Maharashtra, which was leading to a rise in distress migration of rural poor to urban areas.

Activists say they are not surprised with the state's poor record of unpaid dues under the MNREG Scheme, which is often accused of financial irregularities and corruption.

Such is the unrest that gram panchayats are now holding meetings to find out a solution to this chronic problem. Manual workers at Etapalli and Bhamaragad talukas in the Gadchiroli district, which borders Chhattisgarh, held a meeting two days back.

"Western Maharashtra, which is facing a dry spell, is the worst in implementing MNREGA. Neither work nor payment of wages to poor labourers is taken seriously. Also, labourers in remote tribal districts struggle on another front. They have to travel 20-40km to access their bank accounts, only to know that the wage is not in," says Mahesh Raut, a social activist from Gadchiroli.

While rural development minister Pankaja Munde Palwe remained unavailable for comments, a government official said, "Delay in release of funds and in updating muster records slows down the payment process. We are trying to address it soon."

In Maharashtra, nearly 10 lakh households have demanded employment under the scheme in past two months. Of them, only 6.6 lakh households have been provided with jobs. This translates into nearly 33% shortfall, according to statistics. Maharashtra offers Rs160 per day as wage under the scheme.

The MGNREG Act 2005 provides at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The Centre has allocated Rs38,000 crore for the scheme in 2016-17, which is the highest ever.

Pay all MNREGA dues to labourers by June 30: Centre tells state

The Centre has ordered the states to pay all the dues to labourers by the end of this month. The directive came after the May 13 Supreme Court order in this regard. "Those whose wages have been delayed by 15 days should be given 0.05% per day extra as the MNREGA rules stipulate," reads the circular issued to the states on June7. To keep the pressure on and expedite the process, Union rural development ministry on Thursday held a meeting of all secretaries of states via video conferencing.

Find if scheme curbed distress migration, states told

The Center has in a separate circular told the states to conduct field studies to find out the impact of the employment guarantee scheme on socio-economic status of the poor. States suffering from drought have been told to conduct research in drought-hit areas to see whether the scheme has any effect in arresting distress migration from rural areas.

Percentage of wage paid in 15 days

Andhra Pradesh: 99.51
Telangana: 99.19
Uttarakhand: 89.25
Jharkhand: 86.16
Assam: 84.23
Rajasthan: 80.12
Gujarat: 79.44
Karnataka: 75.6
Maharashtra: 64.21
Uttar Pradesh: 63.17
West Bengal: 63.13
Bihar: 57.27
Madhya Pradesh: 53.17
Chhattisgarh: 50.42
(Source: MNREGS website)