1.4 lakh families reach MGNREGA’s annual work limit-THE HINDU-07-07-2020

Context: Amid demand surge, 1.4 lakh families have reached annual MGNREGA work limit.

Details:

* 1.4 lakh poor rural households have already completed their work quota of 100 days under MGNREGA in the first three months of the year, and will not be eligible for further benefits under the rural employment guarantee scheme for the rest of the year.

* Another 7 lakh households have completed 80 days .

*COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown resulting in thousands of unemployed migrant workers returning to their villages and now dependent on MGNREGA wages.

*The MGNREGA scheme contains a provision for districts affected by drought or other natural disaster to request an expansion of the scheme to allow for 150 days of work per household.

*The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown resulting in thousands of unemployed migrant workers returning to their villages, many are now dependent on MGNREGA wages.

*1.4 lakh families may only be a fraction of the 4.6 crore households who have benefited from the scheme this year, it is the poorest families with no options other than MGNREGA who have already reached their 100 day limit and need an extension.

*The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha argues that the limit should be imposed per adult individual rather than per household, and has demanded an increase to 200 days per individual at a daily wage rate of Rs600. The current wage rate of Rs200 per day does not even match up to minimum wage rates in most States.

*COVID-19 was declared a national disaster, activists have demanded that this provision be implemented immediately.