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Other States - Rajasthan

Union Minister defends payment under rural jobs scheme

Special Correspondent

“Provisions of Minimum Wage Act not applicable"

Defends audits by gram sabha members only

JAIPUR: Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister C.P. Joshi has defended the
payment structure in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, claiming
that the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act are not applicable in this case.

“As on today we are acting as per the provisions of the NREG Act,” he said, adding that the
concept of minimum wage as such is not applicable to the job scheme which is meant to support
livelihood.

The Minister, who is also the president of the Rajasthan Congress Committee, talking to media
persons at the PCC office here over the weekend said the government was paying as per the
provisions of the NREG Act. As for people who are clamouring for a revision of the minimum wage
in the case of MNREGA workers and revoking the existing wage freeze at Rs.100, Prof. Joshi said:
“The civil society representatives have a right to raise the issue. Back in 2006 the minimum wage in
Rajasthan was Rs.60.”

Prof. Joshi, who talked about a variety of topics with journalists on what appeared to be the eve of
his stepping down as the PCC president, said the minimum rate for MNREGS was fixed only in the
current financial year and the person working under the scheme need not necessarily be an able-
bodied person. “The entitlement is for the household. There can be even a 70-year-old working
under the scheme. This is not as per the Labour Act,” he pointed out.

“Minimum wage is different. The Sections 6(1) and 6(2) of the Act make it clear,” Prof. Joshi
pointed out.

Referring to the Andhra Pradesh High Court order seeking payment of minimum wage in the case of
MNREGS workers as well, he said the Union Government was also a party in the case. The matter
of MNREGA minimum wage has been referred to a committee headed by Planning Commission
member P. P. Sen, Prof. Joshi informed.

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Prof. Joshi also defended confining the powers of carrying out social audits on MNREGA accounts
to gram sabha members.

“The gram sabhas are empowered to do the social audit. That is clear in the Act,” he stated. As for
the role of independent agencies—as the social activists have been insisting on—the Minister said:
“Independent efforts will have only the role of a catalyst”.

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