Taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government on the revised wages for MGNREGA workers, which has gone up by 3% to 10.5% for various States, including ₹7 hike for workers in Uttar Pradesh, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sardonically congratulated the workers for their “increased” salary.
In a post on X in Hindi, Mr. Gandhi wrote, “Congratulations to MGNREGA workers! The Prime Minister has increased your salary by ₹7. Now he might ask you, ‘What will you do with such a huge amount of money?’”
He claimed that the government could spend ₹700 crore on a “Thank You Modi campaign” for this hike.
He also sought to remind the voters that if elected, the INDIA bloc government would increase the wages of every worker to ₹400 per day.
Congress general secretary, and former Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh questioned the revision coming at a time of the Model Code of Conduct. The Union government had taken approval from the Election Commission before making the announcement. This was an annual hike that usually came in the month of March.
The hike ranged from ₹7 in Uttar Pradesh (₹230 in 2023 to ₹237 in 2024) to ₹34 hike in Goa (₹322 in 2023 to ₹356 in 2024). The highest wage was in Haryana — ₹374. A significant jump in wages was reported in seven States — Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Goa where the hikes varied from 8% to 10.5%. Bihar followed closely behind, with a revision of ₹17. These revised rates would be applicable from April 1.
There were a total of 14.34 crore active workers. As per the latest statistics of the government in the financial year 2023-24, the nationwide average days of employment provided per household was 51 days as against the promise of guaranteed 100-days of work.
