In a report tabled in Parliament, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Wednesday asked the Ministry of Rural Development to withdraw its caste-based wage payment system for MGNREGA workers. Along with this, the committee has also asked the ministry to restore the old mechanism in its place.
On March 2, 2021, the Ministry of Rural Development had sent an advisory to the states asking them to take necessary steps for payment of wages to MGNREGA workers as per SC, ST and other categories from the financial year 2021-22.
Under the new system, for example, if 20 people (6 SC, 4 ST and 10 others) are working on MGNREGA sites, they are paid through three separate Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) for three categories. . As soon as this system was implemented from April 1, 2021, complaints started coming from the beneficiaries of MNREGA about not getting wages on time. Workers belonging to the general and OBC categories were often getting late payments.
Now the Standing Committee has also criticized the separate category for payment of salary. The committee, headed by Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav, has said in its report that MGNREGA workers are “economically weak and they can belong to any religion/caste”.
It further said, “Creating a payment system in which preference is given to one specific community over another on the basis of caste only, will create resentment and rift among MGNREGA beneficiaries.” According to the Ministry of Rural Development, the system of category wise wage payment was brought in to accurately reflect the fund distribution on the ground to different population groups. Of the 15.52 crore active workers registered under MGNREGA, 20.12% belong to the Scheduled Castes and 16.06% to the Scheduled Tribes.