The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Mixed response to hike in wages under MGNREGS

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Wednesday, Mar 02, 2011
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Mixed response to hike in wages under MGNREGS

Staff Reporter

The workers covered under the purview of the scheme now will be drawing wages
at Rs. 119 a day
A section of society feels that the works assigned will be of no use

Tirupur: The increase in the wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that came into effect in the district a few days ago has evoked varied response n the district.

The workers covered under the purview of the scheme now would be drawing wages at Rs. 119 a day, an increase of Rs. 19.

Escalation

The workers' class feels it that the hike in wages had come at a right moment when the living cost was going up owing to escalation in the prices of essential commodities.

The scheme was launched with an aim to enhance the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of waged employment in a financial year to a rural household.

However, a section of society feels that the hiking the workers' salary without changing the nature of the works assigned would be of no use. “We need to give more emphasis on renovation works as almost 100 per cent of works being carried out in the state now are just earth works unlike in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala,” the Rural Development Engineering Officials' Federation (RDEOF) sources told

The Hindu.

In those states, the renovation works to earth works is carried out at 40:60 ratio.

Assets

RDEOF sources said that taking up of renovation works was essential to create assets as most of the earth works presently been taken up gets washed away in rain.

“Instead of confining to just desilting works in a pond or a canal, it is essential to create retaining walls and other structures to ensure that the bunds remain intact,” sources added.

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