The Supreme Court on Friday added to the Centre’s financial burden in financing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by directing the Government to implement its February 2014 notification fixing higher average daily wages to workers.
The direction came a day after the proposed Budget announcement by the NDA Government, which while reviving the employment guarantee scheme allocated Rs34,000 crore, an increase of Rs1,000 crore over last year.The February 13, 2014 notification of the Centre had announced higher wage scale for MGNREGA workers in the range of Rs118 to Rs181, varying from State to State. With the Court order, the burden of the Centre is set to rise beyond Rs1,000 crore.
A bench of Justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and SA Bobde gave the direction to the Centre after it was faced with an order from Karnataka High Court directing Centre to pay daily wages under MGNREGS commensurate with the minimum wage fixed by the State.The September 23, 2011 order of HC noted that the workers were paid less than even the minimum wage of Rs119 prescribed under the Karnataka Minimum Wages Act.
The Karnataka HC ruled that Section 6(1) of the MGNREGA could not be invoked to fix wage rate lower than what was prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and quashed the Government notification on wage rate of January 2009 and ordered payment of arrears to the workers in Karnataka.
The Centre objected to the order as the difference between MGNREGS wages and minimum wages in some States was substantial.Further, it argued that as on date, the minimum wages under MGNREGA were linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of agricultural labourers.No link was maintained with the MWA, as the State was at liberty to set this figure at its will, the Centre submitted in its appeal.
But with the revision of wages on February 13, 2014, the bench felt that the issue paled into insignificance. However, the court kept open the question of applying minimum wages limit to MGNREGS wages, in order to make the scheme attractive.