From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: Meghalaya has not made much progress under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) and wages paid there under this Centrally-sponsored scheme is the lowest in the whole country, said NPP leader and Tura MP Punro A Sangma on Monday.
“If you go through the list of payment of each state under MGNREGA the wages paid per day in Meghalaya (Rs 153) is the lowest in the country,” Sangma said while speaking to reporters here.
“Even Andaman and Nicober Islands pay more than Meghalaya,” the former Lok Sabha Speaker said. The UPA government did not release the MGNREGA fund to the Hill State on time, Punro said.
MGNREGA notified since 2005 mandates the respective state Governments to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The mega scheme has given rise to the largest employment programme in the country.