Govt. Has Announced To Pay Minimum Wages to MGNREGA Workers in Keonjhar District

Bhubaneswar : In spite of COVID-19 pandemic, Odisha Government has decided to provide minimum wages to all the workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Keonjhar district.

Today It is released by Office of the District Information & Public Relation Officer, Keonjhar, ln order to help the rural poor in Keonjhar district cope with the immediate economic impact of the pandemic and to prevent them from falling deeper into poverty, all MGNREGA workers in Keonjhar district will be paid the minimum wage during the FY 2020-21.

“The current MGNREGA wage rate of Rs 207 per person per day will be ‘topped up’ with Rs 91, in order to match the minimum wage rate of Rs 298, notified by Labour & ESI Department, Government of Odisha, by utilizing the funds under District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trust,” said Ashish Thakare,Collector-cum-Chairman and Managing Trustee of DMF, Keonjhar.

This initiative Implemented at a cost of Rs 95 crore under DMF during FY 2020-21, more than 3.78 lakh active workers in Keonjhar are expected to directly benefitted by it.

By Implementing this plan Keonjhar becomes the first and only district in the country to pay minimum wages to MGNREGA workers.