Meena blames Centre for late MGNREGA wages

Jaipur: Rural development minister Kirori Lal Meena told Rajasthan Assembly Monday that MGNREGA wage payments are not always made on time, blaming delays in the release of Centre's share of funds.

Responding to a supplementary question by Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully during Question Hour, Meena said workers are supposed to be paid within 15 days, but delays occur in some cases.


"The primary reason for the delay is that the Union govt's share of funds is not received on time. We wrote to the Centre requesting the release of the pending amount, and I will personally follow up on the matter," Meena said.

He said pending payments would be cleared once the Centre releases its contribution, adding that delays also happen when workers do not submit required documents on time.

On a separate question by MLA Samarjit Singh on pending payments for MGNREGA works approved in Jalore district, Meena said labour wages had been fully paid and most material payments released.

"About 100% of labour payments were made, while around 83% of the material component was cleared. The remaining 17% will be released once approval and funds are received from the Centre," he said.

Meena also told the House that approvals for MGNREGA works are issued at the district level, not by the state govt.