Centre releases Rs 245 crore for rural job scheme wages

The Central Government has released Rs 245 crore to the state under the wages component of the MGNREGA scheme. The payment was pending since December last year. According to a senior official, around Rs 52 crore under the material component and around Rs 8 crore or Rs 9 crore under the administrative component of the scheme is still pending with the Central Government.

Due to the pendency of the payment under the wages component, gram panchayats were not able to make the payment of wages to MGNREGA workers. “People who are entirely dependent on MGNREGA for their livelihood were hit hard. The payment of wages often gets delayed towards the end of the financial year but this time, the delay was quite long,” said a gram panchayat pradhan. The released wages payment is for the period from December, 2024, to March, 2025.

He said that the payment of wages for the works carried out in the new financial year was being made on time. “We have already received payments for the work that were completed in April,” he added.