GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4209
ANSWERED ON 19/08/2025
DIFFERENCE IN WAGE RATES
4209. Shri Subbarayan K:
Com. Selvaraj V:
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that the various State Governments have
different wage rates for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment...
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4209 ANSWERED ON 19/08/2025 DIFFERENCE IN WAGE RATES
4209. Shri Subbarayan K:
Com. Selvaraj V:
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that the various State Governments have different wage rates for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers; and
(b) if so, the details of the wage rate prevailing in different States and the criteria on which the wage rates are fixed in the States? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)
(a)&(b): As per Section 6 (1) of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), 2005, the Central Government may, by notification, specify the wage rate for its beneficiaries. The Government of India has been determining the wage rates using the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPI- AL) from the year 2011-12.
The Ministry of Rural Development revises the wage rate every financial year based on change in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPI-AL). The index is different for different States/UTs as notified by Labour Bureau Shimla. If the calculated wage rate of any State/UT as per the index for the current year results in lower wage rate than the wage rate of previous year, it is being protected by maintaining the previous year's wage rate. The revised wage rate is made applicable from 1st April of each financial year.
However, each State/UT can provide wages over and above the wage rate notified by the Central Government.
Using the above methodology, Central Government has revised the notified wage rate for FY 2025-26 which is around 5% (average) more than of FY 2024-25.
State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in current financial year 2025-26 are given at Annexure. ***** Page 1 of 2Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a)&(b) of LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 4209 dated 19.08.2025.
State/UT-wise notified wage rates for unskilled workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the current financial year 2025-26. (inRs.) Sl. No. State/UTs FY 2025-26 1 Andhra Pradesh 307 2 Arunachal Pradesh 241 3 Assam 256 4 Bihar 255 5 Chhattisgarh 261 6 Goa 378 7 Gujarat 288 8 Haryana 400 9 Himachal Pradesh Non-Scheduled Areas 247 9(a) Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Areas 309 10 Jammu and Kashmir 272 11 Ladakh 272 12 Jharkhand 255 13 Karnataka 370 14 Kerala 369 15 Madhya Pradesh 261 16 Maharashtra 312 17 Manipur 284 18 Meghalaya 272 19 Mizoram 281 20 Nagaland 241 21 Odisha 273 22 Punjab 346 23 Rajasthan 281 24 Sikkim 259 Sikkim (three Gram Panchayats named 389 24 (a) Gyanthang, Lachung and Lachen) 25 Tamil Nadu 336 26 Telangana 307 27 Tripura 256 28 Uttar Pradesh 252 29 Uttarakhand 252 30 West Bengal 260 Andaman District 342 Andaman and Nicobar 31 Nicobar District 361 32 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 340 33 Lakshadweep 336 34 Puducherry 336 ***** Page 2 of 2