Finding his government in a tight spot over suicides by drought-hit farmers, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an increase in the wage rate under MGNREGA to provide livelihood support to farmers in crisis.
“The wage rate under the MGNREGA for Odisha may be increased to Rs.200 which is the minimum wage for unskilled workers in the said scheme,” Mr. Patnaik said in his letter addressed to Mr. Modi.
“In order to reduce the suffering of farmers, adequate fund flow under MGNREGA may be ensured by the government of India to the State government,” he said.
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The Chief Minister further said that a provision may be made in the NREGA software to enable the State government to provide the extra incentives to the workers under the MGNREGA in the State. Stating that Odisha is facing a severe drought this year on account of scanty and erratic rainfall, Mr. Patnaik said that as per the preliminary report, the drought-like situation is prevailing in 139 out of 314 blocks of the State.
Mr. Patnaik had written to Mr. Modi on Friday also seeking Central government’s intervention and timely financial for combating the drought situation prevalent in the State. He had also written a separate letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday urging him to reduce interest rate on crop loans.