Perception of the Workers on Wage Rate under MGNREGA in Odisha: A Critical Analysis

The objective of the present paper is to critically analyse the perception of the workers under MGNREGA in Odisha about their perception on the wage rate of the scheme by analysing the primary data collected from 17 districts. The result shows that 38.5 percent of the sample households have some family member(s) working under the MGNREGA scheme of Odisha. Larger percentage of non participation in the MGNREGA is indicative of the fact that households are either not getting sufficient jobs under the scheme or there are alternatively better options for them which put a question mark on the efficacy of the scheme. It is also observed that some the beneficiaries receive the payment directly through cash. Upon confidentially, the workers revealed that the contractors take their job cards and withdraw the wage on their behalf. This is indicative of the alliance of the bank and post office officers with the contractors. Further, workers those who have other income sources like agriculture and/or small business are satisfied with the wage rate they receive under the scheme.