Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act which is in short MGNREGA doesn't seem to please some workers in Jharkhand. Reason! They were unhappy with mere hike of 5 Rs in their wages under this rural employment scheme. As the minimum wages per day in Jharkhand is 212 Rs per day, workers under MGNREGA is getting just 162 Rs which was hiked to 167 Rs this year. Dissatisfied with such minimal hike, the workers under Gram Swaraj Mazdoor Sangh in Latehar of Jharkhand began to return those 5 Rs to PM Modi along with a sarcastic letter.

 

The letter thanks Modi for the hike of 5 Rs but feels that such a tiny hike is due to the financial problems faced by the government. The letter further alleges that government might have been facing such problems as they have to spend lots of amount on defence, tax concessions and salaries... and so the 5 Rs returned by the workers might help the government a little bit. ‘We hope that this will help you to keep your corporate friends and government employees happy,’ claims the letter at the end. Interestingly the hike of 5 Rs in Jharkhand is higher when compared to many states. In West Bengal, its just 2 Rs while it is 3 Rs in case of Assam. So! What are they going to do in such states?