Workdays for tribals under MNREGA raised from 100 to 150

In a bid to woo tribals ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the government on Friday raised the workdays under its flagship rural employment guarantee programme MNREGA from 100 to 150 for tribals, a move that will benefit 14 lakh families.

The Union Cabinet decision will come into effect from April this year. Those tribals who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 will be eligible for additional 50 days of wage employment under the rural job scheme.

The beneficiaries would be those who have completed 100 workdays in that particular financial. They will be given a job card of a different colour to distinguish from the regular MNREGA workers. Around 14 lakh individual and community titles have been distributed under FRA 2006. Of these around 8 lakh individual titles have been given in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.