Swaraj Abhiyan v. Union of India
Quick Reply: Wage delay compensation under MGNREGA is a statutory entitlement. Schedule II, paragraph 29, of the Act provides 0.05% of unpaid wages per day for delay beyond the sixteenth day of muster-roll closure.
Supreme Court of India · 13 May 2016 · W.P.(C) No. 857 of 2015
Workers are entitled to delay compensation at 0.05% of the unpaid wages per day for the duration of the delay beyond the sixteenth day of the closure of the Muster Roll.
Case details
| Court | Supreme Court of India |
|---|---|
| Decided | 2016-05-13 |
| Citation | W.P.(C) No. 857 of 2015 |
| Bench | Madan B. Lokur J, N.V. Ramana J |
| Petitioner | Swaraj Abhiyan |
| Respondent | Union of India and others |
| Provisions | Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, Schedule II, paragraph 29 |
| Outcome | Directions issued on food security, MGNREGA wages and delay compensation. |
Holding
This is the second Swaraj Abhiyan drought judgment. On wages, the Court recorded the statutory delay-compensation rule in paragraph 29 of Schedule II of the MGNREG Act and the Ministry of Rural Development guidelines dated 12 June 2014. It directed State Governments and the Government of India to make all efforts so that workers whose wages are delayed beyond 15 days receive the compensation the paragraph provides.
Ratio
The Court quoted the Ministry's guideline: the 12 June 2014 letter “draws attention to paragraph 29 of Schedule II of the NREG Act which provides that the workers are entitled to receive 'delay compensation' at a rate of 0.05% of the unpaid wages per day for the duration of the delay beyond the sixteenth day of the closure of the Muster Roll.”
It then quoted the statute itself. “29. Wage payment (1) In case the payment of wages is not made within fifteen days from the date of closure of the muster roll, the wage seekers shall be entitled to receive payment of compensation for the delay, at the rate of 0.05% of the unpaid wages per day of delay beyond the sixteenth day of closure of muster roll.”
The official formulation is delay beyond the sixteenth day of muster-roll closure, not a loose “15 days”. This page does not repeat any claim that NREGAsoft computes the compensation without a separate claim, because that operational detail was not verified in the judgment text fetched for this rewrite.
Section(s) applied
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, Schedule II, paragraph 29
- RTI Act s.4 is the parallel route for muster-roll and wage-payment records, which public authorities must also keep open under MGNREGA s.17
Related
Sources
- Swaraj Abhiyan vs Union Of India And Ors on 13 May, 2016, Supreme Court of India, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/19199787/ - title line as indexed. W.P.(C) No. 857 of 2015.
- Section 17 in The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/27355703/
Editorial summary, not a certified report. The ratio here is an editorial compression. Before citing this ruling in a PIO order, FAA speaking order, or any appellate filing, verify against the full reported decision. RTI Wiki is not a legal service.
Last reviewed: 11 September 2026.