The Centre is mulling an upward revision of daily wages paid to job cardholders who work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) schemes, offering hope for 1.55 crore such holders in Bihar.

Union minister for rural development, panchayati raj, drinking water and sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar informed the state rural development minister Shravan Kumar about the move through a letter.

"The letter says that the Centre has formed a committee to look into the practicality of making MGNREGA daily wages on a par with what agricultural labourers get," Shravan told The Telegraph on Sunday.

In Bihar, a person gets Rs 177 as daily wage for work under MGNREGA. The Centre has fixed Rs 168 as daily wage and the state pays remaining money from its own kitty.

The state government has been demanding that the daily wages be revised to Rs 232, matching the minimum daily wages the state government pays an unskilled agricultural labourer.

There remain a few points related to MGNREGA which are still bothering the Bihar government related to material cost.

According to norms, funds are provided to the state under MNREGA under two heads - material cost and wages cost. While funds meant for material are used for creating permanent assets, the wages fund is used for paying wages to those who opt to work under MNREGA. While the Centre bears the total cost under the wages head, the Centre pays 60 per cent of the cost under materials head and the state pays the remainder.

The state government claims that around Rs 1,200 crore from the backlog of 2012-13 to 2016-17 has to be released under the materials head for the works under MGNREGA. Asked about the current status of the pending funds, Shravan said: "Our officers keep on meeting their counterparts at the Centre for early release of the backlog funds."