The Centre on Monday revised the wage rate under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and has decided to amend the Act to remove the existing disparity in minimum wage even as the matter is scheduled to come up before the Supreme Court on April 9.

The revision in the wage rate indexed to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPIAL) will come into effect on April 1 and will prevail for the year 2012-13. It varies from State to State depending on the specific prevailing CPIAL and will entail an additional burden of Rs.472 crore on the Central exchequer.