Mixed payment model for MGNREGS wages to continue till March 31, says govt

For wage payment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Govt has decided, on the request of States, to have a mixed model for payment route up to March 31

For wage payment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Government has decided, on the request of States, to have a mixed model for payment route up to March 31.

The payment of wages to every beneficiary under MGNREGS is being done using Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS) as well as the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) depending upon the ABPS status of the beneficiary.

There are two routes to be used in payment of wages ABPS and NACH.

If the beneficiary is linked with ABPS then payment can be made through ABPS only, and if the beneficiary is not linked with ABPS due to some technical reasons etc. then Program Officer can select NACH as the mode of payment of wages.

The number of active workers under the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme is 14.96 crore.

According to the Ministry of Rural Development, the central government is committed towards ensuring timely wage payment of each worker under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. Out of 14.96 crore workers, Aadhaar seeding of 14.27 crore workers (95.4 per cent) has been done in NREGASoft, in which a total of 10.05 crore workers have been registered under the ABPS.

There were a total of 4.60 crore transactions in the month of February 2023 for wage payment, out of which 3.57 crore transactions (77.6 per cent) were made through ABPS.

The ABPS, as one of the routes for wage payment under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, was introduced for the timely payment of wages. The system ensures that there will be no delay in payments due to bank account-related problems. The system also ensures transparency towards the payment of the workers. Aadhaar seeding and ABPS are in place under the scheme since 2017.