Congress accuses Centre of mass deletions in MGNREGA worker database

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, shared on X a media report which claimed that nearly 2.7 mn workers' names were deleted from the database

The Congress on Monday attacked the government over the reported deletion of nearly 2.7 million workers' names from the MGNREGA database between October 10 and November 14 this year, saying this is not an isolated act but a "systematic attempt to end" the rural jobs scheme.

The opposition party also reiterated its demands, including a minimum MGNREGA wage of Rs 400 per day and an immediate halt to the mandatory adoption of exclusionary technology like Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS), National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), and e-KYC.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, shared on X a media report which claimed that nearly 27 lakh workers' names were deleted from the database of MGNREGA between October 10 and November 14 this year, far exceeding the 1.5 million additions during the same period.

"Another day, another attempt to deny India's rural poor their legislative right to employment. In the last one month -- between October 10th and November 14th -- the Modi Government has deleted 2.7 million names from the database of MGNREGA beneficiaries. Six lakh of these beneficiaries were active workers," Ramesh said on X.

This mass deletion of beneficiaries coincides with the introduction of the e-KYC' process for workers, he said.

"As we have repeatedly raised, this is not an isolated act but a systematic attempt to end the MGNREGA through the introduction of Aadhar-based digital processes brought in under the guise of transparency," Ramesh said.

"The Modi government's crimes against this landmark legislation include the introduction of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app and the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS), which have prevented an estimated 2 crore workers from securing their legal right to work and payment," he said.

Ramesh further said the Congress' demands have been consistent and include significant budget enhancement and stricter implementation of the policy on timely payment of wages.

The Congress has demanded that a minimum MGNREGA wage of Rs 400 per day to kickstart real income growth, he said.

Ramesh said the Congress has also demanded the constitution of a Standing Committee to set MGNREGA wages in the future and an immediate halt to the mandatory adoption of exclusionary technology like ABPS, NMMS, and e-KYC.