Data shows that historically, May is a month when MGNREGA work demand is among the highest as traditional activities around agriculture weaken due to the lean cropping season
The report, 'The Missing Work: A National Review of MGNREGA Implementation,' compiled by LibTech India is based on government data as of April 7
The FY-26 Union Budget had allocated Rs 86,000 crore for the programme for 2025-26, which is exactly the same as the revised and budget estimates of FY-25
"Without a fair wage, the scheme fails in its objective of providing economic security to rural workers," the panel said
According to data sourced from the MGNREGA website as on March 31, 2025 at 1400 hours' total expenditure on the scheme (this included due payment) in Fy-25 was around Rs 125,219 crore
The government on Tuesday said it has never discriminated against any state in the release of MGNREGA funds amid a protest by opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha against the alleged delay in payment to some states for the rural employment scheme. As the issue was raised during the Question Hour, the Lok Sabha witnessed protests with DMK and Trinamool Congress MPs entering the well of the House. Speaker Om Birla urged them to return to their seats, but they did not budge. Following this, the House was adjourned till 12 pm. Birla urged the Opposition not to "politicise" the questions raised during the Question Hour. Congress MP from Kerala Adoor Prakash highlighted a decline in the MGNREGA workforce in his state and attributed it to delayed payments and low wages. "Workers in Kerala have not received their wages for the past three months, and Rs 811 crore is due under the scheme. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development has recommended linking MGNREGA wages to inflation
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday demanded raising of minimum wages and the number of guaranteed workdays under the rural employment guarantee scheme, MGNREGA. Raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention in the Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi said the BJP government at the Centre has "systematically undermined" the scheme by keeping the Budget allocation for it stagnant. Adequate financial provisions be made to sustain and expand the scheme, she said. Also, minimum wage should be increased by Rs 400 per day along with timely disbursement of wages, the Congress leader said, adding that the number of guaranteed workdays should be increased from 100 to 150 per year. "These measures are essential to ensure that MGNREGA provides dignified employment and financial security," she added.
The government on Tuesday warned of strict action if MNREGA funds were misused or the guidelines for the implementation of the scheme were not followed. The remarks came after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal alleged in the Lok Sabha that MNREGA funds were being misused in several states, including Punjab. "Rather than being routed through panchayats, the funds are being diverted by the state governments and are being misused," she alleged. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said strict action will be taken in such cases. "Wherever guidelines are not being followed, funds are found to be misused, and rules violated, I assure (you) that we will send teams to investigate, and strict action will be taken," he said. During the Question Hour, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee engaged in a war of words with the treasury bench members in the Lok Sabha over the "stoppage" of MNREGA funds for West Bengal. Banerjee alleged that the benefits of the MNREGA
Meanwhile, available funds for the scheme seems to be falling short of the expenditure and as on March 3, a negative net balance of Rs 18,681.24 crore is reflected in the books
Accusing the Modi government of perpetuating a policy of indifference to the plight of MGNREGA workers, the Congress on Monday demanded that the Union Budget must increase MGNREGA wages and the Aadhar Based Payment Bridge Systems not be made mandatory. The opposition party demanded that MGNREGA wages be increased with the goal of hitting Rs 400 per day as a national minimum wage. In a statement, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said MGNREGA wages cannot be set by the arbitrary whims of the government. He said a Standing Committee must be established to evaluate the need for changes in the wage rate. The Aadhar Based Payment Bridge Systems (ABPS) must not be made mandatory, Ramesh said. He also put forward the demand that the number of workdays under MGNREGA must be increased from 100 to 150 days. "One of the earliest indications of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's uncaring attitude and shortsightedness was his mockery of MGNREGA on the floor of ..
Uttar Pradesh ranks first in providing 100 days of employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Monday. Maurya, who heads the Rural Development and Integrated Rural Development Department, said in a post on X, "Under the MGNREGA scheme, as of 2024-25, 3,13,076 families in Uttar Pradesh have been provided with 100 days of employment." "Uttar Pradesh ranks first in providing 100 days of employment under this scheme. This ensures that unskilled labourers in rural areas do not have to leave their villages in search of work," he said. The Rural Development Department is also providing training to unskilled workers. "To ensure that MGNREGA workers do not remain labourers, they are being trained under Mission Unnati led and directed by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. This is aimed at making them skilled and capable in their field," an official of the department ...
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Data sourced from the MGNREGA website showed that 21.58 million households sought work under the scheme in December
More than 35 lakh MGNREGS job cards were deleted in the current fiscal while over 38 lakh were issued, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Job cards cannot be deleted due to non-linkage with Aadhaar, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan further said in his written response. "Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS), Aadhar Payment Bridge System is only a mode of payment and job cards cannot be deleted due to reason of non-linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts," he added. Paswan said updation and deletion of job cards was a regular exercise undertaken by states and Union territories. "In the current financial year 2024-25 (as on 16.12.2024), a total number of 35.57 lakh job cards have been deleted," he said. The cards were deleted due to being fake or incorrect, duplicate, households not willing to work, family permanently shifting from gram panchayat and "single person in job card and that per
Flagging low wages under MGNREGS, a Parliamentary panel has questioned why the remuneration under the flagship scheme was not linked to an inflation index. It has also urged the Union rural development ministry for devising a mechanism for raising wages under the scheme. Headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, in a report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, rapped the ministry and said there had been no noticeable change in its stance. It has been sending "stereotype responses" regarding revision of wages, the report said. "Rising inflation and cost of living, be it urban or rural setting, has risen manifold and is evident to all. Even at this moment, going by the notified wage rates of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), per day wage rate of around Rs 200 in many states defies any logic when the same state has much higher labour rates," the panel said in its report.
Civil society says claims of timely release, funds increase misleading; threaten protest from December 6
According to some experts, the increase in demand may be attributed to workers returning to worksites after completing sowing activities on farms
Under the scheme, one adult member from families who have completed at least 100 days of employment under the NREGA programme would be trained
The analysis showed that while 8.5 million workers were deleted, only 4.5 million workers were added to the list of registered MGNREGA workers, thus taking the net deletion to 3.9 million
Move aims at tracking workforce formalisation in India