Parliament Question: Delayed wage payments under MGNREGA in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2543 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13/03/2026 DELAYED WAGE PAYMENTS UNDER MGNREGA IN BIHAR 2543 Prof. Manoj Kumar Jha: Will the Minister of Rural Development be pleased to state: (a) district-wise data on the percentage of MGNREGA wage payments delayed beyond the statutory 15-day mandate, in Bihar during financial year 2023-24 and financial year 2024-25; (b) total quantum of delayed compensation legally owed to workers in the State under Section 3(3) of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) versus the amount actually disbursed; (c) specific administrative and technical bottlenecks, including Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) mismatch errors, contributing to these persistent payment delays; and (d) timeline for clearing all pending wage and statutory compensation arrears to mitigate rural distress and curb forced out-migration from the State? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN) (a) & (d): Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand-driven wage employment scheme. Under the Scheme, the Wage payments are directly credited by the Central Government to the accounts of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer protocol. Sanctions for Wage payments are issued daily by the Ministry through the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) based on fund transfer orders received from the States/ UTs after following due procedures. At the beginning of each financial year, admissible pending liabilities of the previous years, if any, are duly reimbursed by the Government of India. Accordingly, all due and admissible pending wage liabilities upto FY 2024-25 have already been cleared (except in case of West Bengal). Here it is also stated Govt. of India is committed to making sufficient funds to the States/ UTs for meeting the demand for employment at the field level subject to timely submission of required document by the concern States/UTs. Further as per the provisions mentioned in Schedule-II of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), wage seekers shall be entitled to receive payment of compensation for the delay, at the rate of 0.05% of the unpaid wages per day of delay beyond the sixteenth day of closure of muster roll. The State Government shall pay the compensation upfront after due verification within the time limits specified above and recover the compensation amount from the functionaries or agencies responsible for the delay in payment. District wise percentage of Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) generated within T+15 days of muster roll closure in Bihar under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) during the last two financial years is given at Annexure. Page 1 of 3(b): Details of the delay compensation approved amount and delay compensation paid in Bihar under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS (as per information available on NREGASoft) during the last two financial years is given below: 2023-24 2024-25 Delayed compensation Delayed compensation Delayed compensation Delayed compensation amount approved amount paid [In Rs.] amount approved amount paid [In Rs.] 132532 34981 124706 53641 As per NREGASoft (c): To ensure timely payment of wages to the beneficiaries under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS and to address the issues arising due to frequent changes in bank account numbers of the beneficiaries and subsequent non-updation, it was decided to implement Aadhar Payment Bridge System (APBS). This has been made mandatory with effect from 1st January 2024. APBS helps in improving the transparency and accountability of wage distribution under the scheme and ensure faster crediting of wages in the account of beneficiaries. Aadhar Authentication also reduces leakage and corruption and ensures that only legitimate beneficiaries with verified identities receive wages. In case of failure in payment through APBS, an alternative route to make payment is available through account-based payment that is National Automated Clearing House. Currently, against total of 12.10 crore active workers Aadhaar seeding of 99.69% have already been completed. State/UTs are continuously being monitored by the Central Government for achieving 100% Aadhaar Seeding and APBS conversion in NREGASoft. As and when any issue is flagged by the State/UT or any other stakeholders, the same is resolved on priority basis. ***** Page 2 of 3Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2543 dated 13.03.2026. District wise percentage of Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) generated within T+15 days of muster roll closure in Bihar under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the last two financial years. SI. No. District of Bihar 2023-24 2024-25 1 Araria 99.82% 99.77% 2 Arwal 96.22% 94.14% 3 Auranagabad 99.95% 97.42% 4 Banka 99.79% 98.59% 5 Begusarai 96.41% 93.59% 6 Bhagalpur 98.06% 92.91% 7 Bhojpur 99.05% 98.34% 8 Buxar 99.71% 98.91% 9 Darbhanga 94.13% 89.67% 10 Gayaji 97.99% 95.74% 11 Gopalganj 98.19% 98.46% 12 Jamui 100.00% 99.69% 13 Jehanabad 99.70% 99.20% 14 Kaimur (Bhabua) 98.09% 95.34% 15 Katihar 99.95% 99.26% 16 Khagaria 98.40% 98.53% 17 Kishanganj 100.00% 99.97% 18 Lakhisarai 99.95% 99.82% 19 Madhepura 99.85% 99.72% 20 Madhubani 94.56% 93.45% 21 Munger 98.80% 99.40% 22 Muzaffarpur 95.68% 95.69% 23 Nalanda 99.81% 98.36% 24 Nawada 99.36% 98.28% 25 Pashchim Champaran 96.59% 93.17% 26 Patna 87.93% 93.62% 27 Purbi Champaran 99.23% 96.41% 28 Purnia 99.95% 99.06% 29 Rohtas 97.41% 95.39% 30 Saharsa 100.00% 99.77% 31 Samastipur 99.56% 97.69% 32 Saran 99.10% 97.90% 33 Sheikhpura 96.45% 99.10% 34 Sheohar 96.25% 90.99% 35 Sitamarhi 99.72% 98.45% 36 Siwan 97.59% 97.13% 37 Supaul 100.00% 99.87% 38 Vaishali 98.18% 97.04% Average 98.32% 97.17% ***** Page 3 of 3