Parliament Question: Deletion of Job Cards

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2592 ANSWERED ON 05/08/2025 DELETION OF JOB CARDS

2592. Shri K C Venugopal:

Smt. JyotsnaCharandasMahant:

Shri PradyutBordoloi:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) the details and total number of job cards deleted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) due to Aadhaar-linking failures since 2023, State and year-wise;

(b) the quantum of wages pending for more than 30 days under MGNREGS as of March 2025, State-wise;

(c) the details of steps taken by the Ministry to address the increased demand for work under MGNREGS; and

(d) the measures taken by the Government to address unemployment among semi-rural youth alongwith details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a): To ensure timely payment of wages to the beneficiaries under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (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.It is a mode of payment of wages under the scheme.

The Job cards are not deleted due to reason of non-linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts.

Page 1 of 4The responsibility of implementation of the scheme is vested with the Government of concerned States/UTs. Verification of Job Card is a regular exercise conducted by the concerned State/UT. To streamline the process of deletion of Job cards, Ministry of Rural Development has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) vide letter dated 25.01.2025 to all States/Union Territories, with clear guidelines for deletion and restoration of job cards. The SOP ensures compliance with the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS guidelines, promotes transparency, protects the rights of workers by defining conditions for deletion, setting up a grievance redressal mechanism, and ensure the settlement of pending liabilities, if any, before deletion/cancellation. The SOP emphasizes the importance of due process, including the publication of draft lists of job cards marked for deletion, verification at Gram Sabhas, and the right of appeal for affected workers. These measures are aimed at preventing misuse of job cards while ensuring that genuine beneficiaries are not excluded. The Ministry is committed to maintaining the integrity of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS and ensuring that the benefits of the scheme reach eligible rural households.

The Ministry continues to monitor its implementation and takes necessary measures to address any challenges faced by workers in receiving their entitlements. As and when any issue is flagged by the State/UT or any other stakeholders, same is resolved on priority basis.

(b): Under the scheme, fund release to the States/UTs is a continuous process. Wage payments are directly credited by the Central Government to the account of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer protocol.

In the current Financial Year (as on 30.07.2025), an amount of Rs. 48,782.81 crore has been released to the States including 100% of pending wage liabilities of FY 2024-25. As sanction for payment of wages are issued by Ministry daily through PFMS (Public Finance Management System), after receipt of fund transfer orders from States after following the due procedures, the fund release status keeps updating on a daily basis.

State/Union Territory (UT)-wise details of pending liabilities for wage component under Scheme as on 30.07.2025 are given at Annexure.

Page 2 of 4(c)& (d): Ministry of Rural Development closely monitors the demand for employment at the ground level and seeks additional funds from the Ministry of Finance as and when required. The release of funds is a continuous process, and the Government of India remains committed to providing funds as per actual demand for employment under the scheme. During the current Financial Year (FY) 2025-26 (as on 30.07.2025), 99.79% of the eligible rural households have been offered employment against who have demanded the employment under the scheme, reflecting effective implementation.

In order to upgrade the skill base of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS workers, Government of India launched “Project UNNATI” in December 2019. By upgrading skill base of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS workers, the project intends to improve their livelihoods, so that they can move from the current partial employment to full-time employment through either self employment or wage employment.

The Project aims to enhance the skill base of 2 lakh Mahatma Gandhi NREGS workers. The total achievement till 31st March 2025 is 90,894 candidates. ***** Page 3 of 4Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 2592 dated 05.08.2025.

State/Union Territory (UT)-wise details of pending liabilities for wage component under Scheme as on 30.07.2025. (Rs. in crore) Pending liabilities for wage SI. No. States/UTs component 1 Andhra Pradesh 1703.07 2 Arunachal Pradesh 1.47 3 Assam 73.02 4 Bihar 907.02 5 Chhattisgarh 11.85 6 Goa 0.39 7 Gujarat 3.88 8 Haryana 14.98 9 Himachal Pradesh 1.54 10 Jharkhand 50.49 11 Karnataka 105.72 12 Kerala 298.15 13 Madhya Pradesh 201.54 14 Maharashtra 225.58 15 Manipur 2.75 16 Meghalaya 8.19 17 Mizoram 1.45 18 Nagaland 1.04 19 Odisha 22.72 20 Punjab 78.09 21 Rajasthan 313.68 22 Sikkim 0.34 23 Tamil Nadu 301.71 24 Telangana 460.14 25 Tripura 3.44 26 Uttar Pradesh 743.40 27 Uttarakhand 3.84 28 West Bengal 3038* 29 Andaman & Nicobar 0.00 30 Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu 0.00 31 Jammu & Kashmir 13.12 32 Ladakh 0.40 33 Lakshadweep 0.00 34 Puducherry 12.93

Note: There is no pending liability for previous years for wage component in case of any States/UTs, except in case of State of West Bengal. *Pending liability in case of State of West Bengal includes wage, material and admin component. Release of fund to the State of West Bengal has been stopped since 9th March, 2022 as per provision of section 27 of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 due to non compliance with directives of Central Government.

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