**Executive Summary**
This document presents the Ministry of Rural Development's response to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 135, answered on December 9, 2025, regarding the deletion of job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The response provides data on job card deletions from FY 2019-20 to 2024-25 and clarifies the procedures and guidelines for such deletions. The document also addresses the impact of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) and the Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS) on worker inclusion.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Job Card Deletion Overview:**
* Deletion of job cards is a regular exercise conducted by States/UTs.
* Reasons for deletion include fake, duplicate, or incorrect job cards; families shifting from Gram Panchayat; Gram Panchayat classified as Urban; death of the sole member on the card; and ineligible households.
* States/UTs must comply with the MGNREGS Act and Ministry's SOP when deleting job cards.
* FY 2019-20 to 2024-25: 457.97 Lakh job cards deleted, while 654.22 Lakh job cards were added.
* **Worker Deletions (Oct 10 - Nov 14, 2025):**
* Total of 1,631,762 workers deleted during this period.
* States/UTs added 10.84 Lakh workers during the same period.
* **Worker Deletions (FY 2019-20 to 2023-24):**
* Total of 24,975,252 workers deleted during this period.
* States/UTs added 881.68 Lakh workers during the same period.
* Deletion figures for Ambedkar Nagar and Ayodhya districts (Uttar Pradesh) provided.
* **NMMS and APBS Impact:**
* Attendance must be captured through the NMMS App with geo-tagged photographs (effective January 1, 2023).
* Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS) is mandatory for wage payments (effective January 1, 2024).
* Job cards cannot be deleted solely due to NMMS or non-linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar.
* **Grievance Redressal and SOP:**
* A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was issued on January 25, 2025, to streamline job card deletion and restoration.
* The SOP ensures compliance with MGNREGS guidelines, promotes transparency, protects worker rights, and includes a grievance redressal mechanism.
* Due process is emphasized, including publication of draft lists, verification at Gram Sabhas, and the right of appeal.
* The Annual Master Circular provides a dedicated Grievance Redressal Module in NREGASoft, and the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) is available for lodging complaints.
**Impact Analysis**
**States/Union Territories**
* **Impact:** States/UTs are responsible for the deletion/updation of job cards, according to the defined guidelines, including transparency and compliance.
* **Action Required:** Ensure that they follow the SOP issued by the Ministry for deletion and restoration of job cards, and accurately manage the grievance redressal process for workers.
**MGNREGS Workers**
* **Impact:** Workers are directly impacted by the deletion/updation of job cards, their ability to lodge complaints and the integrity of the MGNREGS scheme.
* **Action Required:** Workers who believe their cards have been wrongly deleted must use the redressal mechanisms available to lodge a complaint and seek reinstatement.
Key Entities Referenced
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS): A demand-driven wage employment scheme whose job cards are subject of deletion as per the document.
Ministry of Rural Development: The ministry responsible for the implementation of the MGNREGS and the issuance of guidelines related to job card deletion.
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP): Recently issued document by the Ministry of Rural Development to streamline the deletion process of Job cards under MGNREGS.
NREGASoft: A software used for dedicated Grievance Redressal Module in implementation of MGNREGS and also referenced for data on job card deletions and additions.
National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS): An app used for digitally capturing attendance of workers which may have resulted in exclusion of workers from MGNREGS.
O.I.H.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 135
ANSWERED ON 09/12/2025
DELETION OF JOB CARDS UNDER MGNREGS
*135. Shri LaljiVerma:
Shri Sachithanantham R:
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) the details and total number of job cards deleted from the
enrolled list under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from the year
2019-20 to 2024-25 along with the reasons behind the said
deletion of job cards, State and year-wise;
(b) the number of MGNREGS workers deleted from rolls between
October 10 and November 14, 2025, State-wise and whether it
is a fact that twenty seven lakhs MGNREGS workers were
deleted during the said period, if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of MGNREGS workers removed from the rolls from
the year 2019-20 to 2023-24 along with the reasons for such a
high rate of deletions, State and year-wise particularly in
Ambedkar Nagar LokSabha Constituency of Uttar Pradesh;
(d) whether the National Mobile Monitoring System used for
digitally capturing attendance of workers and the Aadhaar
based payment system used for disbursing wages have already
resulted in exclusion of an estimated two crore workers from
MGNREGS;
(e) the grievance redressal mechanism available for wrongful
deletion and the number of grievances resolved thereof; and
(f) whether the Government has issued any guidelines to restore
the wrongly deleted job cards and reinstatement of workers
removed wrongly, if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN)
(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Page 1 of 7STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (f) OF LOK
SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *135 TO BE ANSWERED ON
09.12.2025REGARDING “DELETION OF JOB CARDS UNDER
MGNREGS”
(a): Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand-driven wage employment
scheme and the responsibility of implementation of the scheme is
vested with the Government of concerned States/UTs.
Updation/deletion of Job Cards is a regular exercise conducted by
the States/UTs. Job cards have been deleted mainly for the reasons
such as fake/duplicate/incorrect job cards, family shifted from Gram
Panchayat permanently, Gram Panchayat classified as Urban and
there was only one member name in the job card he/she has expired
etc. However, while deleting/ removing workers/Job cards,
States/UTs have to ensure compliance with provisions of the Act
and the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Ministry to
ensure that no job card of deserving or eligible household is
deleted/cancelled. States/UTs-wise number of job cards
deleted from Mahatma Gandhi NREGS since 2019-20 to 2024-25 is
given at Annexure-I.
Note: As per NREGASoft, during the FY 2019-20 to 2024-25, total
number of job cards deleted by the States/UTs was 457.97 Lakh
while, in the same period total number of job cards added by the
States/UTs was 654.22 Lakh.
(b): State/Union Territory(UT)-wise number of workers deleted
from job cards under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the period of
10-10-2025 to 14-11-2025 are given in Annexure-II.
Note: As per NREGASoft, during the period of 10-10-2025 to 14-11-
2025, total number of workers added by the States/UTs was 10.84
Lakh.
(c): State/Union Territory(UT)-wise number of workers deleted
from job cards under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the financial
years 2019-20 to 2023-24 are given at Annexure-III.
Note: As per NREGASoft, during the FY 2019-20 to 2023-24, total
number of workers added by the States/UTs was 881.68 Lakh.
Number of workers deleted from job cards in Ambedkar Nagar and
Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh part of which is part
Page 2 of 7of AmbedkarNagar LokSabha Constituency during the same period
are given below:
District 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24
Ambedkar Nagar 4757 5384 7934 150137 109539
Ayodhya 719 1976 1684 44361 62877
Total 5476 7360 9618 194498 172416
(d): To ensure transparency and accountability in the
implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS), the Ministry has
decided that States/UTs shall ensure capturing of attendance at the
worksite through National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS)
App with two-time stamped, geo-tagged photographs of the workers
in a day for all the works (except Individual Beneficiary Work)
through NMMS w.e.f. 1st January, 2023.
Further, in order 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.
Here, it is stated that Job cards can not be deleted due to
reason of NMMS and non linking of bank accounts with Aadhar.
(e)& (f): To streamline the process of deletion of Job cards,
Ministry of Rural Development has recently 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. It also mandates the linking of job cards with Aadhaar to
Page 3 of 7eliminate duplicate and fraudulent entries. 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 reaches the eligible rural
households.
Further, the Annual Master Circular provides for a dedicated
Grievance Redressal Module in NREGASoft, which allows
workers/citizens to lodge complaints and track responses, in
addition to written complaints, telephone helplines and entries in
the “Complaint Register” (one of the seven mandatory registers at
GP level).
The Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring
System (CPGRAMS) is one of the major grievance redressal
mechanisms available for lodging complaint. It is an online platform
where citizens can file complaints related to the implementation of
MGNREGA and ensure their grievances are addressed efficiently.
*****
Page 4 of 7Annexure-I
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of LokSabha Starred
Question No. 135 dated 09.12.2025.
States/UTs-wise number of job cards deleted from Mahatma Gandhi NREGS since
2019-20 to 2024-25
SI. No. of Jobcards deleted
States/UTs
No. 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
1 Andhra Pradesh 24248 3426 185079 2882724 370326 148478
Arunachal
2 7311 6151 9596 8875 12869 15651
Pradesh
3 Assam 65699 96586 76244 157138 282142 576220
4 Bihar 77290 182407 1273514 5870225 2112092 981284
5 Chhattisgarh 129658 170304 139660 264839 294544 399026
6 Goa 1 8 11 21 24 53
7 Gujarat 40314 131080 40289 146141 338533 53616
8 Haryana 5083 15413 8531 11028 8834 6237
9 Himachal Pradesh 4057 8000 10351 18119 15543 4559
Jammu And
10 33032 94078 37635 38388 73015 30123
Kashmir
11 Jharkhand 50568 89427 228674 954252 324524 176956
12 Karnataka 27534 7197 41843 203185 96036 27286
13 Kerala 17725 23773 27340 110722 218752 89300
14 Ladakh 675 1336 889 1421 897 452
15 Madhya Pradesh 513979 1062861 1100109 366349 695278 51890
16 Maharashtra 22105 48460 28201 72863 37625 26449
17 Manipur 3961 11126 4449 3153 5778 6395
18 Meghalaya 8017 8119 5449 3832 15375 13181
19 Mizoram 6607 9896 8580 4149 4902 9988
20 Nagaland 9999 1136 1797 2528 3759 8999
21 Odisha 121028 313621 793292 2370031 523622 286009
22 Punjab 16675 14330 65858 340659 69225 20981
23 Rajasthan 80406 117660 129285 634800 393797 55563
24 Sikkim 1302 784 1343 1409 2133 1969
25 Tamil Nadu 33148 126017 155065 315049 653677 633820
26 Telangana 4084 5282 15976 510683 84744 80166
27 Tripura 8571 8684 5951 5938 20798 8742
28 Uttar Pradesh 99849 201871 582074 4858064 3315158 91568
29 Uttarakhand 7370 16508 26004 148098 44229 45150
30 West Bengal 10554 19374 27741 2177536 169691 9026
Andaman And
31 1930 1528 448 143 70 308
Nicobar
32 Dn Haveli And Dd 0 0 0 0 2 14
33 Lakshadweep 2 1 8 18 52 37
34 Puducherry 126 245 258 4394 606 480
Total 1432908 2796689 5031544 22486774 10188652 3859976
(As per NREGASoft)
Page 5 of 7Annexure-II
Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of LokSabha Starred
Question No. 135 dated 09.12.2025.
State/Union Territory(UT)-wise number of workers deleted from
Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the period of 10-10-2025 to 14-11-
2025.
SI. No. State/UTs Number of workers deleted
1 Andaman And Nicobar 130
2 Andhra Pradesh 1107339
3 Arunachal Pradesh 896
4 Assam 6920
5 Bihar 9610
6 Chhattisgarh 65619
7 Goa 2
8 Gujarat 5433
9 Haryana 309
10 Himachal Pradesh 9877
11 Jammu And Kashmir 79070
12 Jharkhand 2724
13 Karnataka 27004
14 Kerala 20124
15 Ladakh 604
16 Lakshadweep 18
17 Madhya Pradesh 5327
18 Maharashtra 15061
19 Manipur 1111
20 Meghalaya 532
21 Mizoram 1480
22 Nagaland 1254
23 Odisha 80896
24 Puducherry 3
25 Punjab 16898
26 Rajasthan 13701
27 Sikkim 1543
28 Tamil Nadu 33090
29 Telangana 95084
30 Tripura 6341
31 Uttar Pradesh 17236
32 Uttarakhand 6526
Grand Total 1631762
Page 6 of 7Annexure-III
Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of LokSabha Starred
Question No. 135 dated 09.12.2025.
State/Union Territory(UT)-wise number of workers deleted from job cards under
Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the financial years 2019-20 to 2023-24.
SI. Number of workers deleted
State/UT
No. 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24
1 Andhra Pradesh 211267 181014 618582 7517856 1096736
2 Arunachal Pradesh 28621 23422 35053 34433 58257
3 Assam 227261 268422 345666 608253 792138
4 Bihar 147381 267823 2002521 8900402 3178680
5 Chhattisgarh 501629 639811 540686 1186037 1395412
6 Goa 2 14 22 24 34
7 Gujarat 154654 435435 143195 559478 975994
8 Haryana 14281 30479 17023 17997 18939
9 Himachal Pradesh 18855 34197 45819 78439 77015
Jammu And
10 92619 255607 112814 107120 212281
Kashmir
11 Jharkhand 109402 182440 462251 2030163 654727
12 Karnataka 123550 57101 250665 855967 547661
13 Kerala 49287 55289 72189 348598 540033
14 Ladakh 2480 3303 2686 7130 3209
15 Madhya Pradesh 1813001 3823679 4540607 1471373 2698235
16 Maharashtra 98526 210868 229270 428628 227851
17 Manipur 29830 64315 54240 90027 127349
18 Meghalaya 34042 31556 20707 20466 118486
19 Mizoram 31245 35061 20414 10269 15010
20 Nagaland 41988 4934 7630 15155 21754
21 Odisha 441314 1097748 2605164 7686413 1499868
22 Punjab 35200 33095 128296 598046 127741
23 Rajasthan 537168 818142 793487 3046893 2151059
24 Sikkim 3638 3122 4623 4528 8792
25 Tamil Nadu 121125 417563 440825 782200 1690416
26 Telangana 11135 129577 61278 1723810 302478
27 Tripura 29185 35817 29874 37486 103710
28 Uttar Pradesh 202170 398460 1097908 8024982 5600653
29 Uttarakhand 18523 48363 66235 355786 124556
30 West Bengal 93725 130301 157309 8340066 603689
Andaman And
31 3394 3324 909 320 190
Nicobar
32 Dn Haveli And Dd 0 0 0 0 145
33 Lakshadweep 2 2 11 63 86
34 Puducherry 683 1374 1865 49528 2068
Total 5227183 9721658 14909824 54937936 24975252
*****
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