Parliament Question: Payment of wages under MGNREGA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2544 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13/03/2026 PAYMENT OF WAGES UNDER MGNREGA 2544 Shri Iranna Kadadi:

Will the Minister of Rural Development be pleased to state:

(a) the number of man days generated under MGNREGA in the Belagavi district during the current financial year;

(b) the details of the durable assets created, such as Amrit Sarovars and farm ponds;

(c) the status of the timely payment of wages and the Aadhaar-Based Payment System

(ABPS) compliance;

(d) the measures taken to ensure social audit of the works; and

(e) Government's plan to focus on livelihood-generating individual assets? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a): During the current financial year 2025-26 (as on 10.03.2026), a total of 71.33 lakh person-days have been generated under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) in Belagavi district of Karnataka.

(b): Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand driven wage employment scheme with bottom-up approach of implementation. The works to be taken up are planned, prioritised and approved by the Gram Sabha at the Gram Panchayat level.

There are 267 works permissible under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. These works are further included into different categories such as rural infrastructure, water conservation & water conservation, renovation of traditional water bodies, individual works, flood control, micro irrigaton and others.

Category-wise details of works taken up and corresponding expenditure made under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the current financial year 2025-26 (as on 10.03.2026) is given at Annexure.

(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 Page 1 of 3alternative 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.

(d): The measures to ensure social audit of works under the Scheme include the establishment of independent Social Audit Units (SAUs) in each State, issuance of guidelines and auditing standards for conducting social audits and training and capacity-building of Social Audit Resource Persons engaged in the social audit process. Further, social audits of all works undertaken at the Gram Panchayat level are mandatorily conducted by the Gram Sabhas at least once every six months with facilitation by the SAU, in order to promote community participation and ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Scheme.

(e): The core objectives of the Scheme is as following:-

(i) Providing not less than one hundred days of unskilled manual work as a guaranteed employment in a financial year to every household in rural areas as per demand, resulting in creation of productive assets of prescribed quality and durability;

(ii) Strengthening the livelihood resource base of the poor;

(iii) Proactively ensuring social inclusion; and

(iv) Strengthening Panchayat Raj institutions:

Out of 267 permissible works, 70 works are related to individual beneficiaries. Most of the works permissible are related to different kinds of support for the livelihood of the villagers.

Apart from that, SHGs are also being facilitated with works on livelihood under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. ***** Page 2 of 3Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2544 dated

13.03.2026.

Category-wise details of works taken up and corresponding expenditure made under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the current financial year 2025-26 (as on

10.03.2026) Completed Ongoing Expenditure Expenditure Name of the categories No. of works (Rs. in lakh) No. of works (Rs. in lakh) Rural Infrastructure 74,370 79,381.94 3,03,339 1,92,171.04 Bharat Nirman Sewa 209 19.07 1,754 Kendra 26.58 Coastal Areas 38 6.34 211 37.51 Drought Proofing 2,53,352 55,971.69 10,39,947 3,35,334.40 Fisheries 5,090 6,366.98 20,716 31,737.81 Flood Control and 78,330 58,812.15 2,63,628 Protection 1,88,109.98 Food Grain 73 7.74 445 19.26 Land Development 3,15,663 1,36,965.04 5,31,411 3,24,977.79 Micro Irrigation 2,63,961 2,46,988.77 6,03,904 Works 6,43,698.24 Other Works 1,071 12.57 8,687 5.23 Play Ground 124 6.40 793 19.50 Renovation of traditional water 53,378 65,582.92 1,57,581 bodies 2,93,993.10 Rural Connectivity 2,33,642 3,24,072.42 11,18,747 10,12,332.77 Rural Drinking Water 290 3.36 1,257 - Rural Sanitation 70,612 9,041.99 1,32,524 13,552.48 Water Conservation 2,70,223 2,26,143.71 7,14,313 and Water Harvesting 8,93,105.34 Works on Individuals 54,12,465 10,39,337.12 90,67,097 Land 15,06,229.11 Total 70,32,891 22,48,720.18 1,39,66,354 54,35,350.13 ***** Page 3 of 3