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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3346
TO BE ANSWERED ON 20/03/2026
STEPS TAKEN TO IMPROVE FUND ALLOCATION UNDER ERSTWHILE
MGNREGA
3346 Shri Sanjay Yadav:
Will the Minister of Rural Development be pleased to state:
(a) whether developed States like Tamil Nadu with 1 per cent and Kerala with 0.1 per cent of
country's poor received nearly 15 per cent and 4 per cent of Central fund allocation under
erstwhile MGNREGA, respectively;
(b) State-wise details of central fund allocation of last three years under MGNREGA;
(c) whether it is a fact that this employment guarantee scheme has been reduced to a
discretionary scheme by Government to decide the States and time of implementation of
the scheme; and
(d) if so, the steps taken to improve the fund allocation to poor and backward States such as
Bihar?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)
(a) to (d): Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma
Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven wage employment scheme. There is no State/UT-wise
allocation of funds under the scheme. The Central Government releases funds to States/UTs
keeping in view the “agreed to” Labour Budget, demand for employment at field level opening
balance, pace of utilization of funds, pending liabilities, overall performance and subject to
submission of relevant documents by the States/UTs. Here it is stated that in case of wage,
payment are directly credited by Central Government into the account of beneficiaries through
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) protocol based on fund transfer order generated by States/UTs.
State/UT-wise (including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bihar) details of funds released under
Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the last three financial years are given at Annexure.
In the current financial year 2025-26 (as on 15.03.2026), an amount of Rs. 82,129.18
crore has been released to the States/Union Territories, which includes Rs.66,020.63 crore for
wage component and an amount of Rs.16,108.55 crore for Material and Admin.
Under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, funds release to States/UTs is a continuous process and
the Central Government is committed to making funds available to States/UTs for the
implementation of the scheme as per the demand for employment at field level. During the
current Financial Year (FY) 2025-26 (as on 16.03.2026), 99.81% of the eligible rural households
have been offered employment against the demand for the employment under the scheme,
reflecting effective implementation of the scheme.
Page 1 of 3Here it is also stated that, based on the need for wage employment for the workers of
Bihar and the demand projected by the State accordingly, an initial agreed to labour budget of 20
Crore Person days was provided to Bihar for the FY 2025-26, which was the highest agreed to
labour budget for any State/UT in the country. Further, the initial agreed to labour budget
decided in the beginning of financial year is subject to revision subsequently based on demand
for employment at the field level.
The Ministry also undertakes regular reviews with the States/UTs to assess fund
requirements and seeks additional funds from the Ministry of Finance, as and when required, to
meet the demand for employment under the Scheme.
The Ministry continues to closely monitor the implementation of the scheme and provides
necessary support to States to ensure that all eligible rural households are able to access
employment as per their demand under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.
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Page 2 of 3Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3346
dated 20.03.2026.
State/UT-wise details of funds released under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the last three
financial years. (Rs. in crores)
SI. No. States/UTs 2024-25 2023-24 2022-23
1 Andhra Pradesh 7707.21 7353.67 8008.81
2 Arunachal Pradesh 560.70 427.35 578.32
3 Assam 1929.70 2221.38 2056.49
4 Bihar 6715.83 6200.03 6402.23
5 Chhattisgarh 3354.85 2895.12 3420.39
6 Goa 3.70 0.88 5.05
7 Gujarat 1540.54 1802.26 1694.60
8 Haryana 590.19 477.87 373.99
9 Himachal Pradesh 1203.28 1000.96 1164.85
10 Jammu & Kashmir 1151.20 921.60 1051.00
11 Jharkhand 2705.64 2922.27 2719.03
12 Karnataka 5709.90 5431.67 6218.59
13 Kerala 3136.44 3532.57 3830.97
14 Madhya Pradesh 6252.03 5891.65 5707.47
15 Maharashtra 4420.32 3041.48 2545.89
16 Manipur 581.99 0.95 1086.63
17 Meghalaya 1155.09 913.86 1118.77
18 Mizoram 611.65 507.96 540.40
19 Nagaland 287.85 641.50 839.76
20 Odisha 3763.80 4906.78 4707.52
21 Punjab 1331.61 1169.84 1182.14
22 Rajasthan 7581.87 8683.98 9648.65
23 Sikkim 97.57 112.19 92.71
24 Tamil Nadu 7585.49 12616.53 9745.72
25 Telangana 3825.31 3520.87 2992.21
26 Tripura 1041.70 1043.59 925.34
27 Uttar Pradesh 9721.48 9844.25 10650.64
28 Uttarakhand 626.43 553.81 792.66
29 West Bengal * 0.00 0.00 1.33
30 Andaman & Nicobar 4.44 0.00 9.60
31 Dadra & Nagar Haveli Daman & Diu 9.02 2.21 0.00
32 Lakshadweep 0.32 0.00 24.95
33 Puducherry 40.56 58.77 69.00
34 Ladakh 85.98 62.64 1.62
Total 85333.70 88760.50 90207.30
* Release of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) to the State of West Bengal has been stopped since 09th March,
2022, as per the provisions of Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act, 2005, due to non-compliance with the directives of the Central Government.
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