Parliament Question: Timely wage payments and asset quality under MGNREGS in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1747 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13/02/2026 TIMELY WAGE PAYMENTS AND ASSET QUALITY UNDER MGNREGS IN BIHAR 1747 Shri Akhilesh Prasad Singh: Will the Minister of Rural Development be pleased to state: (a) whether delays in wage payments under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have been reported in Bihar, including in Patna district; (b) the average time taken for wage disbursement during the last three years; (c) whether quality and durability of assets created under the scheme have been reviewed; and (d) the steps taken to ensure timely wage payments, strengthen monitoring and improve the long term utility of MGNREGS assets in the State? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN) (a): Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand-driven wage employment scheme and fund release to States/UTs including Bihar, is a continuous process. 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. During the current financial year 2025-26 (as on 09.02.2026), an amount of Rs. 6493.31 crore has been released for the wage component to Bihar. (b): As per NREGASoft, percentage of Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) generated within 15 days from the closure of muster rolls in Patna, Bihar and at National level under the scheme during the last three financial years is given below: Financial Year 2024-25 2023-24 2022-23 % FTOs generated within 15 days in Patna 93.39 88.2 92.67 % FTOs generated within 15 days in Bihar 97.17 98.38 96.36 % FTOs generated within 15 days at National level 97.05 97.87 92.5 (c) & (d): Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand-driven wage employment programme wherein the responsibility for its implementation rests with the Governments of the concerned States/UTs. A brief note of the various monitoring and evaluation arrangements made to Page 1 of 3strengthen monitoring and to ensure the utility, quality and durability of assets under the scheme, is given at Annexure. With regard to timely payment of wages, it is stated that as per the provisions of the Act, beneficiaries are entitled to receive wage payments within 15 days of work completion. In order to ensure timely payment, the Government of India has issued a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all States/UTs, which defines fixed timelines for each stage of the wage payment process from muster roll uploading to FTO approval. The Ministry along with the States/UTs has been making concerted efforts for improving the timely payment of wages. States/UTs have been advised to generate pay orders in time. In addition, the Ministry has taken following steps also to ensure timely payment of wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS). These include:  Improvement of National Electronic Fund Management System (Ne-FMS)  Intensive consultation with State Governments and other stakeholders for ensuring timely payment of wages, verification of pending and delay compensation claims etc.  Formulation of Standard Operating Procedure for monitoring of timely payment and payment of delay compensation.  Reviewing the status of timely payment and payment of delay compensation with the States/ UTs during periodic meetings, Performance Review Committee meetings, Mid- term Reviews etc. Further, continued efforts have been undertaken by the Ministry through various technological interventions for ensuring timely payments of wages. Some of the key interventions include:  Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): Wages are transferred directly from the central account to workers’ bank accounts, minimizing the role of intermediaries and reducing fund misappropriation. This has proven to be effective in enhancing transparency and preventing leakages. Almost 100% of the funds are managed electronically with the wage payment made entirely through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) protocol.  Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS): APBS conversion is a major reform process where benefits are credited directly into the bank accounts based on the Aadhaar of the workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, preferably Aadhaar Based Payments, cutting several layers in the delivery process. APBS helps in better targeting, increasing the efficiency of the system and reducing the delays in payments, ensuring greater inclusion by curbing leakages thereby promoting greater accountability and transparency.  National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS): It enables capturing of attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worksites (except for individual beneficiary works) along with geo-tagged photograph twice in a day. This app aids in increasing citizen oversight of the programme. This is one more step towards transparency and accountability. ***** Page 2 of 3Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) & (d) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1747 dated 13.02.2026. i. Area Officer Monitoring Visit Application: This App facilitates the officials of the State/UT to record their field visit findings online. The App also allows the officials to record time stamped and geotagged photograph for all the schemes launched by Department of Rural Development. Also, this App helps in developing hassle-free reporting of the field visits. This app records the field visit findings and views the field visit outcome report by the senior officials. ii. GIS based plan– Use of Space Technology: GIS based GP level plan (ridge to valley approach) preparation using Remote Sensing technology in a saturation mode for all the GPs of the country. iii. Yuktdhara : GIS based planning tool – To simplify the GIS based planning at GP level under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA “ Yuktdhara” a Geospatial planning portal is developed in collaboration with ISRO-NRSC. iv. SECURE – Software for Estimate Calculation for using Rural Rates for Employment :- Application is being used to estimate the cost of works to be undertaken under the scheme. v. GeoNREGA: the app has been developed by using Space Technology to track the creation of assets by geotagging it, at “Before”, “During” and “After” stages of the asset creation. vi. JALDOOT App: JALDOOT app has been developed to enable monitoring of ground water tables across the country. The Jaldoot app enables Gram Rojgar Sahayak (GRS) to measure the water level of selected wells twice a year (pre-monsoonand post-monsoon). vii. JANMANREGA app: this app helps in proactive disclosure of information to its citizens in reference to the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. Citizen awareness is a key to efficient, effective, and transparent execution of the scheme. viii. Ombudsperson App- An Ombudsperson App has been developed for smooth reporting and categorization of grievances received from various sources viz. physical, digital and mass media related to the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, easy tracking and timely passing of awards on each case as per the guidelines and easy uploading of quarterly and annual report on the website. ix. Social Audit: As per the mandate of the Act, the Ministry has laid emphasis on the setting up of an institutional structure at the States/UTs level for facilitating social audits of all the Gram Panchayats at least twice a year. With the consistent efforts by Ministry, a total of 27 States and 1 UT have established Independent Social Audit Units. Further, monitoring by National level monitors regular and special monitoring, monitoring by team of central level officers, monitoring visits by Common review Mission teams, monitoring through use of Area Officers app is being conducted for better implementation of the programme. Also, State/UT specific reviews are also undertaken from time to time. ***** Page 3 of 3