Executive Summary:
The Ministry of Rural Development addressed concerns about wage arrears under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Wage payments are directly credited to beneficiaries via Direct Benefit Transfer, and sanctions are issued daily through the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) after receiving fund transfer orders from states. All pending wage liabilities up to FY 2024-25 have been cleared, except for West Bengal. As of July 24, 2025, ₹46,395.12 crore has been released to states, including 100% of pending wage liabilities for FY 2024-25.
Key Points / Main Content:
* **Scheme Overview:**
* MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment scheme.
* Fund release is a continuous process.
* **Wage Payment Mechanism:**
* Wage payments are directly credited to beneficiaries via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
* The Ministry issues sanctions for wage payments daily through PFMS.
* Sanctions are based on fund transfer orders received from States after due procedures.
* **Financial Year Liabilities:**
* Admissible pending liabilities from the previous year are reimbursed at the beginning of each financial year.
* All pending wage liabilities up to FY 2024-25 have been cleared, except for West Bengal.
* As of 24.07.2025, ₹46,395.12 crore has been released to states, including 100% of pending wage liabilities for FY 2024-25.
* **Current Liabilities Status:**
* State/UT-wise details of pending wage liabilities under the Scheme as of 24.07.2025 are provided in Annexure.
* West Bengal has pending liabilities including wage, material, and admin components.
* Fund release to West Bengal has been stopped since March 9, 2022, due to non-compliance with Central Government directives under Section 27 of the MGNREGA Act, 2005.
Impact Analysis:
* **Workers under MGNREGS:**
* *Impact:* Workers in most states have received their pending wages up to FY 2024-25. Workers in West Bengal are affected by the withheld funds due to the state's non-compliance.
* *Action Required:* Workers in West Bengal may need to appeal to their state government to comply with central directives to release the withheld funds.
* **State Governments:**
* *Impact:* States are responsible for submitting fund transfer orders following due procedures to receive wage payments. West Bengal's government is particularly impacted due to the withholding of funds.
* *Action Required:* All states must follow due procedures for fund transfer requests. West Bengal needs to comply with the directives of the Central Government to resume fund release.
* **Central Government (Ministry of Rural Development):**
* *Impact:* The Ministry is responsible for the timely release of funds and monitoring compliance with the MGNREGA Act.
* *Action Required:* The Ministry needs to continue processing fund transfer orders and ensure compliance by state governments, particularly West Bengal.
Key Entities Referenced
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: A demand-driven wage employment scheme, also referred to as MGNREGS or Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.
Union Government: The Central Government of India, responsible for fund allocation to states under MGNREGS.
Direct Benefit Transfer: A protocol used by the Central Government to directly credit wage payments to beneficiaries' accounts.
Public Finance Management System: A system (PFMS) used by the Ministry for issuing sanctions for wage payments based on fund transfer orders from States.
West Bengal: A State in India with pending liabilities, including wage, material and admin components. Fund release to West Bengal has been stopped since March 9, 2022.
Andhra Pradesh: A State in India with a wage liability of 1660.9.
Uttar Pradesh: A State in India with a wage liability of 917.51.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005: The Act under which fund release to the State of West Bengal has been stopped since 9th March, 2022 as per provision of section 27 due to non compliance with directives of Central Government.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1491
ANSWERED ON 29/07/2025
WAGE ARREARS UNDER MGNREGS
1491. Com. Selvaraj V:
Shri Subbarayan K:
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that the wages of workers under Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS) are in arrears in the States due to the delay in the
allotment of funds from the Union Government;
(b) if so, the details thereof the dues from the Union Government,
state-wise; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor along with the steps taken to clear
the same?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)
(a)to(c): Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand-driven wage
employment scheme under thenScheme. Fund release is a
continuous process.
Under Scheme the wage payments are directly credited by the
Central Government to the account of 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 after due procedures. At the beginning of each financial year,
admissible pending liabilities of the previous year, if any, are duly
reimbursed by the Government of India. Accordingly, all pending
wage liabilities upto FY 2024-25 (Except that of West Bengal) have
already been cleared.
Page 1 of 3In the current Financial Year (as on 24.07.2025), an amount of
Rs. 46,395.12 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 on a daily basis through PFMS
(Public Finance Management System), after receipt of funds 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 components under the Scheme as on 24.07.2025 is given at
Annexure.
*****
Page 2 of 3Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a)to(c) of LokSabhaUnstarred
Question No. 1491 dated 29.07.2025.
Sl. No. State/ UT Wage liability
1 Andhra Pradesh 1660.9
2 Arunachal Pradesh 3.12
3 Assam 185.55
4 Bihar 868.8
5 Chhattisgarh 32.82
6 Goa 0.35
7 Gujarat 42.03
8 Haryana 8.77
9 Himachal Pradesh 50.91
10 Jammu & Kashmir 18.93
11 Jharkhand 298.28
12 Karnataka 140.57
13 Kerala 417.05
14 Madhya Pradesh 211.93
15 Maharashtra 348.05
16 Manipur 4.81
17 Meghalaya 10.57
18 Mizoram 1.09
19 Nagaland 4.98
20 Odisha 81.82
21 Punjab 261.54
22 Rajasthan 561.28
23 Sikkim 4.71
24 Tamil Nadu 210.94
25 Telangana 451.12
26 Tripura 17.92
27 Uttar Pradesh 917.51
28 Uttarakhand 4
29 Andaman & Nicobar 0
30 Lakshadweep 0
31 Puducherry 11.38
32 Ladakh 0.62
Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman &
33 0
Diu
34 West Bengal # 3,038
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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