MGNREGS workers to get wages through Aadhaar-based payment system

In 2024, all workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme are to receive their wages through an Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS). ABPS is a method of disbursing payments to MGNREGA workers using their unique 12-digit Aadhaar number as their financial address.

The government passed the first order to impose ABPS on January 30, 2023. More extensions were given throughout the year with the last one ending on December 31, 2023, reported The Hindu.

Ineligibility of workers

The decision of not extending the deadline was advised by active workers, rather than job card holders, the publication reported sources as saying.

Active workers are those who have worked for at least one day over the last three financial years.

14.35 crore of the 25.25 crore registered workers under the flagship rural jobs scheme have been categorised as active workers.

However, 12.7 per cent of these active workers were not eligible for ABPS till December 27.

The ministry has reportedly asked state governments to take account of all those cases where linking has not been done for any genuine reasons.

MGNREGA cards deleted

Reports have advocated that states have deleted job cards which were not eligible for Aadhaar-linked payments under the pressure from the government to achieve 100 per cent ABPS-eligible job cards.

“There has been pressure from the Union government to switch to ABPS since April 2022. In the last 21 months, we have seen 7.6 crore workers deleted. This can be largely attributed to ABPS ineligibility, as highlighted in numerous field reports,” Chakradhar Buddha, a senior researcher at Lib Tech India, academics and activists, said.

‘Denying right to work’

“Compelling the use of ABPS with more than one-third of the total MNREGA registered workers rendered ineligible will inevitably lead to the denial of the right to work. This stands in direct contravention to the Act passed by the Parliament,” Buddha added.

Buddha also batted for revoking mandatory implementation of ABPS and felt the need for reinstating "erroneously" deleted workers.

The government believes that the implementation of ABPS will ensure speedy payments and reduce rejections.