Parliament panel slams ministry for MGNREGS reply, pendencies

New Delhi: Pulling up the Union Rural Development Ministry over its "evasive" reply regarding the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Monday said it should clear all pending bills to avoid delays in the disbursement of wages to labourers.

The Standing Committee on Rural Development, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, tabled its report on action taken on its recommendations made on the 2025-26 demand for grants.

The committee, in its report on the 2025-26 budgetary allocation, said wages worth Rs 12,219.18 crore were pending, while Rs 11,227.09 crore remained uncleared against the material component for a welfare-oriented schematic intervention like the MGNREGS.

The panel noted that this accounted for 27.26% of the current budget, meaning more than one-fourth of the allocated funds would be used to clear previous years' dues.

The panel also observed that the actual working budget for the current financial year was reduced to Rs 62,553.73 crore.

The committee felt that both aspects of the MGNREGS — a demand-driven nature of the scheme and the creation of assets under the scheme — were severely hampered through such pendencies, the report said.

While expressing concern over such pendency and its impact on the upliftment of rural labourers, the committee recommended that the Department of Rural Development take immediate steps to ensure the timely release of the Central government’s share of funds under wages and materials, strengthen coordination with state governments, and adopt effective measures to prevent further delays in disbursement.

The panel also expressed its displeasure over the ministry for not giving a concrete reply about existing pendencies under the material components of the scheme.

Pointing out that the ministry had been using an old stereotypical approach while giving answers on this issue, the panel observed: "It is unfathomable how a specific query of the committee can be sidelined.. on such an important matter."

The panel said the ministry should eradicate pending liabilities under MGNREGS through robust measures of financial prudence at the earliest.