Lok Sabha Question No. 2088 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-20
Subject: Arrears of MGNREGS Wages
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: K. Subbarayan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2088 ANSWERED ON 20/12/2022

## ARREARS OF MGNREGS WAGES

## 2088.   SHRI SUBBARAYAN K.:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  payment  of  wages  to  the  workers  under  the  Mahatma Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS)  in  various States are in arrears for months due to the delay in disbursement funds to the States; and
- (b) if so, the details along with the steps being taken to ensure timely payment of wages to the workers under MGNREGS?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a)      Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (Mahatma  Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven wage employment Scheme.

Under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, States furnish funds release proposals to Government of India. The Ministry releases funds periodically in two tranches with each tranche consisting of  one  or  more  installments,  keeping  in  view  the  'agreed  to'  Labour  Budget,  demand  for works, opening balance, pace of utilization of funds, pending liabilities, overall performance and subject to submission of relevant documents by the States.

Fund release to the States/UTs is a continuous process and Central Government is committed to  making  funds  available  to  States/UTs  for  the  implementation  of  the  Scheme  as  per  the demand for work on the ground.

(b)     As  per  the  provision  of  the  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee Act, the beneficiaries are entitled to get wage payment within 15 days of closure of Muster Roll of the work. Government of India has issued a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to the States to ensure timely wage payment. 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.  This  has  resulted  in  considerable improvement in the status of timely generation of pay order and leading to improvement in the actual time taken to credit wages in the workers accounts. In the current financial year (as on 14.12.2022), the percentage of payment generated within 15 days is 95.43%.

The Ministry has taken various steps to ensure timely payment of wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. These include:

- (i)    Upscaling  of  National  Electronic  Fund  Management  System  (Ne-FMS) in 27 States and 3 Union Territories.
- (ii)  Intensive  consultation  with  State  Governments  and  other  stakeholders  to  strategize timely payment of wages, verification of pending compensation claims etc.
- (iii) Formulation of Standard Operating Procedure for monitoring of timely payment and payment of compensation.
- (iv)  Video  conferences  with  States/  UTs  reviewing  the  status  of  timely  payment  and payment of delay compensation.
- (v) States/UT's have been requested to ensure timely regeneration of rejected transaction and every fund release is tagged with priority release of rejected transaction.
- (vi) States have been requested to ensure correction of invalid accounts as per information provided by PFMS.

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