Lok Sabha Question No. 392 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Delay in Wage Payments under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 392 ANSWERED ON 22/07/2025

## DELAY IN WAGE PAYMENTS UNDER MGNREGS

## 392. SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  and  eliminate persistent delays in wage payments to the workers of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS);
- (b) the details of average delay period and the number  of complaints regarding delayed payments received and resolved in the last year;
- (c) the mechanisms adopted to ensure the quality and durability of assets created under MGNREGS (e.g., roads, water harvesting structures afforestation);
- (d) whether  regular  quality  audits  conducted,  if  so,  the  findings thereof;
- (e) the  specific  measures  taken  to  ensure  the  full  inclusion  and participation of marginalized communities women and persons with  disabilities  in  MGNREGS  and  their  current  participation rate particularly in Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a)&(b): 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.

The Ministry has taken various steps to ensure timely payment of  wages  to  workers  under  the  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural

Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). 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 System (NMMS):Real-time attendance  capture  through  geo-tagged  photographs  at  the

worksite ensures accurate and timely recording of attendance, which helps in  timely payment of wages.

- (c): Details  of  mechanisms  adopted  to  ensure  the  quality  and durability  of  assets  created  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS  are given at Annexure-I.
- (d): In  addition  to  the  regular  monitoring  visits  done  by  the National  Level  Monitors  &  Social  audit  conducted  by  the  Gram Sabha,  audits are also conducted  by internal audit wing of Ministry of Rural Development annually. Some of the issues reported in these audits are:
-  Misappropriation of funds
-  Work done by machinery
- 
- Fake job cards
- 
- Poor quality of work
-  No work found
- 
- Workfile not maintained properly etc.
- (e): The  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) has special provisions for women and it  has  been  categorically  mentioned  in  Schedule-II,  Para  15  that while  providing  employment,  priority  shall  be  given  to  women  in such  a  way  that  at  least  one-third  of  the  beneficiaries  shall  be women  who  have  registered  and  demanded  for  work  under  the Scheme.  Provision  has  been  laid  for  differently  abled,  women  & elderly  in  the  Act.  Schedule-I,  Para  18  states  that,  'a  separate Schedule of Rates shall be finalized for women, the elderly, people with  disabilities  and  people  with  debilitating  ailments  so  as  to improve their participation through productive work.'

As per Para 7.12.5 of the Annual Master Circular, at least 50% of  the  worksite  supervisors  (mates)  should  be  women,  preferably from among the members of Self Help Groups (SHGs).

Further, under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, individual assets can be created on own lands in which such households can also work and will be entitled to get wages as per the notified wage rate of the states/UTs. As per the Para 5 of Schedule I of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, it has been specified that works creating individual assets shall  be  prioritized  on  land  or  homestead  owned  by  households belonging to the:

- (a) Scheduled Castes
- (b) Scheduled Tribes
- (c) Nomadic tribes
- (d) Denotified tribes
- (e) Other families below the poverty line
- (f) Women-headed households
- (g) Physically handicapped headed households
- (h) Beneficiaries of land reforms
- (i) The beneficiaries under the Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana- Gramin
- (j)  Beneficiaries  under  the  Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other  Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (2 of 2007), and  after  exhausting  the  eligible  beneficiaries  under  the  above categories, on lands of the small or marginal farmers as defined in the Agriculture Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008 subject to the condition that such households shall have a job card with at least one member willing to work on the project undertaken on their land or homestead.

This scheme is universally available for every rural household whose  adult  members  volunteer  to  do  unskilled  manual  work. Further,  provision  has  been  made  to  provide  additional  50  days  of wage employment to every ST household in a forest area, provided that these households have no other private property except for the land rights provided under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

District-wise number of disabled persons employed and corresponding persondays generated, employment provided to number of women and persondays generated by women in Maharashtra  State  under  the  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS  during  the current  financial  year  2025-26  (as  on  17.07.2025)  are  given  at Annexure-II.

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Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (c)  of  LokSabhaUnstarred Question No.392 dated 22.07.2025.

Mechanisms  to  Ensure  Quality  and  Durability  of  Assets  under

Mahatma Gandhi NREGS:

-  Geo-tagging  of the  Assets:  Geo-tagging  in  Mahatma Gandhi NREGA has been started from 1 September 2016. The purpose  of  this  is  to  know  the  actual  status  of  the  works constructed  under  the  scheme.  (As  on  25.03.25)  more  than 6.36 crore assets have been geo-tagged, details of which have been made available in public domain.
-  Mandatory expenditure on agriculture and allied activities: As per the provision of the Act, the District Programme Coordinator shall ensure that at least 60% of the works to be taken up in the district in terms of cost shall be for  creation  of  productive  assets  connected  with  agriculture and  allied  activities  through  development  of  land,  water  and trees.
-  Emphasis  on  Social  Audit:   System  of  Social  Audit  is being strengthened. In association with the office of Comptroller  &  Auditor  General  (C&AG)  of  India,  the  auditing standards have been prepared and approved and the implementation of the same has started. As of now, 27 States and  2  UT  have  established  Social  Audit  units.The  SAUs  are being constantly impressed upon to recruit and train minimum core staff at State, District and Block level.
-  Capacity Development: Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers are  being  trained  under  recent  initiatives  like  Bare  Foot Technicians (BFT) to move them up the skilling ladder, in order to  assist  in  making  layouts,  taking  measurements  of  work done etc. So far, 9,186 BFTs have been trained in 20 States.
-  SECURE (Software for Estimate Calculation Using Rural Rates for Employment): SECURE  is implemented in 703 districts across 28 States and 4 UTs. Now, administrative and technical sanctions of works can be accorded online through SECURE, thus bring transparency and speeding up the process.
-  GIS based Planning of GPs: The Ministry has initiated an integrated holistic planning of the Gram Panchayats based on watershed  development  principles  (ridge  to  valley  approach) using Geographical information system (GIS). Out of 2.69 lakh GPs plan, 2.65 lakh GPs were completed till date.

-  JANMANREGA App: - The JANMANREGA App is a citizencentric  mobile  application.  The  JANMANREGA  App  allows locating  already  geotagged  more  than  six  crore  Mahatma Gandhi  NREGS'  Assets.  Citizens  are  also  able  to  provide feedback  about  assets  that  have  been  created  under  the programme  and  essential  information  related  to  their  work under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. Beneficiaries can access details such as payment status, attendance, APBS status, and job-card  information.   Also  they  raise  concerns  about  various issues, including payment, work allocation, work demand etc., by entering the job-card number. The app also includes a textto-speech feature for enhanced accessibility.
-  National  Mobile  Monitoring  System  (NMMS):  App  was launched on May, 21 2021. To ensure more transparency in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the States/UTs, a  provision  of  capturing  of  attendance  at  worksite  through National Mobile Monitoring System App (NMMS App) with twotime Geotagged photographs of the beneficiaries in a day had been started for all the worksites (except Individual Beneficiary  Scheme/Project)  and  made  these  attendance  in public domain which increases citizen oversight of the programme  besides  potentially  enabling  faster  processing  of payments.
-  Area Officer Monitoring App: This app facilitates to record the findings during the field inspections of the worksites.  It  helps  in  the  analysis  of  findings  which  in  turn contribute in implementation of programme in a better manner.
-  Technical Oversight Structure:A dedicated technical setup ensures engineering oversight and quality control.
- Field-Level Monitoring: Continuous field-level monitoring
-  is carried out by trained technical personnel and field assistants to ensure proper execution of work as per specifications.
-  Quality Monitoring and Control:Functioning at both State and District levels, these cells monitor the works executed by Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs). They conduct inspections, issue compliance reports, and suggest corrective actions where needed.

Through planning tools like SECURE, technical supervision at multiple levels, geo-tagging for transparency, and community-based monitoring, Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS  ensures  that  the assets

created-such as roads, water conservation afforestation etc-are durable, need-based, and of high quality.

structures, *****

Annexure-II Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of LokSabhaUnstarred Question No.392 dated 22.07.2025.

| State: Maharashtra   | State: Maharashtra       | State: Maharashtra                             | State: Maharashtra                             | State: Maharashtra                          | State: Maharashtra                          |
|----------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| S. No.               | District                 | No. of disabled Persons Employed in FY 2025-26 | Persondays Generated by disabled in FY 2025-26 | EMP. Provided to no. of women in FY 2025-26 | Persondays Generated by women in FY 2025-26 |
| 1                    | Ahmednagar               | 231                                            | 4214                                           | 49688                                       | 975503                                      |
| 2                    | Akola                    | 2311                                           | 47140                                          | 36259                                       | 685920                                      |
| 3                    | Amravati                 | 1048                                           | 30238                                          | 72892                                       | 1753451                                     |
| 4                    | Beed                     | 587                                            | 12323                                          | 121193                                      | 2413171                                     |
| 5                    | Bhandara                 | 4343                                           | 93078                                          | 100325                                      | 2097160                                     |
| 6                    | Buldhana                 | 159                                            | 2170                                           | 35279                                       | 477319                                      |
| 7                    | Chandrapur               | 591                                            | 10708                                          | 74343                                       | 1417268                                     |
| 8                    | ChatrapatiSambhaji Nagar | 972                                            | 17007                                          | 73614                                       | 1452400                                     |
| 9                    | Dharashiv                | 165                                            | 3250                                           | 26163                                       | 459157                                      |
| 10                   | Dhule                    | 431                                            | 5054                                           | 42190                                       | 706704                                      |
| 11                   | Gadchiroli               | 858                                            | 13177                                          | 64812                                       | 1018029                                     |
| 12                   | Gondia                   | 285                                            | 4916                                           | 136601                                      | 2929400                                     |
| 13                   | Hingoli                  | 118                                            | 2913                                           | 35444                                       | 755346                                      |
| 14                   | Jalgaon                  | 292                                            | 5463                                           | 56812                                       | 1046012                                     |
| 15                   | Jalna                    | 298                                            | 3720                                           | 58999                                       | 684450                                      |
| 16                   | Kolhapur                 | 88                                             | 1616                                           | 19558                                       | 333248                                      |
| 17                   | Latur                    | 214                                            | 4514                                           | 46187                                       | 977670                                      |
| 18                   | Nagpur                   | 214                                            | 4274                                           | 20110                                       | 391940                                      |
| 19                   | Nanded                   | 261                                            | 4996                                           | 67011                                       | 1252467                                     |
| 20                   | Nandurbar                | 129                                            | 1915                                           | 45173                                       | 699956                                      |
| 21                   | Nashik                   | 808                                            | 13898                                          | 66932                                       | 1194345                                     |
| 22                   | Palghar                  | 871                                            | 12641                                          | 83516                                       | 1259286                                     |
| 23                   | Parbhani                 | 342                                            | 7681                                           | 54172                                       | 1121348                                     |
| 24                   | Pune                     | 59                                             | 691                                            | 12105                                       | 161718                                      |
| 25                   | Raigad                   | 47                                             | 644                                            | 6794                                        | 93637                                       |
| 26                   | Ratnagiri                | 134                                            | 1946                                           | 10992                                       | 137510                                      |
| 27                   | Sangli                   | 53                                             | 1044                                           | 11303                                       | 188749                                      |
| 28                   | Satara                   | 211                                            | 2587                                           | 22071                                       | 276957                                      |
| 29                   | Sindhudurg               | 105                                            | 1295                                           | 8361                                        | 113726                                      |
| 30                   | Solapur                  | 190                                            | 2386                                           | 28379                                       | 427258                                      |
| 31                   | Thane                    | 80                                             | 1197                                           | 13830                                       | 240860                                      |
| 32                   | Wardha                   | 260                                            | 5007                                           | 18696                                       | 399380                                      |

| 33 Washim   |   923 |   17249 |   47678 |   908226 |
|-------------|-------|---------|---------|----------|
| 34 Yavatmal |   683 |   14649 |   86142 |  1782437 |
| Total       | 18361 |  355601 | 1653624 | 30832008 |

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