Lok Sabha Question No. 1491 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-29
Subject: Wage Arrears under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Com. Selvaraj V, Shri Subbarayan K

## 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.

In  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.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a)to(c) of LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 1491 dated 29.07.2025.

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| 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             |
| 33 Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu |                   | 0                |
| 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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