Lok Sabha Question No. 1494 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-09
Subject: Active Workers under MGNREGS in Haryana
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Varun Chaudhry

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1494 ANSWERED ON 09/12/2025

## ACTIVE WORKERS UNDER MGNREGS IN HARYANA 1494. Shri Varun Chaudhry:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENTbe pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  Union  Budget  allocation  and  released  under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) during the last five years;
- (b) the  budget  allocated  and  released  under  MGNREGS  for  the State of Haryana during the last five years, year-wise;
- (c) the  details  and  number  of  active  workers  registered  under MGNREGS in Haryana in 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 along  with  the  number  of  workers  who  have  been  provided hundred days of employment;
- (d) the details and number of active workers under MGNREGS in Haryana who have been provided unemployment allowance/compensation in case hundred days work not provided during the last five years; and
- (e) the reasons for delay in the release of payments to MGNREGS workers and the steps taken for timely release along with the amount  for  delay  compensation  provided  during  the  last  five years in the State of Haryana?

## ANSWER

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

- (a):   The  details  of  funds  allocation  at  Budget  Estimate  stage, Revised  Estimate  stage  and  fund  released  under  Mahatma  Gandhi National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (Mahatma  Gandhi NREGS) during the last five financial years are given below:

(Rs. in crore)

|   SI. No. | Financial Year Budget Estimate   | Financial Year Budget Estimate   | Revised Estimate   | Fund release   |
|-----------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------|----------------|
|         1 | 2020-21                          | 61,500.00                        | 1,11,500.00        | 1,11,171       |
|         2 | 2021-22                          | 73,000.00                        | 98,000.00          | 98,468         |
|         3 | 2022-23                          | 73,000.00                        | 89,400.00          | 90,810         |
|         4 | 2023-24                          | 60,000.00                        | 86,000.00          | 89,268         |
|         5 | 2024-25                          | 86,000.00                        | 86,000.00          | 85,839         |

- (b):    Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand driven wage employment scheme.  There  is  no  State/UTs-wise  allocation  of  funds  under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. Details of funds released to the State of Haryana under the scheme in the last five financial years from 202021 to 2024-25 is given below:
- (c):       Number  of  active  workers  and  number  of  households  who have  availed  100 days of  employment  in  Haryana  under  the Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS  during  the  last  three  financial  years  is given below:

| Financial Year                                               |   2020- 21 |   2021- 22 |   2022- 23 |   2023- 24 |   2024- 25 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
| Central fund released to the State of Haryana (Rs. in crore) |     764.55 |     723.73 |     373.99 |     477.87 |     590.19 |

|   SI. No. | Financial Year   | No. of active workers   | Number of HHs who have been provided hundred days of employment   |
|-----------|------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | 806439           | 3447                    | 2022-23                                                           |
|         2 | 2023-24          |                         | 2555                                                              |
|         3 | 2024-25          | 806422                  | 2191                                                              |

As per NREGASoft

- (d):      Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand-driven wage employment  programme.  As  per  the  mandate  of  the  Act  every eligible rural household is entitled to get at least 100 days of wage employment  in  every  financial  year,  if  he/she  is  willing  to  do unskilled manual work. In cases where the State Government fails to provide employment within the stipulated time period, unemployment allowance becomes payable under Section 7 of the Act.

With regard to Haryana, no unemployment allowance has been reported by the State Government in NREGASoft as paid to workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the last five financial years.

- (e):     Under the Scheme, the wage payments are directly credited by  the  Central  Government  to  the  accounts  of  the  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/ UTs after following due procedures. At the beginning  of  each  financial  year,  admissible  pending  liabilities  of the previous years, if any, are duly reimbursed by the Government of India. Accordingly,  all  due  and  admissible  pending  wage  liabilities upto FY 2024-25 have already been cleared (except in case of State of West Bengal).

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  (Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS).  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.

As per the provisions mentioned in Schedule-II of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), wage seekers shall be entitled to receive payment of  compensation for  the  delay,  at  the  rate  of  0.05%  of  the  unpaid wages  per  day  of  delay  beyond  the  sixteenth  day  of  closure  of muster  roll. Delay  compensation  rules  are  notified  by  the  State Government concerned. The amount due for compensation is duly verified and approved, and then paid by the State Government.

The Ministry regularly reviews the performance of the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS (including delay compensation), including payment of delay compensation in States/UTs  through  various  fora  viz.,  Mid-Term  Review,  Labour Budget  meetings,  Labour  Budget  Revision  meetings,  Programme Review meetings.

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