Lok Sabha Question No. 2784 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-10
Subject: Repealing of MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Smt. June Maliah

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2784 ANSWERED ON 10/03/2026

## REPEALING OF MGNREGS

2784. Smt. June Maliah:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of amount (in Rs.) due to States under the Admin, Material and Wage Components, State-wise;
- (b) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was repealed by the Union Government;
- (c) the timeline by which the due amount is likely to be paid to the States; and
- (d) whether it is a fact that Rs. 52,000/- crore is due to the State of West Bengal alone, if so, the time by which the amount likely to be disbursed?

## ANSWER

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

- (a): State/Union Territory (UT)-wise details of pending liabilities for Wage, Material  and  Admin  component  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) as on 04.03.2026 are given at Annexure.
- (b): As  per  sub-section  (1)  of  Section  37  of  the  VB-G  RAM  G  Act, 2025 the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,  2005,  together  with  all  rules,  notifications,  Schemes,  orders  and guidelines  made  thereunder,  shall  stand  repealed  on  such  date  as  the Central  Government  may,  by  notification,  appoint  in  accordance  with Sub-Section  (2)  of  Section  1  of  the  VB-G  RAM  G  Act,  2025.  Central government has not yet appointed the date of commencement of the Viksit Bharat- G RAM G Act.
- (c): Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS  is  a  demand-driven  wage  employment scheme. 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 West Bengal).

With regard to Material and Admin components, States/UTs are required to furnish fund release proposals to the Government of India. The Central Government 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/UTs.

Under  the  Scheme,  in  the  current  financial  year  2025-26  (as  on 04.03.2026), an amount  of Rs. 80,616.39  crore has been released to the States/Union  Territories,  which  includes  Rs.65,519.35  crore  for  wage component and an amount of Rs.15,097.03 crore for Material and Admin. 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/UTs after following the due procedures, the fund release status keeps updating on a daily basis. Here it is also stated that release of fund under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a continuous process and the Government of India is committed to reimburse all due and admissible pending liabilities, if any, to States/UTs as per prescribed procedure.

- (d):    The release of funds to the State of West Bengal under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) was stopped with effect from 09.03.2022 by invoking the provisions of Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, owing to continued non-compliance with the directives of the Central Government by the State.

However, in compliance with the order of the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court dated 18.06.2025, this Department has issued orders dated 06.12.2025  for  the  resumption  of  the  implementation  of  the  Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the State of West Bengal, which is subject to mandatory compliance with the special conditions, so as to facilitate the effective and lawful  implementation  of  the  Scheme  in  the  State.  Accordingly,  State Government has been requested to submit the Labour Budget proposal for the  current  Financial  Year  2025-26  for  consideration  of  the  Empowered Committee, Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, which is awaited despite reminders.

As per NREGASoft, the total pending liability pertaining to the State of  West  Bengal (as on 08.03.2022) stands at ₹3082.52 crore, comprising ₹1457.22  crore  under  the  wage  component,  ₹1607.68  crore  under  the material component, and ₹17.62 crore under the administrative component. The admissibility of this liability is subject to  verification by the Central

Government.

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Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2784 dated 10.03.2026.

State/Union  Territory  (UT)-wise  details  of  pending  liabilities  for  Wage, Material  and  Admin  component  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS  as  on 04.03.2026 (Rs. in crores)

| SI. No.                      | State/UTs                                | Wage                         | Material                     | Admin                        |
|------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1                            | Andhra Pradesh                           | 302.92 1776.60               | 302.92 1776.60               | 108.65                       |
| 2                            | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 139.84                       | 21.84                        | 1.54                         |
| 3                            | Assam                                    | 211.39                       | 469.78                       | 31.56                        |
| 4                            | Bihar                                    | 678.05                       | 1021.44                      | 19.87                        |
| 5                            | Chhattisgarh                             | 542.56                       | 12.54                        | 12.59                        |
| 6                            | Goa                                      | 0.13                         | 0.54                         | 0.02                         |
| 7                            | Gujarat                                  | 99.39                        | 37.93                        | 5.44                         |
| 8                            | Haryana                                  | 15.72                        | 11.01                        | 1.11                         |
| 9                            | Himachal Pradesh                         | 72.65                        | 18.16                        | 5.60                         |
| 10                           | Jammu and Kashmir                        | 193.95                       | 272.94                       | 18.37                        |
| 11                           | Jharkhand                                | 387.80                       | 240.23                       | 7.70                         |
| 12                           | Karnataka                                | 261.60                       | 725.95                       | 61.92                        |
| 13                           | Kerala                                   | 378.06                       | 251.69                       | 58.18                        |
| 14                           | Ladakh                                   | 4.29                         | 6.95                         | 0.36                         |
| 15                           | Madhya Pradesh                           | 554.70                       | 467.28                       | 46.94                        |
| 16                           | Maharashtra                              | 411.42                       | 0.00                         | 39.94                        |
| 17                           | Manipur                                  | 129.16                       | 271.99                       | 6.69                         |
| 18                           | Meghalaya                                | 179.84                       | 129.05                       | 2.39                         |
| 19                           | Mizoram                                  | 63.84                        | 0.00                         | 6.00                         |
| 20                           | Nagaland                                 | 28.93                        | 97.12                        | 0.28                         |
| 21                           | Odisha                                   | 481.14                       | 18.79                        | 13.48                        |
| 22                           | Punjab                                   | 64.53                        | 137.48                       | 4.00                         |
| 23                           | Rajasthan                                | 754.66                       | 0.00                         | 13.18                        |
| 24                           | Sikkim                                   | 2.81                         | 0.00                         | 0.04                         |
| 25                           | Tamil Nadu                               | 634.25                       | 547.33                       | 29.93                        |
| 26                           | Telangana                                | 229.27                       | 161.39                       | 17.38                        |
| 27                           | Tripura                                  | 20.33                        | 107.89                       | 21.57                        |
| 28                           | Uttar Pradesh                            | 909.53                       | 1799.25                      | 144.83                       |
| 29                           | Uttarakhand                              | 90.55                        | 9.00                         | 2.91                         |
| 30                           | West Bengal*                             | 0.00                         | 0.00                         | 0.00                         |
| 31                           | Andaman and Nicobar                      | 0.943                        | 0.14                         | 0.00                         |
| 32                           | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 1.83                         | 0.02                         | 0.00                         |
| 33                           | Lakshadweep                              | 0                            | 0.00                         | 0.00                         |
| 34                           | Puducherry                               | 0.15                         | 0.22                         | 0.86                         |
| Total 7846.25 8614.55 683.33 | Total 7846.25 8614.55 683.33             | Total 7846.25 8614.55 683.33 | Total 7846.25 8614.55 683.33 | Total 7846.25 8614.55 683.33 |

Note: The data as per PFMS/MIS and Pending liability of the previous year for the material component.

*The proposal for upward revision of the Labour Budget for FY 2021-22 for the State of West Bengal was not approved by the Empowered Committee, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS), Department  of Rural  Development  due to non-compliance  with the directives issued by this Department. Subsequently, the release of funds to the  State  of  West  Bengal  under  the  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS)  was  also stopped with effect from 09.03.2022 by invoking the provisions of Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, owing  to  continued  non-compliance  with  the  directives  of  the  Central Government by the State.

As  per  NREGASoft,  the  pending  liability  pertaining  to  the  State  of  West Bengal (as on 08.03.2022) stands at ₹3082.52 crore, comprising ₹1457.22 crore  under  the  wage  component,  ₹1607.68  crore  under  the  material component,  and  ₹17.62  crore  under  the  administrative  component.  The admissibility  of  this  liability  is  subject  to  verification  by  the  Central Government

*****