New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) – The government has removed the names of over 1.55 crore active workers from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) between 2022 and 2024, according to a statement in Parliament on Tuesday.
In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan revealed that 86,17,887 workers were removed in the Financial Year 2022-23, followed by 68,86,532 workers in 2023-24, totaling 1,55,04,419 workers over the two financial years.
To improve the job card deletion process, the Ministry of Rural Development issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on January 25, outlining strict guidelines for deletion and restoration of job cards.
In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan revealed that 86,17,887 workers were removed in the Financial Year 2022-23, followed by 68,86,532 workers in 2023-24, totaling 1,55,04,419 workers over the two financial years.
Reasons Behind Deletions
The deletions were attributed to multiple factors, including:- Fake, duplicate, or incorrect job cards
- Workers permanently relocating from their gram panchayats
- Villages being reclassified as urban areas
Aadhaar Seeding and New SOP for Job Card Deletion
In response to another question, Paswan noted that 13.34 crore out of 13.41 crore active workers (99.47%) had their Aadhaar details linked to their job cards as of February 1.To improve the job card deletion process, the Ministry of Rural Development issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on January 25, outlining strict guidelines for deletion and restoration of job cards.
Key Features of the SOP
- Publication of a draft list of job cards marked for deletion
- Verification at the gram sabha level
- Right to appeal for affected workers
- Mandatory Aadhaar-linking to prevent fraud
- Grievance redressal mechanism
- Ensuring pending liabilities are settled before deletion