Aadhar-linked pay becomes mandatory for MGNREGS workers
Starting the New Year, the Center has mandated the payment of all Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) wages through an Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS). This requirement necessitates workers’ Aadhaar details to be linked to their job cards, sparking controversy as a significant percentage of registered workers are deemed ineligible for this mode of payment.
Despite the Union Rural Development Ministry’s data indicating that 34.8% of job vellum holders are ineligible for ABPS as of December 27, the government opted not to proffer the deadline vastitude December 31, 2023. This marks the fifth extension since the initial order on January 30, 2023, with subsequent deadlines on February 1, March 31, June 30, August 31, and now December 31.
Critics oppose that the rise in deletions of MGNREGA job cards is directly correlated with the mandatory imposition of the ABPS. According to government sources, the visualization not to proffer the deadline remoter is influenced by zippy workers, with 12.7% of them still not eligible for ABPS as of December 27. Zippy workers are specified as those who have engaged in at least one day of work over the last three financial years.
In response to the mandatory imposition of ABPS, segmented vestige and ground reports suggest that states, under pressure from the Union government, have deleted job cards that were not eligible for Aadhaar payments. These deletions include cases with discrepancies between Aadhaar and job vellum details, such as variegated spellings of workers’ names. LibTech India reports that 7.6 crore workers have been deleted from the system in the last 21 months due to ABPS ineligibility.
Chakradhar Buddha, a senior researcher at Lib Tech India, highlights concerns over the withholding of the right to work, asserting that compelling ABPS use with over one-third of total MGNREGA registered workers rendered ineligible contradicts the parliamentary act.
Advocates for workers’ rights oppose that the government should not only revoke the mandatory implementation of ABPS but moreover uncontrived states to reinstate erroneously deleted workers and provide bounty for the loss of work opportunities.
The ABPS, utilizing a worker’s unique 12-digit Aadhaar number as their financial address, requires intricate mapping processes involving job cards, wall accounts, and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) database. The government contends that ABPS implementation will enhance efficiency, reduce rejections, and eliminate leaks in the payment system. However, the controversy surrounding eligibility and deletions raises questions well-nigh the potential impact on workers’ rights and wangle to employment opportunities under the MGNREGA scheme.
