In a written reply in Rajya Sabha today, Minister of State for Rural Development, Kamlesh Paswan provided details on the State/Union Territory(UT)-wise number of active workers whose Jobcards were deleted under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) during the financial years 2019-20 to 2024-25 (as on 04.02.2025).
A total of 1512864 job cards of active workers under MGNREGS were rejected within the period, with Nagaland amounting to 8130 rejected workers, informed a report by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
According to Paswan, Job cards have been deleted mainly for the reasons such as fake/duplicate/incorrect job cards, family shifted from Gram Panchayat permanently, Gram Panchayat classified as Urban etc. Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand-driven wage employment scheme and the responsibility of implementation of the scheme is vested with the Government of concerned States/UTs. Updation/deletion of Job Cards is a regular exercise conducted by the States/UTs.
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To ensure more transparency in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in the States/UTs, the Ministry has decided that States/UTs shall ensure capturing of attendance at the worksite through National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) App with geo-tagged two-time stamped photographs of the worker in a day for all the works (except Individual Beneficiary Scheme/Project) through NMMS w.e.f 1st January, 2023.
In case worksite is not located in network covered area or attendance could not be uploaded due to any other network issue then attendance can be captured in offline mode and can be uploaded once the device comes into network covered area. In case of exceptional circumstances owing to which attendance could not be uploaded, the provision for exemption also exists.
Ministry of Rural Development has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) vide letter dated 25.01.2025 to all States/UTs, with clear guidelines regarding deletion and restoration of job cards. The SOP ensures compliance with the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS guidelines, promotes transparency and protects the rights of workers by defining conditions for deletion.
The SOP emphasizes the importance of due process, including the publication of draft lists of job cards marked for deletion, verification at Gram Sabhas, and the right of appeal for affected workers. It also mandates the linking of job cards with Aadhaar to eliminate duplicate and fraudulent entries. These measures are aimed at preventing misuse of job cards while ensuring that genuine beneficiaries are not excluded. The Ministry is committed to maintaining the integrity of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS and ensuring that the benefits of the scheme reaches eligible rural households.
