August 30, 2023: NREGA workers will continue to receive wages through the mixed route till December 31, 2023, or till further order, the ministry of rural development said today.
This involves wage payment either through the Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS) or through the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) system. This means that till the last day of 2023 the payment will be made through ABPS if the beneficiary is linked with it. If the beneficiary is not linked with the ABPS due to some technical reasons, the programme officer can select NACH as the mode of payment of wages.
In its official statement, the ministry also clarified that states have been directed not to refuse work to NREGA beneficiaries even if they have yet to be linked with the ABPS.
“The beneficiary who comes for work should be requested to provide the Aadhaar number but will not be refused work on this basis,” the ministry said, adding that NREGA job cards cannot be deleted even if a worker is not linked with the APBS.
Under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, the APBS has been in use since 2017. “After almost universal availability of Aadhaar number to every adult population, the government decided to extend APBS for beneficiaries under the scheme. The payment will land through APBS only to the account associated with APBS, which means that it is a safer and faster way of payment transfer,” said the ministry.
Citing National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data, the ministry also said that there was a higher payment success percentage (99.55% or above) where the Aadhaar is enabled for a direct benefits transfer scheme. In account-based payments, the success rate is 98%,
“In many cases, due to frequent changes in bank account numbers by the beneficiary or due to non-updating of the new account number by the programme officer concerned or due to non-submission of new account by the beneficiary on time, several transactions of wage payment are being rejected.”
“Once Aadhaar is updated in the scheme database, beneficiary need not update account numbers due to change in location or change in bank account number. The money will be transferred to the account number which is linked with Aadhaar. In case of more than one account of the beneficiary, which is rare in the context of the MGNREGA, a beneficiary has the choice to select the account,” it added.
Nearly 82% NREGA workers eligible for APBS
Of the total 14.33 crore active beneficiaries, Aadhaar has been seeded for 13.97 crore. Against these seeded Aadhaar cards, a total 13.34 crore Aadhaar cards have been authenticated, and 81.89% of active workers are now eligible for the APBS. In July 2023, about 88.51% of the wage payment has been made through the APBS.
An alumna of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Sunita Mishra brings over 16 years of expertise to the fields of legal matters, financial insights, and property market trends. Recognised for her ability to elucidate complex topics, her articles serve as a go-to resource for home buyers navigating intricate subjects. Through her extensive career, she has been associated with esteemed organisations like the Financial Express, Hindustan Times, Network18, All India Radio, and Business Standard.
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