New Delhi: The linking of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to Aadhaar – a plan criticised in no uncertain terms by activists and experts – will take off from today, making it impossible for job seekers to secure payment under the scheme without an Aadhaar card connected to their job cards.
The implementation of an Aadhaar-based payment system had been made mandatory on January 30, 2023 and, after five extensions for state governments to calibrate their databases, it is going to be kickstarted today.
As has been noted before, for this system to work, a worker’s bank account and job card need to be linked with Aadhaar, and the account must also be connected to the National Payments Corporation of India’s ‘mapper.’
The Hindu has reported that since the first direction was issued, the rate of MGNREGA job card deletions has significantly risen. That report notes that according to LibTech India, a consortium of academics and activists, 7.6 crore workers have been deleted from the system over the last 21 months.
The government’s own data – according to the Union Rural Development Ministry – has it that 34.8 % of job card holders remained ineligible for this mode of payment till as late as December 27.
The Hindu’s sources in the government, however, claimed that till December 27, 12.7% of active workers were yet unconnected to the payment system. ‘Active workers’ are recognised as those who have worked for at least a single day over the last three financial years.
The MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of work to rural households. Economist Jean Dreze had written for The Wire that as far, “as recklessness goes, this is on par with a national lockdown at four hours’ notice.”
The Narendra Modi government has attempted to weaken the essential job scheme despite its popularity, reducing allocation drastically in the 2023 Budget – to Rs 60,000 crore, after the revised estimate for FY’23 was at Rs 89,400 crore.